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Radio Algorithm is busted. Song Voting is gone.

Radio Algorithm is busted. Song Voting is gone.

 

Plan

Premium

Country

US

Device

Samsung Galaxy S10

Operating System

 Android 

 

My Question or Issue

This is my second post on this issue.

My previous was beginning of last year.

 

Spotify has removed the Radio algorithms from their platform  it seems.  

There is no way to upvote or downvote songs anymore, on any radio station or playlist for that matter, outside of Discover weekly (which, as the name implies, only updates once a week).

 

This change really affects us long time users. I've had the platform for many years now, and all that work I put into my algorithms is wasted...

I have playlists with over 1000 songs that have been tailored to my liking, and now they are stagnant.

 

Not to mention those radio stations introduced me to so many new artists and genres over the years.

There is now no viable way to find new music outside of Discover Weekly, which so far has been a huge bust (we are talk 2 songs out of 50 I have enjoyed or hadn't heard).

 

Not only am I upset the algorithms are gone,but also upset for everyone looking to continue their search for new music based on their previous set lists.

 

I canceled my subscription for 6 months, and have recently returned to give this platform another try, only to be presented with the same issue, but worse. Now they have turned ALL artist radios into set list, and these grow stale fast, and do not mold themselves to your preference because there are no voting tools for any songs...

 

What happened to this wonderfull app is a crime against humanity..

 

7-9-2020 update:

 

Still no update to the platform to allow for voting.

I have been using the "radio" features for artists but the selection is a set playlist and whoever is building these playlists are sticking close to the cuff when adding other artist. The radio function is VERY similar to the "This Is" function, so you hear the artist selected and songs they feature on. 

 

Conclusion, I have turned to NPR Tiny Desk, YouTube, friends, strangers, etc to find new music. Spotify has increased its library of artists in some areas, but finding them is up to you.

 

11-29-2020 Update:

 

Still no significant changes to the platform in the way of radio.

I have begun to experiment on ways to find new artists. Here is what i have found outside of the radio:

 

1. going to the "canned" setlists Spotify offers and starting "radio" setlists from individual songs ( I stress songs here, not the artist).

 

2. Searching for b-list artists you know from the home screen and starting an artist radio from there. You are less likely to find a lot of new artists this way, but can revert back to the song radio strategy when you see any new name.

 

3. Starting a radio station off of any newly released album.

 

The pickings are slim folks. On some of my more robust playlists, I have been able to find 2 new artists by starting a radio off of my own playlist. It took about an hour or skipping through songs I knew but I did find something.

 

I have also started creating playlists with more obscure artists exclusively to see if this pulls in some new content. Will bring results to next update.

 

Will continue to update.

 

8-16-2021 Update:

Not a bunch to report folks. 

Have been listening away here, but still a lot of the same old tactics to dig up new music.

 

The "canned playlists are still here and have a set length as well. They also do not seem to update, so whatever artist radio list you get seems finite.

 

It is easier to find relatable artists in really broad and popular music genres. I have an Old School R&B list and the options are endless when digging into artist radio stations, but that just because of the music catalogue offered is massive.

 

For metal, it is still hard to dig up new artists.

 

For rap, the system seems to only trend towards "popular" songs. It almost feels as if I am being given songs that are paid for their place in line and have to spend quite a bit of time to find something not at the top of the billboards. 

 

Will report back when something new and positive comes.

 

 

 

Reply
8 Replies

Hello @alfredjdavisjr,

 

Thanks for getting in touch!

 

Spotify can learn about your listening behavior without needing a Like or Dislike. We do this by looking at what you have saved, what you listen to often and what songs you skip.

 

At Spotify, weโ€™re often testing and launching improvements and new features. 

This means you might see something on the app your friend doesnโ€™t, or get a new feature to try temporarily. To make a suggestion or leave feedback, go to the Ideas section.

 

Let us know if you have further questions. Have a nice day.

Hello,

 

Thank you for the response. 

I have switched back to premium and plan on giving this a try. I have started to look for ways to locate new artists across the many genres of music I listen to.

 

I also would like to ask if you know of other ways to "teach" my profile to include more artists, recommend similar playlists, or if there are spotify generated features that would allow me to explore genres based on my activity?

I noticed that the algorithm for searches has possibly changed? Is there any comment as to whatโ€™s gone on there.

 

as another longtime user of 10 yrs now, I noticed that when searching for my favorite songs, Iโ€™m required to include more detailed information. Where, even a year ago, the search field would que up the songs the system knew you liked and have played, it seems as though now, the system first shows the general โ€œmost popularโ€ titles. That is, until I type in the entire song name and the first few letters of the artist. It used to just pop up first!

 

using mobile version, desktop and tvOS version on Apple devices all currently up to date with latest software... iPhone 11 Pro Max

Plz improve the radio recommendations instead of giving same songs again and again as recommended songs.

I have also been a premium user for quite a while and one of my favorite artists is Tech N9ne. YET you guys somehow still play Insane Clown Posse in his artist radio EVEN THOUGH I skip it every single time. Bring back the liking and disliking because your algorithm doesn't work. I found this stupid response because I have had enough of not being able to customize. You know how I definitely know it doesn't work? When I play some of my artist radios, IT IS ALWAYS THE SAME. You guys seem to be going down the hole that YouTube has gone down. You're so popular, you don't care what your users actually want.

Spotify song/artist radio all are messed up in India. Spotify algorithm doesn't even play similar songs when a song ends.
Here are some songs:
https://link.tospotify.com/7uYLKLTfMbb
https://link.tospotify.com/WzICKEVfMbb
https://link.tospotify.com/uTIreEWfMbb
https://link.tospotify.com/zJVaLOXfMbb

All these songs radio playlists are full of random songs which don't have anything to do with the above songs. There a lot of Indian songs like these in which the song radio playlist are full of random songs out of the genre

Hey there folks,

 

Thank you for your posts here in the Community.

 

We're constantly aiming to improve our features so we hope youโ€™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.

JeremyModerator
Help others find this answer and click "Accept as Solution".
If you appreciate my answer, maybe give me a Like.
Live, love, laugh and listen to music ๐Ÿ™‚

I have to agree. The "radio" feature is horrible now. It keeps suggesting music wildly outside of any genre that I listen to. Its like the whole service is broken suddenly. Removing the "thumbs down" to stop it from playing horrible lame album oriented rock at me (I'm a jazz nerd) is the worst decision ever, Spotify. I HATE THAT YOU REMOVED THE THUMBS UP/DOWN FEATURE. I HATE THE BROKEN ALGORITHM. WHY WOULD YOU TRASH YOUR BEST FEATURE?

 

 

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