Help understanding the new MIX feature

[TLewisAsh]

Plan

Premium

Country

UK

Device

mostly iPhone o/s but also PC

My Question or Issue

Enjoying the new mix facility in playlists, but can’t find a great deal of detailed guidance on the web to support using it. 

It seems a bit random as to what features/options/presets are available each time a custom mix is created.

For example, some transitions are editable over 12 bars, others only 2 or 4. Some transitions don’t have bars at all. 

After a fair amount of experimentation i’m still unable to determine the logic or rules that Spotify uses when creating mixes.

A mix between two tracks from the same artist, roughly the same length, exact same tempo (bpm) and same key can be transitioned over 12 bars, then a different two tracks (again by the same artist, same bpm/key/length) can only be done over 4 bars. Why is this? 

I’d really appreciate if someone could point me towards some useful guidance or explanations on how the mechanics work (internet searches just retreive the same copy-paste/AI pages detailing how to access the feature rather than how to really understand it)

[ribezaz]

Hey, welcome to the community!

From what I've researched, this new mixing feature is still in beta, and Spotify hasn't released official details about how it decides the length of the transitions—whether they'll be 2, 4, or 12 bars, for example.

What we do know is that the system analyzes the track's bpm, key, and structure, and then applies different presets, which can vary even between similar songs. In custom mode, you can manually adjust certain settings.

For now, the logic may seem a bit random, but it's worth continuing to test and share your findings here so the community can map patterns together.

Keep me updated.

Cheers, ribezaz

[kmaccoy]

Also, why are some songs missing a "Key"?  Is it because these songs have a key change? Or because the algorithm used cannot definitively determine the key? Or some other reason?

[ribezaz]

Hey @kmaccoy 

For songs that feature key changes, the app may not identify a specific key—and in some cases, the algorithm may not be able to accurately determine the key you specified.