Spotify Radio is an Echo Chamber!?!?!

[jkteddy772]

Ever since they implemented Daily Mixes, the algorithm has become an echo chamber.

Song radios are a flat 50 songs now, but if I play an even remotely similar artist, it plays ONLY songs and artists I've heard before.

When I pick a song and just want a new radio, I'm legitimately seeing 30/50 songs I've already saved, and maybe 1 song on the entire radio I haven't heard before.

I can no longer tell the difference between any Song/Artist radio, and my On Repeat/Repeat Rewind generated playlists, they're THAT similar.

I follow over 500 artists to see their weekly releases each week, and my account is 7 years old. It feels like the algorithm has boxed me in and I'm stuck, but it's only been this mundane the last year or so.

I'm lucky if a station or radio recommends me a new artist, and if I start their artist radio... it shills me 40/50 songs I ready know again- often not that related to this new artist.

It feels like the algorithm is actively preventing me from finding new music because it just wamts me to stream what I already like.

Do I need a new account, do they just know me too well??? Does anyone else have this problem? How can I force Spotify to diversify now that infinite stations only exist from playlists? Would love to hear your experiences and tricks for fresh stations.

[bbchops]

Agreed, something seems to have dramatically changed in the song radio algorithm. It appears to be very heavily influenced by my listening history, almost to the exclusion of the original song I started from.
I did a side-by-side comparison with a friend of mine, starting from the same song. Within four or five tracks, they had completely diverged, and were basically just "song we would listen to".
Almost every song radio is like this now. The initial starting song, one or two similar to it, then a general playlist based on my listening history. This is the opposite to how I use song radio. When I start a song radio, I want a mix of music based on that song, not a general playlist based on my listening history.

I don't know if the algorithm really has changed that dramatically, but that's certainly my perception.  It renders song radios more or less useless for me. 

[jaaeeger]

Very much agreed. I'm wondering how I can escape this looping fate without nuking my spotify account. Its extremely annoying to hear the same dozen songs and artists between all of my very different playlists. Seems like a lot of people liked how the algorithm worked in the past, hoping they stop playing music based on what they think I like and play music based on what I TELL them I like (by playing radio for a song). Feels like a huge mistake to remove the "like/dislike" buttons.

[Alex]

Hey there folks,

Thanks for reaching out to the Community about this and sharing your experiences.

At this point, I'd suggest that anyone who feels the same about the way Radio works currently should submit an idea in the Community Ideas Exchange page. 

You can click here to start submitting it.

Make sure you read the guidelines to submitting ideas for Spotify so that we make the most of these discussions.

As a heads-up, it's good to know that the higher the number of votes an idea gets, the more likely it is for the idea to be implemented  

Hope this helps. Let us know if you have any more questions.

Have an awesome day!  

[jaimietheimbeci]

Im having the exact same problem, looking for a solution rn. So far nothing, it seems like its a relatively recent problem, and im not seeing a lot of talk about it. Ive had my acct for years, dozens of playlists and artists, I follow people and people follow me, and I dont want to have to start a new account. But its very frustrating. I followed some song radios a while ago because I liked the music, and now its completely changed and idr what was on them )=

[Emmaje]

Bumping the thread. Every idea made on this topic never get anywhere and I'm sick and tired of every single song radio, no matter which genre, devolving into the same **bleep**ing songs after 3 tracks.
It's been months. MONTHS. And it's getting worse. I'm starting to hate the songs that I used to love, because they're the only things that go into the Song radio. I use the song radio to get new and fresh choices, based on whatever song it is I chose to make a Song Radio on. It's supposed to be based on that, not on my **bleep**ing listening history.

[puma721]

• This isn't just your perception. Everyone on my family plan, and a dozen or so friends have all found this issue. Radio is completely pointless with this terrible update. I can't discover anything new. I could play a radio station of something way out there, that I never ever listen to at all, and it will just be 80 percent songs I listen to regularly. It's awful. I have resorted to just making playlists and adding songs on the recommended list at the bottom because the radio function is literally broken. Why Spotify thinks this is a good change is beyond me. It completely defeats the purpose. 

[Mihail]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for sharing your feedback, we appreciate it.

Note that the radio gets compiled based on the genre and artist of a track, your personal music library and that of other users with similar tastes. So if you feel that it's not getting switched up as much as you'd like, we recommend that you expand your library by liking new songs/albums and following artists. That way you'll give the algorithm a boost.

Spotify also offers other great ways to stumble on exciting new tunes. Once you click on Search on mobile devices or Browse in the desktop app you're able to pick from a wide variety of genres and moods. That will lead you to a collection of playlists  you can use to expand your music collections.

Hope this helps. Let us know how you get on.

[jaimietheimbeci]

But something very recently changed, and it sounds like everyone like it much better the other way. Why the change?

[1238447493]

I have also been a member with Spotify for a long time! Since 2016 I have been premium. There are things that I love about Spotify and all of my many playlists are there so I don’t want to leave, but I’m definitely thinking about it!

Because I 100% agree with this. I’ve been struggling with how to explain why I’ve felt so upset with Spotify lately and it’s because I’m basically having to work really hard to make playlists on my own because I can’t just go to a radio station to find fresh music anymore! Even if I chose a radio station based on a classical artist, it still gives me a bunch of other songs I have in playlists with that one classical song. I mean Nico on a classical artist station? Come on. But basically it mimics the playlists I already have.  I used to use radio stations to find new music. Not anymore! 

Also I play music at work for my coworkers and we all take turns. The radio station function works so much better for my other coworker but she just opened a new account. So I too, feel like once you’re with Spotify for a while they box you in and your daily mixes or radio stations will only be the same 50-80 songs. Which day after day is enough to drive you mad! If I hear TV Girl (who I once loved before Spotify put it in every daily mix and every semi indie radio station) one more freaking time I might lose my mind!!! 

Spotify please please fix this!!! I want to find new music and be able to love this music service again! That was the whole reason I preferred you to any other service, it was sooo easy to find new music. Now I have to sit down at my desktop once a week and really work to find new stuff. 😞 (like I spend hours putting together playlists- I only have two days off, I don’t want to be spending all my time doing this.)

The hardest part is, I never have that joy of stumbling upon a new favorite artist because of the way it has turned into an “echo chamber”. (Perfect way to describe it- by the way, OP.) 

[1238447493]

I wish it was this easy! I like every song that I have ever liked and I listen to many different genres (From punk, indie, heavy rock and classical to everything in between).

I reached my limit with this issue today, when I put on a classical pianist’s artist radio on... the music that came on for the radio station was actually a joke. It looked exactly like my “Sunday morning” playlist that had a mix of piano and some slower songs... but a classical pianist artist radio should not have Nico playing.... we listen to radio stations to find music we DO not know about that sounds similar to whatever song or radio we chose. NOT to listen to music we already have that plays all the time in our playlists.

I actually think the way to get artist radios to work right would be if we all didn’t like ANY songs and then the radio would maybe be at its truest form.... please fix this. I’m losing my mind listening to the same 40 songs in every damn playlist INCLUDING genres that wouldn’t even make sense in a station together but appeared together because I mix genres in playlists for my work playlist...

My husband has started using pandora again because of this. And we have the family plan. Please fix this.

[Jeremy]

Hey there folks,

Thank you for your posts and feedback. 

We're constantly aiming to improve our features so we hope you’ll continue using it and find it gets better in the future. 

You can read more about how your feedback reach Spotify here.

Once again - thanks for the feedback, we appreciate it. Let us know if we can help with anything else. We're always one reply away.
 

[clintsellers_]

Same!!! I thought it was just my account at first. Before this 'echo chamber' (well said), I loved the new/diverse music Spotify would put on my radar. It's been extremely disappointing now. I left Apple music to come to Spotify, but if something isn't changed, I may go back.

[ramchan]

This needs to be fixed. The new radios I see aren't just slightly catered to my taste - they are COMPLETELY based on music I've been listening to recently! Had a look at the song radio for a track I just added to a recent playlist, it basically looks like the playlist in reverse. Totally useless from spotify, giving the finger to the people who actually use their radios to discover music.

[lilypittman]

Two months into 2021 and this issue still does not seem to be going away. This radio echo chamber problem has made me detest some of my most beloved songs and honestly consider if it’s worth continuing to pay for premium if I feel like half of the listening features that I used to enjoy (playlist radios, Spotify radios, daily mixes, other personalized Spotify playlists) ALL PLAY THE SAME 50 SONGS NOW. I have a song library of over 3000 liked songs and am constantly exploring new artists and genres, but this seems to have zero effect on the algorithm. I think this is because the more Spotify plays the 50 songs it thinks I love, the more listens they get, so the more it plays them. This is not a sustainable algorithm. I would love to see my personal listening history either be removed from the radio algorithm or dialed down to the point where it primarily generates new or at least less-listened-to songs. 

[dansommers]

This feels like a mistake that keeps getting worse.

I think the point is that you need a places where listener taste is NOT considered in the algorithm.  This way, people can discover in different ways.  I think the radio is an ideal place for discovery.   

I think you're overestimating that people want to hear "their" music over and over again.  This is boring.  

Instead, look at something like a random / rotating mix of similar profiled users and a their tastes. 

Mix it up.  I'm also stuck in the same-same land.

Happy to do a user interview if it helps your UXers.  

[liljules]

That’s the thing - the radio feature was such a good way to find new music to like. I don’t mind going out of my way to find and like new music, but the way radio stations are right now, it seems like it is exclusively made up of songs that I listen to frequently, and in addition to being overplayed songs by me, they also have nothing to do with the original song I am creating a station for. For example, I  used the radio on a house bass song, and almost all of the songs on the radio station were R&B and soul songs that I listen to heavily. 
So there’s no point to the radio stations, even if you are constantly liking new music smh.

[jwaang]

estoopee!!!

[eoin5468]

Just fix the problem already, **bleep**

[aklp4]

Same here! Since a couple of months every playlist/radio is the same, no matter if it's a song radio, a mix, a playlist radio, everything will sugest the same songs again and again. Please fix this or make it optional!