Amazon Music takes on Spotify with Maestro, an AI-powered playlist generator

Spotify’s AI DJ raised the bar for music streaming, and now Amazon Music is throwing its hat into the ring with Maestro. This new AI-powered playlist feature is currently rolling out in beta to select Amazon Music users in the US on iOS and Android.

If you’re part of the rollout, you’ll spot Maestro either on your home screen after updating the app, or by hitting the plus button to create a new playlist. However, where things get interesting is how you create them. Maestro uses natural language, meaning you don’t need technical terms to build your playlists.

With Maestro, everything starts with a simple prompt telling it what you want to hear. Want a playlist bursting with energy? Type “songs to get me pumped!” or maybe “upbeat summer jams”. Maestro even understands emojis, in case you’re struggling to find the words to describe your mood best.

However, Amazon is clear: this is a beta feature. Maestro, like any new AI tool, will probably have some hits and misses as it learns what you like. They’ve even built-in safeguards to try to block offensive language or prompts that are just too inappropriate.

As a brand-new feature, Maestro is currently accessible to a limited number of Amazon Music users across Free, Prime, and Unlimited tiers. If you’re in the beta, you’ll see the option front-and-center in the app. While Unlimited subscribers can instantly listen to and save their generated playlists, Prime and free-tier users get 30-second previews to help them decide if the playlist is a good fit.

The battle for your ears is getting interesting. Spotify jumped ahead with its AI DJ, but Amazon’s Maestro signals that the competition isn’t far behind. Soon, generating playlists based on moods, vibes, or even bizarrely specific requests might become the standard way we listen to music.