Spotify has introduced a new feature called User Notes, enabling listeners to add personal captions to individual tracks within their playlists. The tool gives users a way to preserve the memories and moments tied to the music they love, effectively turning every playlist into a personal time capsule.

Announced on Thursday, User Notes lets users write brief explanations alongside songs in a playlist — describing why a track was added, when they first heard it, or what memory it evokes. A first date, a road trip, or simply a moment that carried meaning: over time, these annotations build a personal history that lives alongside the music itself.

To use the feature, a listener opens a playlist they have created or one containing tracks they have added, taps the three-dot menu next to a song, and selects "Add note." Once saved, the note becomes visible to anyone who can view that playlist, with the author's name linking back to their Spotify profile. The addition extends a social dimension Spotify has been gradually rebuilding, following earlier experiments with collaborative playlists and shared listening experiences.

The feature is available to users aged 16 and older across both free and premium plans, though it is currently rolling out in select markets.

Spotify described User Notes as a way to transform playlists from simple collections of songs into something more personal — a space that captures not only musical taste but the experiences that shaped it. Because the major streaming services now offer largely comparable music catalogs, differentiated features that deepen emotional attachment to a platform have become a key competitive frontier.

Alongside User Notes, Spotify also announced a new Running Mode, which selects and cues songs based on different phases of a run, adapting to a user's preferences and pace. That feature is available to premium subscribers in select countries.

Both additions reflect Spotify's ongoing effort to deepen user engagement beyond passive listening, giving people more reasons to stay on the platform and interact with their music in ways that rivals such as Apple Music and YouTube Music do not currently offer.

The new features arrive as Spotify continues to build on strong momentum. The platform reported 761 million monthly active users and 293 million paid subscribers in the first quarter of 2026, with revenue reaching €4.5 billion — figures indicating that price increases in key markets have not slowed user growth. User Notes and Running Mode form part of a broader product push the company has been making to deepen engagement beyond music discovery, following record operating income of €715 million in the same quarter.