The problem with the Spotify algorithm
I'm departing from the playlist format to complain about music streaming
A few years ago, I was getting to know a new friend by exchanging music recommendations. I sent them a Spotify link, but they looked up the songs on YouTube because they didn’t want to pollute their Spotify algorithm with new music they wouldn’t necessarily like.
This was five years ago, but it’s stayed with me. My initial reaction was bafflement, because I deeply couldn’t couldn’t relate. My music taste is wide-ranging, albeit not all that wide-ranging. An actual person with some basic music history knowledge can see the connections between the different genres and eras I enjoy, but Spotify’s algorithm has never known what to do with me, so I’ve never depended on it.
But as algorithm-driven feeds have risen to dominate social media, I’ve started to see my friend’s listening practices as a symptom of the problem with all content-selecting algorithms: they interpret consumption as endorsement.
This is the core operating principle of TikTok and Instagram. The way you’re “supposed” to use these platforms is to scroll past posts unless you like what you see, because as soon as you pause to actually look at and think about what’s in front of you, the algorithm will assume you want to see more of it. This has nightmarish societal and cultural implications, but since this is a music newsletter, I’ll set that train of thought aside for now.
I’m well aware that my own approach to music is far from the norm, so I can’t say how the average Spotify user feels about its algorithm. But I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that many people feel some degree of fear about what their listening habits make the algorithm think about them. I know I get offended/amused when Spotify refers to me as a fan of a certain blonde pop star just because I listen to her latest albums to stay culturally up to date.
That being said, I kind of doubt that a significant number of people are too afraid of messing up their algorithmic recommendations to seek out new music. Even the friend who took my suggestions to YouTube ended up liking some of them enough to add to their Spotify library. But that doesn’t matter, because Spotify has built endless tools to keep you from expanding your taste.
On Repeat, Repeat Rewind, Wrapped, those “jump back in” suggestions on the home page: they all function to keep you listening to something you’re already familiar with instead of exploring something new. And at least in my experience, more often than not, the features that seem to offer recommendations are full of songs I’ve already listened to. The message is clear: why take a risk on something new when you can just stick with what you already know you like?
App-based music streaming wasn’t always so unadventurous. In the long lost world of the mid-2010s, I had three different song discovery apps on my iPod Touch. They were all free (or had free versions), so each came with its own restrictions, but also its own mechanisms for seeking out new music.
Pandora let you create your own radio station based around certain artists and bands. The app would then play related music. You had the power to like or dislike tracks, but you couldn’t repeat them, so you were constantly hearing new songs (in theory). Songza and 8tracks both provided playlists; Songza’s were curated by its creators and 8tracks’s were user-made. Both sites limited how many skips you could use within a certain window of time, incentivizing you to listen to songs all the way through unless you really hated them. Since the playlists were made by real people, they were often more idiosyncratic and yet cohesive than something generated by a computer.
The latter two apps are both defunct now. Songza got bought out and turned into Google Music. Initially you could still access the original curated playlists through the new platform, but they quickly disappeared. 8tracks became increasingly poorly maintained until the creators announced it would shut down at the end of the year in 2019. (This turned out to be untrue — you can still get on 8tracks, it’s just real janky now.) Pandora is still around, but I haven’t used it in years. I got bored because its recommendations became more repetitive the more you refined your preferences.
Of course, app-based music exploration is exclusive to the 21st century. Throughout most of pop and rock history, people found new music through the radio, magazines, and recommendations from record store guys (gender neutral). All of these methods still exist in theory, but the modern world has made them less potent — many local radio stations have been absorbed by conglomerates, the music press gets increasingly precarious all the time, and not every town has a physical record store.
Maybe the average Spotify user doesn’t miss personalized recommendations from a real person. But like I said earlier, I’m really freaked out by the implications of only being shown more of what you’ve already consumed. It’s healthy to be exposed to new things, to give something a try even if it’s not to your tastes, to engage with curiosity without demanding instant pleasure or understanding. Regarding music specifically, it’s one of the biggest things that makes life worth living for me. If you’re subscribed to this newsletter, I assume you feel at least somewhat similarly.
I started doing this because 1) I love music, 2) I missed having a college radio show, and 3) I wanted to expand the contemporary network of word-of-mouth music recommendation. I don’t know how many of you actually listen to my playlists, but a handful of people have told me that they do, and it always delights me.
But at the risk of discouraging you from staying subscribed, I don’t consider myself a really serious music buff, at least not in terms of breadth of knowledge. And I’ve been feeling only sporadically inspired to make new playlists for this newsletter, in part because of the ways in which Spotify has negatively impacted my listening habits.
Side note: the domination of Spotify is not inevitable or unavoidable. I use it because it’s convenient, and restructuring my digital music consumption would be inconvenient, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. I’ve been trying to get into the habit of purchasing music on Bandcamp to at least offset Spotify’s shitty compensation for artists.
Returning to the theme of sharing and discovering new music, I have a general request: if my music selections ever remind you of another song or artist, or there’s something you’d like to see more of, or you just want to chat, get in touch. Although I want your recommendations for my own personal edification, I would love to make this newsletter more conversational, so I encourage you to leave a comment below.
I’m wary of sounding like a YouTuber begging for likes, comments, and subscribes, but my goal is less to boost my own personal brand and more to recreate old school forum-style discussion. Together we can resist algorithm-driven boredom!
While you’re at it, let me know how you feel about playlist-free writing like this piece. I’m feeling the itch to work on semi-serious culture writing again, and I’d like to use this space to do more of that, if you’re amenable.