Saved by Emily Li and
Why I Finally Quit Spotify | the New Yorker
There’s an irony here: Algorithms were once believed to untether us from the masses and offer paths for personalization. But “For You” is not about pushing the limits of our artistic palates, but a device to serve us what the platform wants us to be satisfied with, herding us into perfectly predictable siloes that can be targeted with more “precise... See more
Beware the Curators
What’s coming into focus more gradually is how bad things are getting for those of us in the audience, too . Something that’s long bothered me and Erin about the hegemony of streaming is that if you do away altogether with physical media, you put yourself at the mercy of corporate accountants (who might decide there’s insufficient R.O.I. when it co... See more
Jonah & Erin • Streaming is an affront to God
Algorithmic taste, in Peter’s case as a consumer, was both boring and alienating. On the creator side, by contrast, ubiquity can be profitable.
Kyle Chayka • Filterworld
Spotify, for example, has invested heavily in its own curation services — both algorithmic and human — after finding that many of its listeners were baffled by superabundance, burdened by excessive choice and uninterested in charting their own paths through the digital wilderness.