Spotify’s AI DJ is getting more voices to choose from, and an option to make it talk much less.
The feature launched in 2023 with one voice, known as X and based on Spotify’s own Xavier Jernigan. It now has seven new English-speaking voices alongside X. Three are American: Casey has a relaxed, friendly style, Tess is blunter, and Lane has a Southern accent and a younger tone. The rest add regional accents. Sam is a light-hearted Australian, Nell is a calm British host with deep music knowledge, Declan is a plain-spoken Irish music fan, and Nisha is an upbeat voice from India. Spanish-language listeners get two new Mexican voices: Nico, who is relaxed and approachable, and Fabi, who leans on humour.
The more useful change may be the new commentary setting. For many people, the DJ’s chatter between songs was the main reason not to use it. Now you can switch most of that talk off. The DJ will still speak briefly when you start a session or press the DJ button to change the mood, but otherwise it just plays music. Spotify suggests this makes the DJ a better choice for background listening, such as at a dinner party, where frequent spoken interruptions would get in the way.
This setting also says something about how the DJ is used. Spotify says 80 percent of people who try the DJ come back to it every week. Even so, the company is now letting users remove much of what made the feature different from an ordinary personalised playlist. That suggests the music recommendations are doing more of the work than the host’s commentary, and that some listeners want the selections without the radio-style presentation. Spotify has not shared how many people asked for a quieter option, or how often listeners skipped or left DJ sessions because of the talking.
The extra voices fit Spotify’s wider push to expand the DJ. Earlier this year, it brought the feature to more languages and markets. Adding regional accents is a practical way to make a feature that started out very American feel more local, especially for English-speaking audiences in Australia, the UK, Ireland and India.
Both the new voices and the commentary setting are rolling out now to Premium subscribers in countries where the DJ is already available. Free users will not get them. To try them, open Spotify on your phone, search for DJ, and use the three-dot menu to choose a voice and a commentary level.
A host you can largely mute raises a question about where the DJ goes next. It may become less of an on-air personality and more of a smart playlist that only speaks when you ask it to.