Amazon Music’s Maestro lets listeners make AI playlists

Amazon Music may soon let you create playlists with a text prompt using Maestro, its new AI playlist maker.  

Maestro, which is currently available in beta to a small number of Amazon Music subscribers in the US, will let users put together playlists using any prompt, including emojis, Amazon said in a blog post. According to the company, listeners will be able to save the AI-created playlists and share them with other Amazon Music users. In the post, Amazon Music’s suggested prompts included “�­ and eating �,” “Music my grandparents made out to,” and “I tracked my friends and they’re all hanging out without me.”

The feature is similar to Spotify’s AI Playlist, which was rolled out to Premium users in the United Kingdom and Australia this month. It also allows customers to assemble playlists with text prompts. 

Maestro will only be available through the Amazon Music app. Users with access to the beta can see Maestro on their homescreen or when they tap the plus sign to create a new playlist. They can then either type or say their prompt aloud, and Maestro will build out the playlist. 

Beta users who are Prime Music subscribers and those listening with ads (in other words, the “free” service) have to decide after a 30-second preview if they like the Maestro-generated playlist; they can then save it so they can listen to the whole thing later. Amazon Music Unlimited users, however, can listen to and save their entire playlists immediately. 

Amazon warns that Maestro “won’t always get it right the first time” because the technology is still new. The company says it implemented some guardrails, including “blocking offensive language and inappropriate prompts.” Amazon Music will gather feedback before expanding the rollout of Maestro. 

Amazon has been leaning a lot on AI to update many of its services. In addition to Maestro in Amazon Music, the company also released a chatbot called Rufus for retail customers.