Here is a new idea for the radio system within Spotify that could be a great feature...
Currently, for a radio station within Spotify, you can select the song, album, artist, or playlist as the foundation of the radio station - songs are then selected based on the theme chosen. The radio doesn't take into account songs you may have already heard or if you're more interested in hearing only new music. A cool way to amend this system is to institute a radio station where the listener can determine how much content played is new and how much is already preferenced by the listener.
Here is how it could work: The listener would select a playlist to start a radio station off of. They would then be able to select their current preferences for the playlist (all of which will be available to change at any time in the future). Each question would be a slider. The sliders could include:
"Brand new music"
"Playlist music"
Additional sliders could be added, but these two preferences are at the heart of the idea. What these sliders would do is create a radio station with a mix of songs you've already shown an interest in (songs you've added in the playlist the radio station is being derived off of) and the introduction of brand new music within that same genre. So if you're feeling adventurous and want to find some new music, the slider for "Brand new music" would be turned up all the way, while the slider for "Playlist music" would be turned all the way down. Vice versa if you only wanted to listen to songs you knew.
What this system would do is create a radio station with foundational songs you already know, but with an infusion of new artists and songs when you want. Sometimes you want to listen to songs you know the words to (like at a party), while other times you want to discover new artists (like during a commute) and this system would easily serve both necessities. It's more adventurous than just playing a playlist through on shuffle (since there are new songs spliced into the queue), but more personal than just listening to a radio station (since the songs played from playlist are songs you've explicitly stated you like by adding it to the playlist).
The ability of the individual to determine what percentage of new songs vs. old songs they listen to is what makes this an interesting idea. The current radio station system takes into account the types of songs within playlists now, but it doesn't have a delineation between songs you've already expressely liked and songs that are new to you.
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