Spotify’s Niche Mixes are weirdly specific personalized playlists

Spotify has launched Niche Mixes, a new set of personalized playlists that combine familiar songs and new recommendations into weirdly specific categories. Niche Mixes is an expansion of the music platform’s existing Spotify Mixes playlist feature (such as Mood Mixes or Decades Mixes) that grants users more precision to shape their listening habits.

Some examples provided by Spotify are fairly self-explanatory, like the Feel Good Morning Mix (full of songs with a positive vibe), and the ’80s Running Mix that provides a retro soundtrack for your workout. There’s also a new Night Time Mix for tunes you can “wind down and relax” to, and the Driving Singalong Mix for some personalized in-car karaoke.

In a blog post announcing Niche Mixes, Spotify says, “No matter the moment or occasion, you’ll receive a personalized Mix rooted in familiarity, combining music from artists, genres, and decades you already know and love with songs we think you’ll enjoy that match the moment.” It’s a neat feature for folks who are too lazy to sort their own music preferences into playlists, using an algorithm to build category-specific mixes around songs and artists you’ve liked or have a history of listening to.

You can also manually search for something specific by slapping “activities, vibes, or aesthetics” next to the word “mix” and see what comes up — such as “Baking Mix” or “Angry Teenager Mix.” It doesn’t generate a playlist specific to your search term, but there’s a lot of variety to choose from. Alternatively, you can simply search “mix” and filter by Playlists to see more of what’s available. If you want some inspiration, then check out the categories on Every Noise at Once, an ongoing project that’s mapping Spotify’s growing list of genres and subgenres.

Spotify Mixes can only be discovered by searching in English and are available globally to Free and Premium Spotify users. A selection of mixes chosen by Spotify can be found under the “Made For You” hub within the search tab on Spotify’s web player and the desktop and mobile app. Each mix is updated daily to keep things fresh and adapt to new music you’ve interacted with.

Something to note is that it’s not entirely clear which Spotify Mixes are new for this specific announcement. Personalized playlists I would argue to be “niche” — such as “Goblincore,” “Anti Anxiety Dogs,” and “Angry Tuna” — have been available on the platform’s Made For You section for several months. I myself have been listening to them for weeks since videos highlighting the feature appeared on my TikTok feed. I’ve reached out to Spotify to clarify how (or if) these differ from what has been announced today and will update this story if I hear back.