Apple Music Wants to Create Your Playlists
But can it build better than you?
iOS and MacOS 26.4 brings Apple Music users new features: “Playlist Playground” (AI-generated playlists), a concert finder, and a new UI look for albums and playlists.
Playlist Playground
The key to this feature is in how you ask.
Playlist Playground works similar to the emoji playground. You’re asked, in the input bubble, what you want to listen to.
My first try was “1980s hair metal.” The result was decent enough: 25 songs with bands you’d expect (Van Halen, Poison, Quiet Riot, Scorpions, and hairspray abusers from the decade). And not just the most obvious hits, either. The playlist had a Motley Crue deep cut, “Ten Seconds to Love.” Ratt’s “Lay It Down” made the list, rather than “Round and Round.”
I assume it selected songs with bias towards my listening history and favorited songs. The appearance of Judas Priest’s “Loving After Midnight” and The Cult’s “She Sells Sanctuary” are breadcrumbs leading back towards my listening habits.
Overall, a mediocre result. Accurate, but a little short (25 songs seems to be magic number for every list I created). I build deeper and more interesting lists myself, often with hundreds of tracks. If you’re equally deliberate1 with your playlists, you’d do better yourself.
So I tried something else: a situation.
I typed “Peaceful morning coffee” into the magic bubble.
Now the slant towards my preferences is clear: songs from Jackson Browne, Paul Simon, Fleetwood Mac, Norah Jones, and others.
(Also two songs named “Coffee.” A little on the nose, don’t you think, Apple?)
Another underwhelming output. 2
So I tried another approach, writing like I’m prompting an AI chatbot:
“Suggest unplayed songs from artists I like, that would fit a quiet evening sipping wine on the back porch.”
I was served “Evening Serenity: Acoustic Reflections with Wine.”3
The playlist included some familiar tracks, like James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain,” and Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” But also some surprises, like Tracy Chapman’s “Baby Can I Hold You.”
There’s some promise there, that this tool can serve as a spur-of-the-moment companion, dashing off a playlist for certain situations. I can see using it again that way.
Lastly, two more quick tests.
First was: “Suggest unplayed songs from the last five years, that would fit a quiet evening sipping wine on the back porch.”
This gave me a playlist of songs I’d never heard of, which can be fun for new discovery when I’m just hanging out.
Second was, “Suggest recent country songs in the style of Chris Stapleton.”
This was a letdown. The playlist was stuffed to the gills with Eric Church and Zac Brown Band. Which are fine enough, but I’m looking for discovery.
In all, Playlist Playground didn’t do much for me, but shows the promise of some future benefit (Apple does tell you the feature is in beta). And the fact you can add your own songs on top of the playlist may offer users some value as a starting point.
In short: You’ll get more interesting results if you describe listening situations, rather than specific musical eras or genres.
New Album and Artist Support
The other new features are interesting in that they help cement how Apple Music’s approach is different from Spotify.
There’s a new look for albums, with your screen taking on the coloring of the album artwork. I like it. The complementary color gives the album added weight and visual prominence.
While this feature can’t replicate a physical vinyl sleeve or CD jewel case, it does make the experience more distinct based on the album. That’s a nice improvement, especially for physical media collectors who use Apple Music as their collection hub.
Lastly, a new concert finding feature is … fine? I’m not sure we need it, but seems to do a decent enough job of finding local shows.
Together, these two features show Apple Music remains committed to supporting albums and artists. Which, on the surface, seems like obvious areas of emphasis for a music app.
But that’s not how Spotify operates.
Spotify wants you listen, but without noticing the artist or music you’re listening to. Turn it on, but be distracted. That way, it’s easier to slip in Spotify’s in-house produced (and royalty-free) tracks.4
Apple Music isn’t perfect. But it has its priorities in better order than the competition and the new features signal those priorities well.
Maybe diabolical is a better word here.
Points for playlist title artistry, though. The bot came up with: “Morning Coffee Serenade: Folk & Acoustic Gems” as a title. I admire the effort to make the sale.
Wine sold separately.
Just finished the book Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and The Costs of The Perfect Playlist. Eye opening.