Blog1 min read
On algorithmic recommendations
The algorithm knows what you usually listen to. It doesn't know what you're doing.
Streaming services are very good at telling you what you'll probably like next. They are not very good at telling you what would be good for you in a particular room. The algorithm doesn't know what you're doing. It only knows what you usually listen to.
For most uses this is fine. The discover-weekly type playlists are perfectly serviceable in the kitchen or the car. Where they fall down is the rooms on this site — they aren't optimised for sleep or focus or for any specific use; they're optimised for engagement. Engagement, in music, often means surprise, and surprise is exactly what these rooms can't afford.
A curated room is the opposite of an algorithmic feed. The algorithm asks: what would keep you here. The room asks: what would let you forget you put music on. Those are different questions, with different answers.
None of this is a complaint about the technology. The algorithms are good at the job they're trying to do; it just happens to be a different job. The five rooms exist in part because some listening is better off being made by a person who knew, in advance, what the music was meant to be for.