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

[cawul]

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.

[engravedgem]

In addition to the radio, Playlists are now also all the same. I used to really enjoy switching between Spotify generated playlists (like "Salt" or "Sludge") to discover new things and switch between different moods, but now the same songs will be on all playlists regardless of if they match the vibe or not. Spotify is seemingly prioritizing pushing the same handful of songs that the algorithm is SURE I will like - and I might like them, but I absolutely don't want to hear them on every playlist. That's the fastest way to get me to hate them. Every playlist sounds the same and it's so boring. 

[Weebudgiefi]

Adding a button to remove or opt out of playlists that are “made for you”…

Hearing the same music repeated over because of these playlists is driving me away from using the app! Please provide an option not to be presented with madeforyou playlists 

thanks

fiona 

[Riceboygoob]

I've been holding off on cancelling Spotify. Not sure why they keep playing the same songs in the exact same order over and over and over and over and over and over again. No randomness. It feels like you're in an asylum and being tortured. I know all the words to these songs in order:

Adele: when we were young

Lewis Capaldi: Before You Go

Billie Eilish: Happier than ever

Harry Styles: Adore You

Billie Eilish: Bellyache

Lady Gaga: Shallow

Billie Eilish: TV

Adele: Easy On Me

the list goes on. 

Basically, I only really listen to spotify on my drive in to work and home. I might as well turn on the radio than pay for this. 

Don't get me wrong, some songs are amazing that have been introduced to me somewhere, but hammering this same list into my head for the past 5 months and not knowing if there are any other songs out there.

[Dude1]

The "Go to song radio" feature used to be the #1 reason I loved Spotify. It allowed me to discover new artists with a perfect balance of similar enough to the original song and wide enough to discover artists I didn't know yet.

For a year or so, it feels like Spotify creates such "radios" with mostly huge hits that I would typically hear on FM radio stations.

Is there a way to adjust the randomness/width of the way Spotify builds such "song radios"?

Thanks

[Sunnysunsunsun]

Please bring back the old song Radio! These became some of my favourite playlists. Now I'm just listening to the same songs I already listed to over and over. Purpose of using the song radio was to diversify my listening experience. Please update 🙂 

[slugiscool99]

So true. Would be great to have the radio match the start song better than my preferences

[Sneeze21]

Completely agree with OP. Spotify could be a great tool for discovering new music, but it's not. If I wanted to listen to songs I already know I would go directly to their profile or create a playlist or play my "liked songs" - so many easy and quick ways to do this. Why do we need the same familiar songs in the wrong genre played after every playlist ends? It really makes no sense when there's plenty of easy ways to listen to music I already know about on the platform. 

Please bring in a new list of songs related to the original song as the OP suggested. Also, if I play that song, or a similar genre song, the next day please don't just give the same recommendations again -- switch it up and play more new songs. Hearing the same song intro over and over when it hasn't been requested is making me hate one of my favourite songs. 

Any updates on this yet?

[Eddy25]

I have been getting this a lot of late. If I like a song it does not mean I want to listen to it ALL the time. Song radio is supposed to help with song discovery and playing similar songs. I don't want to listen to the same songs I already know, like or play at every turn. If you're using number of plays by the listener in the algorithm maybe reduce its weight. please fix this spotify. 

[bfrizz]

Please give us the option to create a radio station for a song without it incorporating our own listening history! This is infuriating - I don't just want to hear songs I already like - I want to hear songs that are SIMILAR TO THE SONG I SELECTED! This is ruining spotify for me. 

[jdemaeyer]

Since there's been a lot of new interest in this issue in these past days I'd like to mention again that https://spoqify.com/ is a free service that gives you access to non-personalized Song Radio.

I built this as a crutch for myself to get anonymous song radio and it wasn't too much trouble to make it available to other music lovers. 🙂 Through the awesome work of a user it can now even be integrated into the native Spotify client (via Spicetify and its "AnonymizedRadios" extension)!

I would love nothing more than to shut it down once Spotify adds a simple option to deactivate personalization, but alas, despite the massive upvotes on this issue it sadly doesn't look like Spotify cares enough to make that happen anytime soon.