What’s the story
Spotify has announced a beta feature that allows users to edit their “Taste Profile.”
The Taste Profile is an algorithmically generated model of a user’s music preferences, and it plays a key role in Spotify’s recommendations.
The feature was unveiled by co-CEO Gustav Soderstrom at the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference. It will first be available in New Zealand before rolling out to other countries.
How to access and edit your taste profile
The new feature gives Premium listeners in New Zealand a chance to view and edit their Taste Profile, giving them more control over their music recommendations.
To access the Taste Profile, users just have to tap on their profile picture and scroll down.
They can then use simple prompts to adjust their music “vibes” based on everything they’ve listened to – including music, podcasts, and audiobooks.
Improvement over earlier playlist exclusion feature
The latest update is an improvement over Spotify’s earlier tools, such as the playlist exclusion feature that let users prevent certain tracks from influencing recommendations.
The company had also added the ability to exclude specific tracks across web, desktop, iOS, and Android platforms.
Now with editable profiles, users get more control over their recommendations and can fix any strange data Spotify might have picked up about their taste.
Addressing user complaints about recommendations
The introduction of the Taste Profile feature comes as a response to user complaints about Spotify’s recommendations not reflecting their interests.
This was especially true for users sharing their accounts with family members or those listening to music they wouldn’t characterize as their “taste.”
The new feature hopes to address these concerns by giving users more control over what influences their recommendations.
