I don't think the recommendation engines behind Spotify, Youtube Music, etc compare to the recommendations I got from last.fm over the years. The algorithmic ones seem to have a bunch of issues that bug me as a long time music listener and someone with a large music library.

- their memory is short as hell so you can listen to something for a while, stop and then it'll suggest it to you later as something to "discover"

- they are way too biased towards recently listened music and will replay things over and over if you're not actively managing your queues.

- because they're so based on what you have listened to (recently) they suggest things that are extremely obvious music no one is "discovering"

- they suggest the "top" songs from artists, albums, etc, it's very hard to get it to play a "deep cut"

- if you have a large library you'll inevitably hit playlist song limits and other things silently. Each service handles this differently, Youtube Music seemingly kicks things out of my library or liked playlists each time I add something else.

I've literally just gotten in the habit of never using the autoplay features and just starting whole albums from start to finish again because the algorithms annoy me so much. Youtube Music has been getting worse about it too where now it often ignores the music you chose to start a playlist and starts playing things you've listened to recently regardless of it doesn't match the genre/vibe at all.

I just think it's beautiful that I can see all the music I've listened to since 2005 (back when it was still called Audioscrobbler, before the Last.fm rename). And I never stopped scrobbling in all that time!

I love these kinds of stats and being able to see how my taste has changed across more than 20 years, since I was a teenager.

I do miss the old community forums they had integrated back in the day, though.

I’ve completely given up on recommendation engines from streaming services. It feels like they’re only good for creating background noise, not for helping me find music I actually want to listen to.

I’ve gone back to a very 90s approach. If I like a song from an artist, I check out the album. If I hear about an artist or album from someone, I listen to do. I’m also currently making my way through a list of the top 500 albums of all time to find some gems that I missed along the way. A streaming service is helpful for this to avoid spending a fortune or collecting a lot of music I don’t end up liking, but I treat the service more like a store. Apple Music works great for this, while Spotify and YouTube Music were a bit of a mess.

I've felt a serious reduction in quality of recommendations from spotify the past couple years. Maybe I'll try last.fm

One problem for me with Spotify and similar is that I don't use them. I want to be able to track what I've listened to but I only use my own, personal library via iTunes, not Apple Music.

Perhaps I'm wrong and some of these other services will track that but I don't have any desire to use the full on streaming services.

Spotify recommendations are biased because user incentive and theirs don't align. They pay different royalties to different artists, they optimize earnings. Also, they take money to promote music and shove it down your throat.

I use it with Spotify to track my listens and sort by artist, album and the like. It definitely still has value, even for Spotify users!

I loved how easy it was to scrobble from different music services. Haven't used it in years though so I have no idea if that's still the case. Stuff like that usually rots because it's not making someone money.

I would argue it’s still unparalleled for recommendations