alt Hacker NewsI think the leading streaming platforms still have not caught up to Pandora’s algorithmic feed from 10+ years ago.
It felt like it suggested songs that have something in common with other songs you liked, while Spotify feels like it suggests songs that are popular with users who listened to the same songs as you did.
I wish it had taken off instead.
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I'm so frustrated with Spotify that I began vibing up my own alternative recommender - I'll check back in with Pandora, I used to love that service. I just presumed it went the way of grooveshark.
That's exactly what's going on. Pandora put a bunch of effort into analyzing each song by a bunch of characteristics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_Genome_Project. They then use that to recommend music that's actually similar, and not just "people who listened to this also listened to...." It's pretty labor intensive so probably not something that the other services are too eager to pay for. Maybe we'll get some facsimile of it from computer-generated analysis now that AI is becoming so capable.
I’ve been using pandora again recently for exactly this reason. Feels like a good dj that is broadening my horizons by exposing me to tangential works. Spotify plays me the most relevant works. So, if Nirvana is playing I’ll then hear nothing besides the 90s alt rock stuff. Usually the same 10 bands anyone familiar with the genre would expect.