Daylist is a dynamic playlist that updates six times per day based on your listening patterns at specific times. It uses microgenre labels and disappears when it refreshes.
Daylist is an AI-generated playlist that changes throughout the day to match your typical listening patterns. Unlike Discover Weekly, which refreshes once per week, Daylist updates six times per day and uses playful microgenre titles like "bedroom pop banger early morning" or "hyperpop productivity Thursday afternoon."
The feature launched in September 2023 and is now available globally to all Spotify users.
How Daylist selects music
Daylist draws on the same personalization engine as other Spotify algorithmic surfaces, but it adds a time dimension. The algorithm analyzes:
What genres and moods you listen to at specific times of day
How your listening patterns change across the week (Monday morning vs Saturday night)
The microgenre clusters your saved tracks belong to
Your recent listening activity
Based on this data, Daylist predicts what vibe you are likely in the mood for right now and builds a playlist to match.
70% of Daylist users return weekly to check their current playlist, according to Spotify.
Update schedule
Daylist refreshes at six intervals:
Time slot
Typical update
Early morning
~5-6 AM
Late morning
~9-10 AM
Afternoon
~12-2 PM
Evening
~5-6 PM
Night
~9-10 PM
Late night
~12-2 AM
The exact times vary based on your location and listening history. Each playlist lasts a few hours, and when it updates, the previous tracklist disappears permanently.
The microgenre naming system
Daylist titles are generated by combining genres, moods, activities, and sometimes internet memes. Examples include:
"chill lo-fi study Thursday afternoon"
"indie sad girl rainy evening"
"2010s dance cardio Monday morning"
"emo pop nostalgic late night"
This taxonomy builds on the work of Glenn McDonald, Spotify's former genre researcher who created the Every Noise at Once project. The system categorizes Spotify's catalog into over 6,000 microgenres based on listening patterns and audio characteristics.
For artists, this means your music is being classified into granular categories beyond broad genres like "pop" or "rock." The more distinctly your sound fits a microgenre cluster, the more likely Daylist can find the right moment to surface your track.
How Daylist differs from other playlists
Feature
Daylist
Discover Weekly
Release Radar
Refresh frequency
6x daily
Weekly (Mondays)
Weekly (Fridays)
Content focus
Time-of-day mood
New-to-you discovery
New releases
Track source
Mix of familiar + new
Unfamiliar tracks only
Followed artists + similar
Persistence
Disappears on update
Stays until next refresh
Stays until next refresh
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Updated
What Is Spotify Daylist?
Daylist is a dynamic playlist that updates six times per day based on your listening patterns at specific times. It uses microgenre labels and disappears when it refreshes.
Daylist is an AI-generated playlist that changes throughout the day to match your typical listening patterns. Unlike Discover Weekly, which refreshes once per week, Daylist updates six times per day and uses playful microgenre titles like "bedroom pop banger early morning" or "hyperpop productivity Thursday afternoon."
The feature launched in September 2023 and is now available globally to all Spotify users.
How Daylist selects music
Daylist draws on the same personalization engine as other Spotify algorithmic surfaces, but it adds a time dimension. The algorithm analyzes:
What genres and moods you listen to at specific times of day
How your listening patterns change across the week (Monday morning vs Saturday night)
The microgenre clusters your saved tracks belong to
Your recent listening activity
Based on this data, Daylist predicts what vibe you are likely in the mood for right now and builds a playlist to match.
70% of Daylist users return weekly to check their current playlist, according to Spotify.
Update schedule
Daylist refreshes at six intervals:
Time slot
Typical update
Early morning
~5-6 AM
Late morning
~9-10 AM
Afternoon
~12-2 PM
Evening
~5-6 PM
Night
~9-10 PM
Late night
~12-2 AM
The exact times vary based on your location and listening history. Each playlist lasts a few hours, and when it updates, the previous tracklist disappears permanently.
The microgenre naming system
Daylist titles are generated by combining genres, moods, activities, and sometimes internet memes. Examples include:
"chill lo-fi study Thursday afternoon"
"indie sad girl rainy evening"
"2010s dance cardio Monday morning"
"emo pop nostalgic late night"
This taxonomy builds on the work of Glenn McDonald, Spotify's former genre researcher who created the Every Noise at Once project. The system categorizes Spotify's catalog into over 6,000 microgenres based on listening patterns and audio characteristics.
For artists, this means your music is being classified into granular categories beyond broad genres like "pop" or "rock." The more distinctly your sound fits a microgenre cluster, the more likely Daylist can find the right moment to surface your track.
How Daylist differs from other playlists
Feature
Daylist
Discover Weekly
Release Radar
Refresh frequency
6x daily
Weekly (Mondays)
Weekly (Fridays)
Content focus
Time-of-day mood
New-to-you discovery
New releases
Track source
Mix of familiar + new
Unfamiliar tracks only
Followed artists + similar
Persistence
Disappears on update
Stays until next refresh
Stays until next refresh
Saving
Must manually save
Automatic access for 7 days
Automatic access for 7 days
The key distinction is that Daylist is ephemeral. If you hear a great track at 3 PM and do not save it, it may be gone by 6 PM. This creates urgency to save tracks you like.
What this means for artists
Daylist is not a discovery-first playlist. It leans toward music the listener already knows, with occasional new tracks mixed in to match the vibe.
How to appear on Daylists:
Clear genre fit - tracks that cluster cleanly into a microgenre are easier for the algorithm to place
Time-of-day association - if your fans consistently play you during workouts, study sessions, or late nights, the algorithm learns that pattern
Strong save behavior - saved tracks are more likely to resurface across algorithmic playlists, including Daylist
The compounding effect:
When a listener saves your track from Daylist, it reinforces your position in their taste profile. That track then becomes more likely to appear on future Daylists, Daily Mixes, and Radio sessions.
How to access Daylist
On mobile: Open Spotify and look for Daylist in the "Made For You" hub on your Home feed, or search for "daylist."
On desktop: Search "daylist" in the search bar.
Saving a Daylist before it disappears
Daylist does not keep a history. When it updates, the old tracklist is gone. To save:
Open the Daylist playlist
Tap the three-dot menu
Select "Add to playlist"
Choose "New playlist" or add to an existing one
If you do not save before the next update, that specific combination of tracks is lost.
Saving
Must manually save
Automatic access for 7 days
Automatic access for 7 days
The key distinction is that Daylist is ephemeral. If you hear a great track at 3 PM and do not save it, it may be gone by 6 PM. This creates urgency to save tracks you like.
What this means for artists
Daylist is not a discovery-first playlist. It leans toward music the listener already knows, with occasional new tracks mixed in to match the vibe.
How to appear on Daylists:
Clear genre fit - tracks that cluster cleanly into a microgenre are easier for the algorithm to place
Time-of-day association - if your fans consistently play you during workouts, study sessions, or late nights, the algorithm learns that pattern
Strong save behavior - saved tracks are more likely to resurface across algorithmic playlists, including Daylist
The compounding effect:
When a listener saves your track from Daylist, it reinforces your position in their taste profile. That track then becomes more likely to appear on future Daylists, Daily Mixes, and Radio sessions.
How to access Daylist
On mobile: Open Spotify and look for Daylist in the "Made For You" hub on your Home feed, or search for "daylist."
On desktop: Search "daylist" in the search bar.
Saving a Daylist before it disappears
Daylist does not keep a history. When it updates, the old tracklist is gone. To save:
Open the Daylist playlist
Tap the three-dot menu
Select "Add to playlist"
Choose "New playlist" or add to an existing one
If you do not save before the next update, that specific combination of tracks is lost.
