That Spotify daily list that really 'gets' you? It is written by AI

Have your Sunday anxieties ever given way to a “Nervous Ocean Monday Morning”? Does the weekend really start on Friday, or on a “Wild and Free Chaotic Thursday Afternoon”? How do you dress for a 'Paranormal Dark Cabaret Evening'?

Those strange strings of words are titles of 'daily lists', a new offering from music streaming giant Spotify. The feature offers users three new algorithmically generated playlists per day, each with an ultra-specific title that's practically begging to be displayed on a screen and posted.

The often baffling titles have recently caught the attention of social media, helping the service regain popularity about four months after its debut in September. Post after post, users seem amused by the feature's ability to see right through it.

“Spotify kind of called me out with this daily list,” said an X user wrote from her own playlist. The title: “Midwest Emo Flannel Tuesday Early Morning.”

Another described feeling “personally bullied” by Spotify after receiving a collection of songs titled “Tailspin Self-Sabotaging Monday Afternoon.”

So who is responsible for the special titles? Spotify users who have been amused by these thrice-daily servings of word salad may be surprised (or, just as likely, not) to learn that the playlist names have been made up by AI

“Spotify uses machine learning to bring together the thousands of descriptors that create the unique playlist names for the day list,” Molly Holder, senior product director at Spotify, said in a statement. She characterized the tone of the titles as 'hyperpersonal, dynamic and playful.'

Ms. Holder added that the team behind these quirky playlists included data scientists and music experts who identify musical descriptors based on genre, mood and themes that are then associated with specific songs “through methods such as music expert annotation, sonic similarity and trends .”

“As we see it, the titles provide users with a playful way to express their unique audio identity,” Ms. Holder wrote.

In general, users take the titles with a grain of salt.

“It seems like Spotify invented these music genres,” says Chelsy McInnis of St. Louis.

Ms McInnis, who works in marketing and has been an avid Spotify user for a decade, said she started using the day list feature in September. She checks it three times a day.

“My morning title is completely different from my afternoon title, which is completely different from my evening title,” Ms. McInnis said. “And it's just super fun to see what it spits out at me.”

Daylist builds on the popularity of Spotify Wrapped, a year-end look at a user's personalized listening history that debuted in 2016 and has since become a fixture on the social media calendar. Spotify Wrapped, which bundles listening data such as a user's top artist or most listened to music genres and presents them in shareable formats tailor-made for Instagram, was joined last year by 'sound town', a feature that lets users select a specific city in the world where others listen to similar music or artists.

Daily lists seem to align with Spotify's broader strategies around hyper-specificity. According to Ms Holder, four out of five Spotify users cited the platform's personalized offering as what they liked most about the brand.

But a playful brand voice can be a dangerous proposition for companies, which risk running afoul of consumer sensibilities with every cheeky ad or cheeky tweet. A good brand identity comes with great responsibility.

“I got 'Fun Purim Thursday Morning,'” says Shayna Weiss, senior associate director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University. “I thought, 'What does this even mean?' Purim is a fun Jewish holiday, but its use was the weirdest way to describe an early morning music atmosphere.

Dr. Weiss later received an afternoon playlist titled “Witchy Ethereal Tuesday,” where she exclaimed, “What does it mean – that I'm listening to forests?”

Naturally, she shared it on social media.

Kyle Stanley, a doctoral candidate at Louisiana State University who studies digital and popular media culture, started using Spotify a year ago after seeing his friends sharing their Spotify Wrapped.

“Instagram marketing got to me,” says Mr. Stanley, who was previously a music user at Apple.

Mr. Stanley shares his daily list on his social media almost every day, sometimes using the more private Close Friends feature on Instagram, depending on how chaotic the title is. He attributes the popularity of the daily list on social media to the way it allows for a deeper understanding of an individual through music.

“By getting a little deeper insight into your personality than just once a year, and having these curated playlists multiple times a day with a funny title, it draws people in and makes them want to be a part of this,” says he. said.

Mauricio Godoy, who lives in Brooklyn, started listening to his personalized daily list on Monday after seeing other friends sharing theirs on social media. His daily list at the beginning of the day was called “Shoegaze Indie Tuesday Morning” and his afternoon title was “Post-Punk Far Out Tuesday Afternoon.” He said he was looking forward to what his title on the evening day list would be.

“I'm reminded that the mixtapes always had a quirky title,” Mr. Godoy said, “and there was always a funny title that caught your attention when you pulled out your burned CD playlist. I guess that's what these daily list titles are doing now.

Madison Malone Kircher reporting contributed.