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.

[Maave]

I know you guys still have good music discovery. It is just scattered throughout the app and frustrating to use.

• Daily Mix and Weekly Mix are good and I listen to them, but the content grab-bag. I don't get to pick a seed or mood or whatever.
• "Recommended Songs" at the bottom of the playlist is exactly what I want. But it only lasts 5 songs before it stops - so it's not useful while driving or working.
• The "enhance" button on a playlist does well for juicing up a playlist and clearly uses the same discovery tools. But again it's not a continuous listen.
• I can play a playlist radio, scroll past everything already on the playlist, then get new songs. What a silly workaround. And it is still prone to cross-contamination

I'm gunna go nuts if I hear the same 3 songs every time every time I start a radio.

edit: RadioNewify does what I want. Feed it a Spotify playlist, receive a related-but-unique playlist. My brain is so happy

[themoonandi]

a lot of features on spotify now seem an echo chamber, especially the suggestions for playlists

[PrismPuppy]

Agreed. The Daily Mixes, Daily Drive...even the recent mood and genre playlists seem to be all repeating tracks I've listened to recently. I used to enjoy getting a good number of new recommendations and tracks I'd played months or years ago and had forgotten about.

I would even love a playlist that lets you play randomly every track you've ever played on Spotify.

I'm hoping this gets improved upon.

[komodo007]

Opened up a song radio for a city-pop song, it's just full of songs from my likes, not even vaguely related to City-Pop. How does that make any sense? Please change this back to the way it was 4-5 years ago.

[badgersenpai]

In case anyone hasn't bumped this issue recently- it's still happening. Playlist radio, song radio, all of them are just repeats of songs I already have. Show me music that other people enjoy who ALSO listen to the artist, or song, or something! I don't pay for pandora because I like spotify better, but Pandora's algorithm definitely has something right. Super super frustrating.

[skylerberg]

It feels like this got a lot worse recently (or maybe my account just has a critical mass of liked songs). I listen to a song, and then the autoplay just starts playing songs I like that are at best vaguely in the same genre.

[Twisp]

Adding a comment just because how radio works now is complete trash.

Before: Click radio > bunch of new artists and songs mixed with a few from artists I've listened to.

Now: Click radio > 90% is songs I have in my playlists already with very few "new" songs.

[PlatinumMillz]

I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that us customers fell in love with the Spotify that had a great algorithm. That’s why we subscribed to the service, to elevate that experience of discovering new songs and listening to playlists and what not. Radio was one of those features that would give you an unlimited mix of songs you’ve never heard before, and back then with the old thumbs feature, you could tell it what songs you liked and what songs you didn’t so it can adjust as you wished.
 
However, over the years, the Spotify experience has taken a great shift towards trying to constantly feed you the same songs you’ve been listening to for years with no way to adjust your recommendations manually. The radio feature, along with the radio section in the search area, is practically useless since it will play the same songs that you have saved over and over again. I noticed that creating another account and not liking or adding songs to playlists would leave the radios giving me unbiased, fresh songs. But the second it started picking up on what I was listening to, it would start pushing the same songs I had already been listening to, and I also lost the perks I got with paying for premium. In a sense, it’s like it gets  worse just for being a subscriber.
 
I’ve found many random personalized playlists if you type “picked just for you” in the search bar. But that’s exactly the problem. If you keep taking what I’m already listening to and just sorting it into playlists, there’s no discovery or variation. And since they have a finite amount of songs because  it is a playlist and not an actual infinite radio, it basically becomes another version of radio feature.
 
Spotify’s priories have definitely shifted more into podcasts but at least remember your roots. The old algorithm was the reason lots of people including myself loved the platform but it seems like music discovery and music in general is losing its value on here with the constant push to podcasts. At least bring back what made your platform stand out.

[Jamiroquai]

Second

[Itsannaelise]

I’d like to add, I’m in agreement with the original poster. The lack of discovery in the radio feature has caused me to block/hide artists. Songs from artists in a completely different genre populate in every single radio i listen to. I don’t follow the artist and ended up unliking the song—this did not help as i ended up having to block the artist content.