Spotify has unveiled a unique new feature that allows you to customize your own transitions between songs in playlists you make – a new rival to Apple Music’s AutoMix.
In Spotify’s official announcement, the music streaming service said that the new Mix tool is rolling out in beta to “eligible Premium users”, but in spite of its new venture into music-mixing the company hasn’t shared many details about the feature, and there are quite a few unanswered questions, and over the past few days Spotify users have taken to platforms such as Reddit hoping that their questions will be answered.
I’ve had plenty of hands-on experience with mixing playlists of my own, and I’ve provided the answers to some of the most-asked queries below.
1. Is the feature region-specific?
The short answer is, no, Spotify’s audio-mixing feature is not limited to select regions. I’m UK-based and have access to the feature, and a user on Reddit based in Canada has shared that it’s working for them too (see below). As far as operating systems go, it’s working for me in iOS, but I can’t speak for Android users.
Though Spotify’s official blog post doesn’t list the specific markets its Mix feature is available in, the post does state that the feature is available in beta, so we’re assuming that it won’t appear for you unless you’re enrolled in the Spotify beta program.
2. Does it work when a playlist is on Shuffle?
Yes – you can shuffle songs when you apply the Mix tool to your playlists and include transitions, but only the ‘Auto’ preset. If you want to hear your custom transitions you’ll have to listen to the playlist in order, which isn’t ideal as many Spotify users like myself rely on the Shuffle button.
With that said, this feature isn’t designed for all types of playlists, but it’s definitely a handy feature for enhancing party and social gathering playlists – especially ones with pop, dance, and electronic music.
3. Is it compatible with Spotify Connect?
At the moment, playlists with the Mix feature enabled are not compatible with Spotify Connect, which is the case for other features in Spotify’s ecosystem like AI DJ. I tested this out by connecting my Spotify playback to my Echo Pop speaker, and it played each song as normal.
Therefore, if you want to listen to your custom transitions or ones set to Auto, you’ll have to listen via a mobile device – as it’s also not yet available on desktop – which you can connect to headphones or a Bluetooth speaker.
4. Can you do more than mix transitions?
While Spotify’s audio mixing tool allows you to customize transitions between songs in a playlist you’ve made – or use the Auto preset to let Spotify do the work for you – that’s the extent of its capabilities. You can’t blend more than one together, nor change the tempo or key.
This doesn’t come as a surprise, as the feature would be a bit overkill, but in most instances, you can choose how many bars a transition runs for in addition to adjusting volume and EQ settings which pack multiple transition options. If you disable the feature after customizing transitions and decide you want to enable it again, the playlist will restore your saved mixes – so you won’t need to start from scratch.
5. Can others view and save your mixed playlists?
It’s too early to tell since the feature isn’t available widely just yet, but it’s definitely something that Spotify fans have expressed interest in. It would also be a great opportunity for Premium users who are more musically inclined to show off their skills and share their work.
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rowan.davies@futurenet.com (Rowan Davies)
