Raise your hand if you’ve ever felt personally victimized by Spotify. You can’t see me, but I have both hands in the air, waving frantically. We’re all still getting over the cuts and bruises that Spotify Wrapped 2023 left, and while you could describe it as a shady digital exposé, Wrapped is a playful way to reflect on your musical identity. Now, Spotify’s ‘Daylist’ feature is taking that to a different level.
Although the Daylist feature isn’t a new addition to Spotify’s UI, people are only now recognizing its presence thanks to its virality on Instagram Stories. It’s sparked an online frenzy that has united music fans who revel in posting what they’re currently listening to. I mean, “Music makes the people come together”, as a wise woman once sang.
I hear you ask, ‘What are Spotify Daylists?’
Daylist has been an integral part of Spotify’s Made For You hub since the feature was launched in September 2023. It’s a personalized playlist that’s curated differently to the existing ‘Discover Weekly’ and ‘On Repeat’ generated playlists, sans the jarring flow and annoying voice of Spotify’s AI DJ.
Like its title suggests, your Daylist is essentially “your day in a playlist”. It’s algorithmically updated to reflect your listening habits at certain times of the day, all the while honing in on the more nitty-gritty genres to offer something new. Each version of your Daylist will also have its own unique title, generated using AI developed by music experts and data scientists.
One of my new year’s resolutions was to change up my streaming habits and supercharge my Spotify experience, and that included exploring my Daylist – which I am thoroughly enjoying. It’s proven itself to be a useful feature to have, especially when your indecisive tendencies kick in and you can’t settle on a specific playlist to listen to.
Even better, Daylist’s algorithmic curation is the best of any personalized playlist on Spotify offering a multitude of generated playlists throughout the day – each of them guaranteed to open your eyes to new artists and genres.
Instagram pushes the ‘musical zodiac sign’ trope
What does my Daylist say about me right now? Well, as I write, I’m indulging in a “mystical avant-garde Thursday afternoon” selection featuring Björk, Jockstrap, and Caroline Polachek. Can you tell I’m an Aquarius?
It’s safe to say that Daylists have made a powerful impression on Gen Z, and its viral presence has taken to Instagram like a duck to water. Following Spotify Wrapped 2023, which saw millions of music fans posting their yearly music roundups to social media, Daylists garnered mainstream attention in the weeks after. Clearly, we needed something else to quench our thirst for sharing our listening habits.
However, it’s not just its unhinged titles that have put Daylists on the map. The reason why they’ve broken into the online sphere is rooted in the Daylist’s appeal to users on Instagram, who coined them as the new astrological signs. Now, Spotify users are being encouraged to share their Daylists thanks to a tag template on Instagram Stories that reads, “Don’t tell me your astrology sign; I want you to go into Spotify, search for your Daylist, and post the title it gave you”. It appears that we're officially leaving zodiac signs in 2023 – sorry, astrologers.
While Wrapped is great for understanding individual music tastes, Daylists build on Wrapped’s popularity and ability to go viral. Tapping into the online obsession with astrology is a clever move on Spotify’s part because the hyper-personalization of Daylists gives you a more specific insight to your (musical) identity – something that astrology attempts to do.
With that said, the Daylist feature speaks volumes about Spotify’s growing presence on other social platforms. Daylists have boosted Spotify’s shareability and Instagram appeal, intensifying the social aspect of digital music streaming. Spotify wants you to know that you don’t have to wait until the end of the year to show off what you’ve been listening to, reinforcing that music streaming is influential to you on a daily basis.
How you can use the Daylist tag in Instagram
The tag is essentially a template that appears in Instagram Stories, therefore it’s separate to the Spotify app itself. You can get involved in the viral Daylist by tapping it on someone else’s Story and, since it’s swiftly circulating Instagram, it shouldn’t be difficult to encounter.
Alternatively, you can shortcut it by searching for the account @addyourstickers in Instagram. Go onto their account and tap the ‘AYST - 7’ story highlight and you can use the Daylist template that way.
Once you’ve navigated the tag and tapped ‘Add yours’, the Instagram Stories camera will open. You can add a screenshot of your Spotify Daylist, adjust the size accordingly and add any additional text and stickers.
Spotify also allows you to share your Daylist to your Instagram Story directly through its app. Just tap the three dot icon on your Daylist and tap ‘Share’ then select ‘Instagram Stories’ – it’ll even give you the option to choose between three different cards to showcase your Daylist.
The only difference with posting your Daylist to Instagram straight from Spotify is that the viral tag won’t appear, but it’s still a fun way to share the different layers of your streaming personality.
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