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.