Spotify utilizes all kinds of futuristic machine learning algorithms to recommend music to its listeners, but the streaming service rolled out a new feature this month that makes use of its human touch.
The platform is now accepting music metadata suggestions from it users. Using the desktop app, users can access a new feature called Line-In by clicking on the three dots next to songs, albums, or artists, and selecting "suggest an edit."
Once users have accessed the Line-In web interface, they can make suggestions about the song's genre, mood, and other attributes.
"Listeners describe music in different ways, and understanding that information will help improve, extend, and confirm the information that describes music on Spotify," a Spotify spokesperson explained to Variety. "We hope to better understand how Spotify listeners interpret music, so that we can improve experiences for both listeners and artists."
Making use of its most dedicated users in a similar way as Wikipedia's crowdsourced approach to information gathering, Spotify checks whether submissions match what other users have sent in and keeps track of previous results to ensure accuracy. The company explained, "Spotify considers the source, and thoroughly reviews and checks the accuracy of this information, before the suggestions are folded into the data that powers our services."
The feature is available to all users in Marc after having gone through rounds of testing. "Over the past few months, we’ve confirmed our beliefs that listeners care deeply about the content on Spotify—they want the data to be useful and accurate," the spokesperson said. "We’ve also seen that listeners are eager to describe the music they’re passionate about in ways beyond traditional concepts like genre and mood."
The Line-In feature continues Spotify's recent efforts to beef up the availability of data and information available to its users. In February, the platform started displaying songwriter and producer credits on its desktop app.
