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Spotify & "Song Radio" is Essentially Just an Echo Chamber & Doesn't Breed Discovery

This hasn't always been the case, and I don't know if this has to do with the amount of time I've had my Spotify account or if something about the algorithm has drastically changed - but whenever I start a radio based off a song or artist (which is with the intention to find a NEW artist or NEW music that is related to the song/artist I'm starting the radio off of) it just creates essentially a playlist of music I've been listening to - and not even within the same genre off the song.

 

I've realized that I haven't found any new artists or any new music, and just continuously listen to the same things over and over again which is quite depressing. The point of the song radio or at least how I use it is to discover new artists that are in the same realm of the artist I'm listening to, and I think you all at Spotify are putting everyone - artist AND listener - at a huge detrimental disadvantage by having it go that way because then there is no discovery for new artists and there is no way for listeners to get into new music without scouring the platform instead of giving good recommendations based off your algorithm. More than anything I want to be able to discover new artists based off song radio, not just hear the same songs I've been listening to. If I wanted to listen to those songs, I would just continue to listen to them. Especially since maybe when I start a song radio off something that is midwest-emo/indie, it'll still play hyperpop/rap in the same playlist which are two completely different genre's and moods.

Updated on 2021-06-15

Hey everyone,

 

Thanks for bringing us your feedback in the Spotify Idea Exchange.

 

Your suggestion has gathered the votes necessary and your feedback is now reaching the internal teams at Spotify. They're aware of the vote count and popularity of this idea. We'll continue to monitor and check out the comments here, too.

 

As soon as we have any updates on its status, we'll let you know.

 

More info on how your feedback reaches Spotify via the Idea Exchange can be found here.

Comments
Mihail
Status changed to: Live Idea

Updated on 2021-06-15

Hey everyone,

 

Thanks for bringing us your feedback in the Spotify Idea Exchange.

 

Your suggestion has gathered the votes necessary and your feedback is now reaching the internal teams at Spotify. They're aware of the vote count and popularity of this idea. We'll continue to monitor and check out the comments here, too.

 

As soon as we have any updates on its status, we'll let you know.

 

More info on how your feedback reaches Spotify via the Idea Exchange can be found here.

simplestuff
Great news! Thank you for listening to us. Please make Spotify as good as
it once was.
sarahgriesinger

Agreed! I've found the best way to get around this (for now, hopefully they change it so we won't need to do this anymore) is to make a playlist with just that song or add a few songs like it and then go to recommended. Recommended is based solely on what's in the playlist, so you won't get music based off of all of your other listening habits. 

MightyMacT

I am really finding the same frustration with the "Mixes". The Daily mixes are okay but the huge problem are the mixes for different genre's, era's, and artist's. I like to always have my favorite ones downloaded but they need to change the songs daily. I find myself listening to the same songs over and over without breeding discovery.

ratchet457l

It’s also worth noting that if you put the playlist link into an incognito browser the playlist actually seems really good and fresh like a radio normally would. I don’t think should completely take away all my liked songs from the radio but maybe add a couple liked songs that will fit on top of that playlist we see in incognito mode.

sophieromustdie

ugh yes this feature is so annoying. it’s so frustrating because it included songs in a completely different genre and unrelated artists. so confusing i have no idea why they would do this 

Lisa_morrow

I agree something has changed. I used to find new music and artists through radio. If I wanted to listen to songs I already knew, I'd listen to my own playlist or go to Pandora. 

Mripken

The radio function on Spotify used to be amazing - you were able to play endless, new music related to a song, playlist, or artist. Now when I try to create a radio out of a playlist, it is a limited number of songs, mostly filled with songs already on the playlist. Based on the other forums, this has been an issue lots of Spotify community members were upset with. You can keep the Recommended Radio, just please give us back better user-defined radio. 

neanda

I agree, somewhat. I find when I make a Song Radio, most of the songs have already got my likes.  A bit more discovery would be a very good thing.

 

However, that said, I have found the odd gem.  More of the not so popular would help.  It's still a very good feature, maybe expand the radio out more?

GabeF

My suggestion would be to make a new feature, similar to the current radio but tuned more like the auto-generated Discover Weekly playlist for artists/songs/albums I haven't played before. From any song you can right-click and "Go to song radio" or "Go to song discovery radio."

 

Background

There are a couple uses for a "radio" feature: 

  1. I want to listen to songs in a similar style to a certain song/playlist/album/artist, sit back and passively enjoy. Mostly songs I've heard before, but with a couple surprises.
  2. I want to discover music/artists in a similar style to a certain song/playlist/album/artist, and will semi-actively check on the radio, look up the songs/albums/artists in it, and save them for further investigation. 

The current version of the "radio" feature leans towards use case 1, but has issues with an over-emphasis on the listener's other musical interests (as others have mentioned). E.g. if I start a radio based on a classic metal song, I don't want to hear pop EDM in that radio. 

 

For the second use case, the current radio fails to deliver. But that doesn't seem to be what it was designed for, so it is maybe unfair to have expected it to do so.