I've found so much music through its radio recommendations, it's "artists like this", getting into a new genre via its curated playlists.
The primary value proposition to me of Spotify is to not be a dumb pipe, but to actively assist me in discovering new music I like.
There are lots of services I could choose to access music through (Apple, Amazon, Tidal, etc.), if all I wanted was a dumb pipe. I pick Spotify because of how much better its recommendations are over the other services, in my experience.
But that's not taking away any choice, it's only adding to it. Sometimes I choose to listen to stuff I know I like, and Spotify algorithms play zero part in that. Sometimes I want new stuff, and Spotify algorithms and playlists are a huge help. They're not "dictating" anything to me, because I'm actively choosing to use them.
> The primary value proposition to me of Spotify is to not be a dumb pipe, but to actively assist me in discovering new music I like.
> Everything I listen to on Spotify is based on what I chose to listen to.
I'm not saying these contradict, but you are in fact allowing a corporate entity to dictate your music taste on some level. Payola means certain artists pay to get prioritized to you. Maybe it doesn't work on you! Maybe you like this. Maybe your taste surrounds an area of music where payola isn't a problem. All of these are possibilities.
To me, that's a very large problem. To you, that's what you're paying for. That's fine, but we're going to continue to disagree over whether or not Spotify is destroying the music industry and music culture. To me, this is exactly the opposite of how technology should assist in connecting artists to listeners and paying artists.
But whatever; we really have no say at the end of the day, we're kind of just stuck with what we have.
> but you are in fact allowing a corporate entity to dictate your music taste on some level.
I think that's a very weird way of characterizing it.
That's like saying, when I choose to watch a movie at the theaters, I am in fact allowing a corporate entity to dictate what I watch for the next two hours.
True in some sort of technical sense I suppose. But I still chose to watch the film in the first place. So I don't really know what there is to complain about.
(And I haven't noticed any kind of payola in Spotify radio recs or related artists -- but that would definitely be a decrease in quality that could send me to another service. In their editorial playlists, I don't mind though -- I assume it's editorial rather than algorithmic from the start.)
> That's like saying, when I choose to watch a movie at the theaters, I am in fact allowing a corporate entity to dictate what I watch for the next two hours.
You absolutely are. That's the entire point of trailers.
EDIT: my reading comprehension is poor. Yes, you have to opt in to watching the movies and in this sense you're 100% correct that corporate money isn't dictating what you watch. I think it's a little different in that it's much easier to miss out on music whereas movies can spend more on advertising than they do on production.
I'm not saying this is even avoidable, either. It's just super depressing.
That's the absolute last thing I want.
I've found so much music through its radio recommendations, it's "artists like this", getting into a new genre via its curated playlists.
The primary value proposition to me of Spotify is to not be a dumb pipe, but to actively assist me in discovering new music I like.
There are lots of services I could choose to access music through (Apple, Amazon, Tidal, etc.), if all I wanted was a dumb pipe. I pick Spotify because of how much better its recommendations are over the other services, in my experience.
But that's not taking away any choice, it's only adding to it. Sometimes I choose to listen to stuff I know I like, and Spotify algorithms play zero part in that. Sometimes I want new stuff, and Spotify algorithms and playlists are a huge help. They're not "dictating" anything to me, because I'm actively choosing to use them.