I love quickly generating AI playlists on Spotify to match a mood or event. Then, I discovered Spotify’s Prompted playlists and it’s everything AI playlists should’ve been to start with.
Spotify Prompted Playlists Build on AI Playlists
Back in December 2025, Spotify gave some beta users access to Prompted Playlists to gauge interest. Just a few months later, the feature’s rolling out to all Spotify Premium users in the United States, with other countries coming soon.
I had already tested the feature as a beta user and I’m thrilled Spotify’s moving forward with it.
To me, Prompted Playlists feel like the logical evolution of AI Playlists. Don’t get me wrong, I love Spotify’s AI prompted playlists. They’re easy to create and I typically find something new to listen to.
However, Spotify Prompted Playlists mix AI with manual curation. You’re not just handing Spotify’s AI the reigns. You’re mixing AI with your entire listening history. The more you listen, the more the playlist adapts to you and your interests. Think of it as one your daily lists, but hyper focused on the original prompt you give it.
What I love most is these new playlists update daily or weekly, based on your preferences. It’s not just a static playlist like you get with AI Playlists.
Prompted Playlists grow with you, while AI Playlists feel like more a snapshot of a specific mood or moment. Both still let you start a jam with friends to share your tastes.
Create a Prompted Playlist
Make sure you’ve updated Spotify to the latest version and have Premium. Currently, there’s no word on whether free users will get this feature or not.
Open Spotify (mobile or desktop). For reference, I’m using the Android app for all steps. Tap the + Create button to create a new playlist. Tap Prompted Playlist.
Here’s where things feel familiar if you’ve ever generated AI Playlists on Spotify. Enter a prompt. It can be as simple or detailed as you want. I decided to step back in time to my high school days with a prompt focused on the late 90s, avoiding top 40 hits, and opting more for rock genres with songs that didn’t quite make it to mainstream radio.
Once you’ve created a prompt, tap Generate playlist. I’ll cover more on updates in a moment.
It takes a few minutes to generate the playlist. This is especially true if you’re a long-time Spotify listener as it pulls from your history to better understand your tastes.
I got a nearly 90 minute playlist filled with some songs I’d heard before, but nearly half of them were new to me. Each song has a short note about why it was included, though you can tap Notes to turn this off.
Customize Your Spotify Prompted Playlist
As with most playlists, tap the three dots beside any song to exclude it from your taste profile or hide from the playlist. This helps further customize your Spotify listening experience.
Tap Edit Prompt above your newly created playlist. You can do this any time you open the playlist, not just right after creating it.
Tap Doesn’t update below your prompt and set a schedule. By default, it doesn’t update. Otherwise, set your option to Daily or Weekly. You can’t change the time, but 6 AM should work for most users.
And, if you’re not completely happy with the results, edit your prompt while you’re here. Add or remove details until you get it just right. I do recommend editing your prompt to include a set number of tracks if you want a longer list. I set mine to 50 after creating the initial list, which bumped my playlist from 90 minutes to 210 minutes.
If you want to update manually instead or get a new update between scheduled updates, open your Spotify Prompted Playlist and tap Update Now.
With AI Playlists, you just have to generate a new playlist or add more songs to it for updates.
Finally, tap Name & Details just above the playlist to change the playlist name to something more descriptive for you.
A Few Downsides to Prompted Playlists
When I first started using Spotify’s Prompted Playlists, I tried to treat them just like AI Playlists. That’s the wrong way to look at them.
Instead, treat them like prompted daily mixes. Your Daily Mixes are Spotify-generated playlists based on your listening activity. You can’t add any music to them and they change daily. Your Prompted Playlists don’t let you add anything to them either.
Since you can’t add anything, you won’t see recommendations at the end of your list like you do with AI Playlists. On the other hand, just refresh your Prompted Playlist and get fresh music.
If you get the ultimate playlist and you want to keep it, tap the three dots just below the playlist cover image and tap Add to other playlist. Either move to an existing playlist created by you or create a new playlist to add the music to. This turns your Prompted Playlist into a normal playlist.
I’ve done this multiple times. I create a new regular Spotify playlist for each Prompted Playlist and move over my favorites to create ultimate themed lists. This also lets me play around with the Mix feature.
If for any reason Spotify’s recommendations just aren’t working for you, consider YouTube Music’s recommendations. Remember, you can always import YouTube Music playlists into Spotify if you prefer one interface over another.
