New algorithms are taking far too much liberty updating Daily Mixes Why not give more power to user?

[chronic_coucher]

Oh my standard 6 daily mixes perhaps one remains relatively recognizable.  The rest have been completely rehauled to include contrasting styles of music (example: Rancid / Punk paired with Manchester Orchestra / indie-folk-emo?!?!) or have been completely jettisoned and replaced with genres I have little to no interest in.  

Here's a visual representation of what I am talking about:

MUSIC I LISTEN TO >  GONE FROM DAILY MIXES

MUSIC I DO NOT LISTEN TO OR CARE FOR > TAKING OVER DAILY MIXES

At first I thought my account had been hacked and somebody was influencing my preferences.  After booting all devices from the account and updating the relative e-mail and password(s) and allowing ample time for this to sort itself out, I no longer consider that somebody could have hacked my account but rather the algorithm has been updated or changed and/or Spotify is trying to make me cancel their service.

Completely gone are any and all hip hop and reggae artists and mixes replaced with an abundance of music I can hardly tolerate.  Music I do not and have not listened to.  Period (I'm looking at you Death Cab for Cutie)

I came here to potentially comiserate and discover if anybody else is experiencing a similar issue as well as to gripe.  Along with wondering aloud on the internet why the daily mixes are dropping the ball so hard and fast.  I had come to rely on them to get me through the day.  A station for every mood.  Now apparently I am only allowed to feel like a depressed loser forced to consume commercially successful music I can not relate to.  

I have been a diehard Spotify fan for going on three years now and have never felt so frustrated with the service as I do now.  

So, has anybody else experienced the same?  Have the algos been tweaked?  Is Spotify now playing 'promoted' music in place of the users choices?

Final thought, why is there no method in place to allow for any form of user editing of said mixes?  Something as simple as 'what genres, moods or artists would you like for Daily Mix 1?  2? 3? etc etc

[DJ-MastaJ]

Hi @chronic_coucher ,

Sorry to hear about your recent problems with the Daily Mixes. They are designed to play and generate songs based on all your activity on Spotify. Meaning your likes, plays, dislikes, added to playlists, similar artists etc. So if your daily mixes are a little off course than where they should be and where you want them to be it's generally a sign that you may not be telling your Spotify what it is you actually like since the daily mixes and algorithms have been updated. It may require you to spend a little time on your Spotify disliking various tracks it recommends in your daily mix and liking the ones you like, also adding them to playlists will help. You can also search for your favourite songs and like them and add to playlists and eventually Spotify will get the idea for what your favourite artists and songs are aswell as what genre you like. For example I like Hardstyle, three of my daily mixes are all Hardstyle music and artists then there's the rest that are Electronic/Dance to suit my needs and wants. But I recommend spending a bit of time teaching Spotify what you want and I have no doubt in my mind that it will give it to you. Good luck. Let me know how you go. Cheers

[Sebasty]

Hey @chronic_coucher 

I too recommend using the like-remove buttons to shape the Daily Mixes.

What else I'd suggest is this little survey - Spotify Affinity. In this you'll be given 10 different songs you have heard in the last year, and you'll then rate them based how much you like the song: "Never!", "meh" or "Love it!".

This did reshape my Discover Weekly quite noticably, I'm pretty sure it will do the same to Daily Mixes. You can also take the test twice or thrice to make sure to tell what you love or hate. 🙂

Hope this helps, have a nice day!

[DJ-MastaJ]

Yes agreed. And thanks for sharing the link to the Spotify Affinity test.
Great to know also. Cheers