How do we find new music?
Music streaming services are neatyou can listen to anything, anytime.
It does not challenge your musical preferences or make a run at help you discover anything new.
Eric Nopanen / Unsplash
Even the Discover Weekly section on Spotify takes information from your playlists."
Computer: Enhance
Spotifys Enhance looks great.
you’re able to remove them at any time, and your original playlist is not changedjust enhanced.
Spotify
Spotify
It really is a great idea, and should work well.
But still, you end up getting more of the same.
In the case of enhancing and extending an existing playlist, more of the same is what you want.
Abderrahmane Meftah / Unsplash
But how do you discover anything new?
Radio
We used to find new music on the radio.
Forget US commercial radio that pumps out the same decades-old hits, year after year.
What were talking about are indie stations, pirate stations, and other shows run by enthusiasts.
Abderrahmane Meftah / Unsplash
“It would help immensely to have human elements added to the service.
How do we get that today?
We can follow Bandcamps daily blog selections, which are as eclectic as Peels.
Shouldnt services like Apple Music and Spotify build this in?
One option would be to make something like Apples Apple One radio show, only with less mainstream tastes.
Human-curated, and deliberately highlighting new artists, not just promoting the same old acts.
How might apps better pick songs in the future?
Some of the ideas are pretty wild.
It would help immensely to have human elements added to the service.
But maybe its not so bad after all.
“I actually disagree with the premise that streaming platforms are just giant music collections.
“Streaming platforms are not perfect, but more new music is being discovered every day than ever before.
The recommendations seem to be getting more personal and tailored all the time.”
