Credit: Lucas Gouveia / Android Police

I’ve had a Spotify subscription, but the app just sat on my phone for months, not because I stopped listening to music or podcasts, but because I didn’t like what I was getting.

A few days ago, I tried to remember the last time I used that app, but couldn’t come up with an answer. I wouldn’t have tried to recall that moment had Spotify not changed for the better.

The music streaming hasn’t changed drastically since I left, both in terms of UI and the number of features. Spotify still feels familiar, but now with a twist that made me keep using it again.

I never thought this would happen, but I started using Spotify the moment I discovered the ability to exclude tracks from taste profiles a few days ago.

Here is how that one feature pulled me back to Spotify’s fold.

I finally found the easiest way to tell Spotify what I don’t want it to track

Spotify already had some solid personalization features when I quit the platform. I particularly liked the idea of the “Private session,” a feature that prevents Spotify from influencing your music recommendations.

However, the biggest problem I had with this feature was that it’s an all-or-nothing approach. It stops tracking everything you listen to, so either all of your listening is hidden, or none of it.

I never felt like I wanted to listen to my guilty pleasure songs for hours, and that was precisely why I didn’t use the feature.

I also have the same opinion on the ability to exclude playlists from the Taste Profile. It impacts everything within that specific playlist.

I wanted a more granular approach, and being able to exclude individual songs does it for me.

It isn’t one of those features that’s been around forever, as Spotify added the new personalization functionality in October 2025.

How does excluding tracks from Taste Profile work, and why do I love it?

Everyone loves more freedom, and so do I

It works exactly like how excluding playlists from Taste Profile works, but for individual songs.

So, when you listen to something that feels out of place, you can instantly tell Spotify not to count this song for curating future recommendations. The other thing I like about it is that it’s easy to use.

Tap the three-dot view on the Spotify playback screen and find the Exclude track from your taste profile option. It’ll signal Spotify that listening to this song will have “less” impact on your taste profile and recommendations.

I can finally enjoy BGMs (background music) as much as I want on Spotify without affecting the algorithm.

I can once again play the rain sounds to fall asleep, but this time around, with more assurance, because Spotify won’t assume my taste is mostly that type of sound.

You can undo it the same way. The three-dot view also shows the Include track from your taste profile option for tracks that you asked Spotify not to count.

I included four songs after initially excluding them from the Taste Profile because I ended up liking those tracks. This is another solid reason I love it.

I can finally listen to the complete song without the fear that Spotify might take it as a signal that I might like the music.

It helps you fall in love with new types of music, especially the ones that require repeated listening to grow on you.

If you don’t like the track even after repeated listening, you can always tell Spotify to exclude it. But if you do love it after listening to it multiple times, you can reverse your decision to signal to Spotify that you want to get more of it.

I get more freedom, as it allows me to listen to whatever I want whenever I feel like.

I’m still not using Spotify as my primary music app

As much as I like Spotify allowing users to have a larger say in what can or cannot impact their feed, I’m still not convinced that I get better value here.

YouTube Music is still my favorite, and I use it as my main music app.

Spotify is no match for the value YouTube Music offers. I don’t even pay for YouTube Music, as it comes bundled with a YouTube Premium subscription.

However, I’m equally excited about Spotify, perhaps more than ever before. It feels like the company wants to send a clear message: it wants users’ active participation to get better music recommendations.

YouTube Music can surely learn from Spotify here, not only to come up with better recommendations but also to make them feel right for listeners.

Adding a way to exclude tracks from the taste profile is just one way to do it. It doesn’t guarantee success, but it certainly holds a promise of offering something better.

I’m willing to be patient, because Rome wasn’t built in a day.