Spotify Adds Feature to Exclude Songs That Ruin Recommendations

Spotify has introduced a new feature that allows users to exclude specific songs from their Taste Profile, ensuring that temporary or one-off streams do not skew personalized recommendations. This update extends previous controls that only allowed playlist exclusion, making music discovery more precise for every listener.

What is Spotify’s Taste Profile?

The Taste Profile is Spotify’s system for understanding a listener’s music preferences. It collects streaming behavior and uses it to shape personalized features like Discover Weekly, Wrapped, Blend, and the Home feed. Previously, only playlists could be excluded from influencing this profile, but the new update allows individual tracks to be removed, giving users greater control over their personalisation.

How Excluding Tracks Works

Spotify explained in a blog post:

“Excluding a track will lessen the impact of both past and future streams of that song on your recommendations, so your ‘just for the moment’ listening doesn’t end up skewing your Spotify experience.”

The update ensures that songs played temporarily—such as background sleep sounds, children’s music, or one-off streams—don’t interfere with long-term recommendations. Once a track is excluded, both past and future plays have reduced influence on the Taste Profile.

Step-by-Step Guide to Exclude Songs

Spotify outlined simple steps to manage this new feature across web, desktop, iOS, and Android platforms:

1. Select the track or playlist you want to exclude.

2. Tap the three dots in the top-right corner.

3. Choose “Exclude from your Taste Profile”.

4. To reverse the action, select “Include in your Taste Profile”.

This ensures that listeners can fine-tune recommendations according to their real preferences, rather than one-off or accidental streams.

Why This Update Matters

Personalisation is a key reason Spotify is favored by listeners, with over 81% of users citing it as their favorite feature. By extending control from playlists to individual songs, Spotify is improving the precision of its algorithm and making the listening experience more reflective of actual taste.

This update also helps in avoiding frustration when recommendations are skewed by songs that are not representative of a user’s regular listening habits. It ensures curated playlists like Discover Weekly remain relevant and enjoyable.

Global Availability

The feature is rolling out globally for both free and premium accounts, ensuring that all Spotify users can manage their Taste Profile with precision. Spotify’s consistent efforts to enhance personalization make it easier for users to enjoy a tailored music experience, irrespective of occasional or atypical music streams.

Spotify’s Efforts Against AI Challenges

In related news, Spotify is also taking steps to address the challenges posed by generative AI in music. The platform is:

• Strengthening rules on voice cloning

• Launching a system to detect spam content

• Requiring AI disclosures in music credits

These measures are designed to protect artists from impersonation and fraud while giving listeners greater clarity about the origin of tracks they play.

Conclusion

Spotify’s new ability to exclude individual tracks from the Taste Profile reinforces its commitment to personalization. By allowing users to remove one-off or unrepresentative songs, the platform ensures that recommendations, playlists, and curated content better reflect real listening preferences. Coupled with AI safeguards, Spotify continues to enhance user experience while maintaining artist integrity and transparency.