Deezer now creates playlists based on your listening habits (updated)
Tweaks to the 'Flow' feature finally bring the app in line with competitors.
Not to be left behind by the competition, Deezer is tweaking its Flow feature. The app's latest update augments the automatically curated playlist tool to include tracks from artists related to what you're listening to. More than that, the patch gives Flow its own tab within the navigation panel. "You want to discover new music but still have control over what genre is recommended? You in a rock mood and your favorites Nirvana and Guns 'n Roses would definitely cheer you up? Just select the Flow tab that will float your boat," the Deezer announcement says.
Flow will have daily recommendations in addition to genre stations, and as you'd expect, you can favorite any song and add it to a new or existing playlist. As The Verge points out, there are also Flow playlists full of brand new music, and those will refresh weekly.
This is the sort of thing that was more or less Pandora's bread and butter in the early days of music streaming. Back in 2013, Apple added Genius Shuffle to iTunes which grouped similar songs automatically. Microsoft's now-defunct Groove Music did similar, but with streaming, while Apple Music and Google Play Music use AI and your listening history to craft mood-and-day-specific playlists.
This probably isn't the sort of thing that'll cause everyone to leave their current streaming services for Deezer, but diehard loyalists on Android and iOS will almost certainly appreciate the update.
Updated 4/23/18 5:45PM ET: The new "inspired by" playlists on the Flow tab will refresh daily, much like Spotify's Daily Mixes, while the "discover" tracklist will refresh weekly -- kind of like Spotify's Discover Weekly. We've updated the headline of this post to reflect this clarification.
