Spotify drops new custom playlist art feature to take your playlists to the next level

After a wave of AI updates, Spotify finally launches a tool encouraging user creativity.

The streaming giant announced Tuesday a feature allowing users to create custom art for their playlists in the app. It allows users to create collages to accompany their user-generated playlists directly in the app. Users can layer images, text, and stickers to embody the vibe of their playlist visually.

Spotify partnered with artists like Clairo and Jamie xx to promote the new tool. In a blog post, the “Bags” singer said: “I used the new artwork tool on Spotify to make the playlist cover. It reminds me a lot of scrapbooking: labeling different eras of my life with different pictures, shapes, and colors.”

To use the tool select the playlist you made and tap the three dots. Then click “Create Cover Art.” In the hub users can upload images and add text and stickers. Once you finish the playlist will be updated with the new cover art. The feature is available in beta across 65 English markets.

Previously, users could upload images for their playlist covers, but if they wanted a collage they would have to make it in a separate app and upload the finished image.

While the update may seem small, it’s rare to see a Spotify update that encourages the art of playlist making. Last month, the music giant doubled down on AI by bringing AI Playlists to premium users in the U.S., Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand. The move, in addition to its already established AI DJ, felt like a death knell for user-generated playlists. The tool generates custom playlists based on niche prompts, discouraging the painstaking process of creating a playlist rich with personal meaning. But today’s investment into user-generated playlists is a bright spot among passive, AI-generated listening.