Apple’s AI Playlist Playground is bad at music | The VergeSkip to main contentThe homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo.The VergeThe Verge logo.TechReviewsScienceEntertainmentAIPolicyHamburger Navigation ButtonThe homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo.Hamburger Navigation ButtonNavigation DrawerThe VergeThe Verge logo.Login / Sign UpcloseCloseSearchTechExpandAmazonAppleFacebookGoogleMicrosoftSamsungBusinessSee all techReviewsExpandSmart Home ReviewsPhone ReviewsTablet ReviewsHeadphone ReviewsSee all reviewsScienceExpandSpaceEnergyEnvironmentHealthSee all scienceEntertainmentExpandTV ShowsMoviesAudioSee all entertainmentAIExpandOpenAIAnthropicSee all AIPolicyExpandAntitrustPoliticsLawSecuritySee all policyGadgetsExpandLaptopsPhonesTVsHeadphonesSpeakersWearablesSee all gadgetsVerge ShoppingExpandBuying GuidesDealsGift GuidesSee all shoppingGamingExpandXboxPlayStationNintendoSee all gamingStreamingExpandDisneyHBONetflixYouTubeCreatorsSee all streamingTransportationExpandElectric CarsAutonomous CarsRide-sharingScootersSee all transportationFeaturesVerge VideoExpandTikTokYouTubeInstagramPodcastsExpandDecoderThe VergecastVersion HistoryNewslettersArchivesStoreVerge Product UpdatesSubscribeFacebookThreadsInstagramYoutubeRSSThe VergeThe Verge logo.Apple’s AI Playlist Playground is bad at musicComments DrawerCommentsLoading commentsGetting the conversation ready...ReportCloseReportPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All ReportAICloseAIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All AIEntertainmentCloseEntertainmentPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All EntertainmentApple’s AI Playlist Playground is bad at musicThe beta creates Apple Music playlists based on text prompts, but doesn’t understand genre, time, or much of anything.The beta creates Apple Music playlists based on text prompts, but doesn’t understand genre, time, or much of anything.by Terrence O'BrienCloseTerrence O'BrienWeekend EditorPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Terrence O'BrienMar 26, 2026, 8:51 PM UTCLinkShareGiftIllustration: Alex Castro / The VergeTerrence O'BrienCloseTerrence O'BrienPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Terrence O'Brien is the Verge’s weekend editor. He has over 18 years of experience, including 10 years as managing editor at Engadget.Apple Music: “What do you want to hear?”Me: “Atmospheric instrumental black metal to write to.”Apple Music: “Here’s three metal songs with vocals, a field recording, an ambient electronic track, and a piece of doom jazz.”I am skeptical of AI’s ability to serve up the music I want to begin with, but even I was caught slightly off guard by how underwhelming Apple’s new Playlist Playground beta is. YouTube Music’s AI playlist generator is far from perfect, but when I gave it the same prompt for instrumental black metal, it wasn’t until the fifth track that it delivered something with lyrics, and that was the exception, rather than the rule. Apple Music failed to deliver from moment one, and did so repeatedly.I was in a metal mood yesterday, so I also asked Playlist Playground to create me a playlist from the prompt, “modern ambient black metal from the American South.” Apparently, Apple could only find three songs that would possibly fit that criteria. And one of those was by the band Woman is the Earth from South Dakota. Now, I am an American, and we’re notoriously bad at geography. But, I’m 99.999 percent sure that South Dakota is not the South.Maybe Apple just isn’t up on black metal. So I tried something I thought would be a bit easier and prompted it for “kid-friendly modern hip hop.” The first track was just the censored version of Kendrick Lamar’s “DNA.” I suppose you could argue that, since it’s the censored version, it technically qualifies.Next, it served up the censored version of Kid Capri’s “We’re Unified,” which came out in 1998. I am a middle-aged man with a pretty generous definition of what qualifies as “modern,” but this is not it. Six of the 16 songs it added to the playlist were over 15 years old. Three were over 25 years old.The biggest problem was the inclusion of “ABC” by Chicken P, which is an alphabetical list of all the women he’s slept with and includes lines like, “Desiree, take dick, she be telling me ‘go deeper.’” I’m not sure I need my four-year-old repeating that to their classmates.The failure here is particularly galling when the Spider-Verse soundtracks, Tyler the Creator’s The Grinch EP, and Aesop Rock exist.I figured a prompt for “industrial-influenced dance punk” would be simple enough. I was wrong. I was thinking of two specific bands, Model/Actriz and Special Interest. Neither appeared on the playlist. Half of it was just straight old-school industrial: Cabaret Voltaire, Einstürzende Neubauten, Ministry, Front 242, and Nine Inch Nails each made an appearance. But so did New Order’s “Blue Monday” and Irish rappers Kneecap.Playlist Playground is in beta, and obviously, some issues are to be expected. But based on my results, I’d say it’s not even ready for a public beta yet. Even when it wasn’t failing in spectacular fashion, the results were just kind of dull and rarely served up artists I wasn’t already familiar with. Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment.Apple’s AI playlist maker clearly struggles with understanding genre, geography, time, and lyrical content. So I gave it one last test and asked it to create a playlist for “School pickup on a chilly day with no children’s music.” I might as well have just put on the Garden State soundtrack (Shins, Nick Drake, José Gonzalez). But, at least I didn’t have to listen to any Parry Gripp.Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Terrence O'BrienCloseTerrence O'BrienWeekend EditorPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Terrence O'BrienAICloseAIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All AIAppleCloseApplePosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All AppleEntertainmentCloseEntertainmentPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All EntertainmentMusicCloseMusicPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All MusicReportCloseReportPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All ReportTechCloseTechPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All TechMost PopularMost PopularThe United States router ban, explainedSeiko resurrected a 44-year-old digital watch NASA astronauts wore to spaceIntel and LG Display may have beaten Apple and Qualcomm with the best laptop battery life everThe best deals we’ve found from Amazon’s Big Spring Sale (so far)Disney’s big bets on the metaverse and AI slop aren’t going so wellThe Verge DailyA free daily digest of the news that matters most.Email (required)Sign UpBy submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. 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Apple’s AI Playlist Playground is exhibiting significant shortcomings in its musical recommendations, as detailed by Terrence O’Brien in an article for The Verge. The system, currently in beta, relies on text prompts to generate playlists, yet it demonstrates a fundamental failure to accurately interpret nuanced musical parameters such as genre, temporal context, or lyrical content. During testing, the Playground repeatedly produced outcomes that deviated substantially from the intended request, offering selections that were incongruous and often irrelevant.

Specifically, when prompted for atmospheric instrumental black metal for writing, the system returned a playlist incorporating vocals, a field recording, an ambient electronic track, and a piece of doom jazz – a considerable departure from the stated requirement. Similarly, a request for “modern ambient black metal from the American South” yielded only three songs, one of which was by the band Woman is the Earth from South Dakota, highlighting a notable geographical misinterpretation. Further testing with a request for “kid-friendly modern hip hop” resulted in a playlist dominated by censored versions of popular songs spanning over two decades, including instances of highly inappropriate lyrical content like “ABC” by Chicken P.

The system’s failures weren’t limited to simple misinterpretations. Even when successful in identifying artists, the Playground frequently presented selections that were unfamiliar to the user, indicating a lack of deep understanding of musical tastes and preferences. O’Brien points out particular instances where the system overlooked prominent artists like Tyler the Creator and Aesop Rock, instead offering a heavy reliance on more established and frequently heard industrial tracks, showcasing a limited scope of musical knowledge. The beta’s inability to comprehend specific musical genres, as evidenced by its inability to deliver on an industrial-influenced dance punk prompt, underscores the core issue with the AI’s current capabilities.

Ultimately, O’Brien concludes that the Playlist Playground is not yet ready for public beta, noting the overall dullness of the generated playlists and the infrequent surfacing of artists the user was already familiar with. Apple has not responded to requests for comment regarding these issues. The system’s shortcomings reveal a current inability to accurately map complex musical desires to appropriate sonic experiences.