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.

[cawul]

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[Potz88]

We cant find new music (of a good amount) with these “made for you”. 
You can click 30 playlist, from genre or theme, and you gonna listen to your 90% liked music. All playlist look the same. 

The idea of get hooked like instagram with to addict to us, dont work with radio. After listen the same music over and over you just get tired not addicted. 

The algorithm should be improved. Just do like META and copy the others idea. Pandora is amazing to listen all kind music. Sadly in my country only paying VPN, otherwise i would change. Im realy tired of Spotify. 

[HMS1]

Can we revive this thread? I really miss when song radios would recommend similar songs to the one I’m listening to and not just the same 3 songs at the top of my library. I want the option to turn off ‘made for me’ song radios. I know so many people who are frustrated by this. One particular example from recent is trying to find fall ethereal vibes from the Hozier- ‘Work Song’  radio and getting nothing but CharlieXCX, Chappell Roan, and Olivia Rodrigo… not the right vibes at all 😞

[zheana]

This thread needs a bump. It's so tiring that this was posted in 2021 and even though it apparently got enough votes to be considered nothing was done. In fact, it seems to be worse than ever. Song radios are filled with music I already know and listen to and 70% of it is not properly related to the current vibe or genre of the original song that generated the radio.

Please keep the echo chamber algorithm on "made for you" playlists only. Radios are about discovery and exploring new music, it used to be one of my FAVORITE features and helped me find so many songs I love. Now it's tiring and I barely use it anymore.

[xnqy]

I hate this so much. In what world does Playboy Carti fit the radio of the new Linkin Park single? The quality deteriorates year by year, the more I use the app the more awful my radios become. Please, please, please do something about this, this is unusable. 

[sorenrehkopf]

I see this issue is years old now and is still a problem. In case it's still unclear to the product folks at Spotify, the issue isn't that every radio is literally playing the same songs, it's that when people start a radio for a song they don't want it to be customized "for them" based on other things they listen to, they literally just want songs similar to the song they've selected in a not customized fashion. The feature might be working as intended but the way it's intended to work is stupid. I'm literally telling the app exactly what I want in that moment, "songs like this song", and the app is going "I know better, let me give you songs kinda like that song, but also like everything else you already listen to" which is not what I've asked for and invariably gives me songs that I already know and might even like, but are not really like the song I've asked for songs similar to. It's annoying as **bleep** and has had me seriously considering switching to another app at times. Please remove customization from radio generation entirely please for the love of God nobody likes or wants it. It actively makes the product so much worse.

[LadyPenelopeC]

You have described it exactly. Why it's such a struggle to get Spotify to
rectify this issue is a mystery! Maybe they don't want to admit that their
premise of moving towards ever-more personalised content is fatally flawed
because music listening is fueled by novelty, not dull repetition.

[Kitsune86_]

Since some time I have an issue with either smart shuffle or shuffle not working properly. It manifest with 2 differents issue.
I've a General playlist where I put all kind of music I like, with more than 2300 title in it.

1st issue : I used to play this playlist using the "create a radio from playlist" option, to discover new artist. And it worked great ! Now with Smart shuffle, it only suggest music that are already in my General playlist.
2nd issue : Since some times now, when I use either the smart shuffle
or the shuffle, it always start with the same music and the same next music after that. it's not random at all anymore and it's been this way for 2 days now and on different devices.

[Kitsune86_]

to be more specific : I'm playing spotify on android and on windows 10 and 11. I got the 2nd issue on all 3 devices
Windows 11 : Spotify  for Windows (64 bits) 1.2.47.364.gf06e5cee

Android 14 : Spotifiy Ver 8.9.80.581 (last version available)

Windows 10 : can't say yet, i'm not in front of the device.

I've tried thoses differents things : 
- Start another playlist, then go back in my General playlist, deactivate the shuffle, start from the first song on the playlist, activate the shuffle, then click next. It get me back to "Glory" from the score, I click next "Africa" from Toto, etc..
- Start another playlist, go back in my General playlist, start playing the playlist with shuffle activated, it play me Glory from the score, then Africa from Toto...
- I've made the same two test with smart shuffle and I get the same result, and it's even worse than normal shuffle, as the song proposed in between are, as I stated in my first issue, already in my playlist, but are proposed in the same order.
For example t play me Glory from the score, then Africa from Toto, what we live for from american authors (smart suggestion), then Mr. Brightside from the killers etc... and the order never change !
I've close all the apps on evey device and it doesn't solve the issue... I'm stuck withe song in the same order again and again...

[317uf4rkid5vghajy5sr]

The sing recommendation is so bad nowadays, it is getting annoying. Recommend songs of similar genre and type. The recommended songs queue consists of mostly those songs which we listen frequently or have discovered recently. It seems like you don't care about the genre, you just play whatever song we have played recently. It results in same songs getting recommended irrespective of what type of song we played initially, and it is really annoying.

[Drakkus]

I'm just here to add in my 2 cents to let Spotify know this is still a problem. I've recently discovered a whole new genre that I like which is supposed to be huge, with hundreds of artists over decades, but somehow I'm having a very hard time finding new artists within that genre using spotify. So today, I had the idea to pick a song that I thought was representative of the style I was looking for and make a "radio" from it, and got an entire playlist of music I've already heard before including a bunch of 20 year old pop songs that are tangentially related, at best. This is not okay. I've been trying to break out of the musical echo chamber Spotify put me in for months now and it feels like every time I think I find a way out it's an actual fight to get anywhere. I've had about enough with the "for you" algorithm and would like an actual tool for new discovery. "Radio" seems like a great place to bring that back. Please, let us have this.