The Impact of Personalised Playlists on User Retention: A Case Study of NetEast Cloud Music’s ‘Daylist’ Feature

Abstract

In China's increasingly crowded music streaming market, competition among platforms is beginning to shift towards personalization rather than the scale of the repertoire. NetEase Cloud Music achieves this through algorithmic playlists such as "Daily List" and real-time "Private FM". This study examines how personalized playlists affect user behavior and ultimately influence the retention rate of users on the platform. This study has proposed different levels, such as the alignment of content demands on the platform to avoid two-choice overload and increase daily usage, emotional resonance to promote the evolution of the platform's personalized algorithm, and social attributes like sharing and commenting to extend user usage. The pre-analysis is consistent with the existing evidence: Personalization significantly improves retention through satisfaction. On the basis of "precision", inject controlled diverse performance to relieve aesthetic fatigue; The co-creation function amplifies the above effects. The research contribution is to enhance diversity while maintaining precision for actionable products, explain the reasons for recommendations, introduce co-created playlists, optimize the experience and strengthen the platform's competitiveness.