alt Hacker NewsAI DJs for music feel a bit like AIs writing restaurant reviews. Possible in theory, but fundamentally I don’t really care what a machine thinks, I care about what a human, preferably an expert human, thinks.
I listen to a lot of DJ mixes on YouTube (Hör Berlin is great, for example) and part of the appeal is what this particular DJ picks: what kind of music are they listening to in the country they’re from, how are they interpreting it, what are they mixing it with, etc. For some DJs there’s also kind of a personal visual brand, like musicians themselves.
The idea of an anonymous AI picking an optimized list of music kind of defeats the purpose.
Replies
I can't really tell the difference between the mixes Spotify has been generating for more than a decade, except that the DJ picks which mix and then an LLM writes some DJ patter to wrap around it. I've gotten a lot of value over the years out of Spotify picking what song comes next when my queue is empty, I've been introduced (or re-introduced) to a lot of good music this way but there is no magic to it, its just a ML recommendation/engagement model like many others.
I like using the automatic lists in soundcloud to discover new music. Often its hit or miss but it can surface some great tracks... Its intentional though, gotta have your finger on the skip track and heart...
There's a big difference between a real human DJ, especially one at a live event that can read the audience, versus what is essentially Spotify shuffle with some LLM voice in-between songs. It knows the song coming up next so it can spout off some random words it's pulled from various review sites. It's not really that impressive once you've used it, the Spotify shuffle and the generated song blurbs are the real tech running the show.
Sure, it’s not the same as a human suggesting music. But sometimes people consume art for the art, not for the curator! Both are worthwhile.
Curation is the future, and those with the depth and breadth of knowledge required to do it well will be in high demand. The human touch will become a selling point and attract those in the know.
While there has always been room for middle-of-the-road "content", there have also always been those that seek a higher value. I expect that segment to only grow.