Actually, Spotify isn't the only firm dinking around with AI playlist generation. Amazon on Tuesday said it will try that too. The Music company is starting to test its Maestro AI playlist generator on both iOS and Android devices, allowing U.S. customers to create playlists using spoken or written prompts, which may include emojis.

According to Amazon, users can even write prompts including activities, sounds or emotions. Or they can opt for suggestions that appear at the bottom of the screen if they are not able to think of what to write. Within seconds, an AI-created playlist will materialise with songs that should, in theory, match your input.

The product launches in beta, so Amazon warns the technology behind Maestro "won't always get it right the first time." Like Spotify, Amazon has also added some guardrails to the experience to proactively block offensive language and other inappropriate prompts, it says. (We're guessing people will try to break through those barriers in time!)

Maestro isn't widely available yet. Meanwhile, Spotify's AI generator begins its tests in the U.K. and Australia while its competitor from Amazon is going live to "subset" of free Amazon Music users, plus Prime customers and Unlimited Amazon Music subscribers on iOS and Android in the U.S. for now.

Subscribers get more features, though. For instance, subscribers could listen to playlists immediately and pin them for later, but Prime members and ad-supported users will hear only 30-second previews of the songs before saving it. It might force more users to upgrade to the paid subscription if they like what the AI functionality can do. The step again aligns with the general trends of making premium AI experiences a pay-to-use offer.

The latest version of the Amazon Music mobile app will need to be downloaded to access Maestro. Users will have to click the Maestro option on their home screen or perhaps have an option pop up if they click the plus sign to make a new playlist. From there, users can either talk into their device or write out their playlist prompt idea before tapping "Let's go! " to start streaming it.

You can also save the playlist and share with friends.

Amazon offers prompts such as “😭 and eating 🍝,” “Make my 👶 a genius,” “Myspace era hip-hop,” “🏜️🌵🤠,” “Music my grandparents made out to,” “🎤🚿🧼,” and “I tracked my friends and they’re all hanging out without me” to illustrate the playful nature of the prompts for this new experience.

The company refused to say when the beta would come to fruition more broadly, but it did say it would expand to more customers over time.