8 Comments

This is a much more useful and interesting algorithm discussion than the back and forth my husband and his best friend have about Mario Kart 8 while playing and failing to win. LOL.

Seriously, I really appreciate the deep dive into the algorithmic pros and cons when you're an avid listener and streamer. For me the good outweighs the few irritations when a song appears where it absolutely shouldn't. But understanding the why is always a good thing!

Expand full comment
author

Thank you! Algorithmic curation has a ton of pluses but it can obviously go wrong like anything else. Also respect for Mario kart 8

Expand full comment

Very interesting! I'm one of those that uses Spotify's Discover Weekly and Release Radar every week to find new music. Sometimes I can easily pass over certain songs on each list once I start playing them. However, I've discovered a lot of new artists based on these lists. The algorithm definitely knows what I like after several years! (I rarely get any hip hop on either.) Still, I also know I'm missing out on other potentially great albums and songs. Thanks to Substack I've been getting introduced to a lot of music that doesn't make either of those lists.

Expand full comment
author

Release Radar and Discover Weekly are both great imo

Expand full comment

Just why Spotify? We can do better no? Still not convinced over the playlist hysteria. I’ll decide what I listen to and what order which tends to be well, whatever

Expand full comment

In school and home education, discernment of information on the use of technology and also how to apply it should be added as mandatory learning for any subject.

Algorithms are wonderful, but that bombardment or targeting can also be invasive, for better or worse.

Expand full comment

So much to think about and chew on here! And you've been beaten to the punch in making algorithms that call you a worthless pile of garbage every time you open your phone. I believe the collective term for them is something like "social media". 😆

Expand full comment

Goddamn, I knew something had to be up when my jangle pop mix had Modest Mouse on it! I have a lot of vague stuff that I've been trying to zone in on when it comes to genres and whether it truly matters that we get them exactly right, but at the very least we have to be in the *vicinity* of accuracy, don't we? There definitely is something a little insidious about this kind of "algotorial" intervention if nobody is checking the work.

Expand full comment