Spotify Patent Describes Music Recommendation Informed By Voice

Spotify’s powerful algorithm makes finding the music you love a snap. But what if he could recommend music based on your sound?

This is the idea proposed in a patent that Spotify recently obtained (reported by Pitchfork), which describes the potential uses of this type of technology. Patent details a concept of using audio signals – your voice, background sounds, and even your accent – to determine what you want to play. A factor that could inform streaming a service what to play next may be “a speaker’s emotional state” while others may attempt to determine your gender and age based on your voice.

Explaining its collection of environmental audio data, the authors of the patent describe how it could be used to identify where you are – indoors, outdoors, on the train, at a party, and more. – and potentially how many people you share the space with.

“For example, in one aspect, the environmental metadata indicates aspects of a physical environment into which the audio signal is entered,” the patent states. “In one example, the environmental metadata indicates a number of people in the environment into which the audio signal entered. In another example, the environmental metadata may indicate a location or a noise level. “

Of course, it’s scary as hell. But similar technologies Already exists and have for years now. Still, it’s an interesting app for a service competing directly with data lords like Apple and Amazon, both of which have their own respective music services. Of course, Spotify tries to suck up as much data as possible. How else is he going to perfect his algorithm and keep you hooked on his service forever? (However, keep in mind that just because a technology’s patent exists doesn’t necessarily mean it will never be officially deployed.)

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Spotify did not immediately return Gizmodo’s request for comment. However, the company told Pitchfork in a statement that the company “has filed for patent applications for hundreds of inventions, and we regularly file new applications. Some of these patents are future products, others are not. Our ambition is to create the best audio experience possible, but we have no news to share at this time.