Chained to the AlgoRhythm: How Spotify Standardizes Our Listening
Does Spotify always play you the same songs? Or, even worse, does Spotify always play you the same songs as your friends?
This happened to me just the other day while working with a friend who had “claimed aux.” I was in the zone, bobbing my head to the beat… until I realized I had heard all of these songs before — in fact, earlier that morning. I couldn’t help but ask, “Hey, what playlist is this?”
He looked up from his laptop, “Oh, it’s my Daily Mix! Pretty good, right?”
Throughout my decade as a devoted Spotify user, I have witnessed the rise of personalized playlists designed to match your “unique” taste in music… but tend to sound pretty generic. Despite my constant complaints, I listen to a lot of these, and I know I’m not the only one.
… so why are we stuck in these listening loops?
First things first: how does Spotify's algorithm even work?
Let’s start with a few disclaimers. First, I am not an algorithm specialist. Second, no one really is when it comes to Spotify (who is committed to keeping things secret).1 This is what we call a black box: a system whose inputs and operations are intentionally kept invisible to the user.2 We are left guessing how the outputs — or, in this case, the recommended music — got there in the first place.
But from my intensive scouring of the internet, all evidence points to a feedback loop. This all begins with Spotify tracking your user habits — like the songs you save or skip, the genres you gravitate to, or that embarrassing album you binge-listened to all last week (you know the one).3 Using this data, Spotify then sorts you into taste clusters or groups of people who find similar artists and tracks appealing and bases your predictions on them.1 Turns out, personalization isn’t so personal after all!
The “loop” truly circles around when you constantly consume these recommendations, only providing the system with “proof” that you genuinely enjoy that music.1 In other words, Spotify is learning your taste so well that it reinforces (or maybe even determines) it.3
What’s so wrong with that? Spotify’s feedback loop traps you inside of a filter bubble, a fancy word for when an algorithm meant to personalize your experience does too good of a job, causing you only to encounter information that confirms your prior beliefs. Think of this as Spotify forming a literal echo chamber, with your music preferences endlessly bouncing back at you. There are three main problems here:
1. The user usually isn’t aware that they’re trapped inside of a filter bubble.4 And why would you ever pop the bubble if you don’t know you’re in it?
2. Filter bubbles solidify the exposure of mainstream musicians, abandoning smaller artists (whom, unfortunately, Spotify already drastically underpays anyway).5
3. The system promotes the system — that is, hits from dominant cultures, effectively endangering minority cultures who speak minority languages.6
Across these issues underlies the ultimate irony: a platform with the potential of expanding our listening tastes to new genres, underground artists, and unrepresented cultures is confining us to the depths of our minds. A platform with the potential to promote exploration and equality in the musical realm is just reinforcing the same barriers as before. A platform that could make us grow and connect as humans is making us dependent on machines.
References
- Turk, V. (2021, January 18). How to Bust Your Spotify Feedback Loop and Find New Music. Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/spotify-feedback-loop-find-new-music/?bxid=5be9e3cb3f92a40469fa5dd0&cndid=48651749&esrc=AUTO_PRINT&hasha=57e1de08311c5ccb83304408b2ad36bb&hashb=179243c5f24a2d9196eb57c29675cecbf0526b18&hashc=80208e51041fb06b4b4023ce53b3108f40a544b8fb433dbe480ef00c854cf79a&source=EDT_WIR_NEWSLETTER_0_DAILY_ZZ&utm_brand=wired&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_mailing=WIR_Daily_011821&utm_medium=email&utm_source=nl&utm_term=list1_p4
- Yasar, K., & Wigmore, I. (2023, March 17). What is black box ai? definition from TechTarget. WhatIs. https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/black-box-AI
- Tolcheva, S. (2022, May 4). How to Break Out of the Spotify Feedback Loop by Finding New Music. MUO. https://www.makeuseof.com/break-out-of-spotify-feedback-loop-with-new-music/
- Ryu Won Kang and Adam Lam, J., & Kumar, T. (2022, August 14). How you may be trapped in a filter bubble of music due to AI. The Strand. https://thestrand.ca/how-you-may-be-trapped-in-a-filter-bubble-of-music-due-to-ai/
- Ovide, S. (2021, March 22). Streaming Saved Music. Artists Hate It. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/technology/streaming-music-economics.html
- Government of Canada. (2019, May 29). Report — International Meeting on Diversity of Content in the Digital Age. Canada.ca. https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/diversity-content-digital-age/international-engagement-strategy/report.html
- Kendall, J. (2024, February 22). From Discs to Digital: The Odd History of Music Formats. LANDR Blog. https://blog.landr.com/music-formats-history/
- Harris, M. (2020, February 4). Save Money in iTunes With the “Complete My Album” Option. Lifewire. https://www.lifewire.com/save-money-in-itunes-with-complete-my-album-option-2438722
- Radauskas, G. (2022, October 25). The Playlist: An origin story like no other that charts the rise of Spotify. Cybernews. https://cybernews.com/news/review-the-playlist-spotify-series
- Spotify Advertising Team. (2020, July). Five years of discovery and engagement through Discover Weekly. Spotify Advertising. https://ads.spotify.com/en-US/news-and-insights/five-years-of-discovery-and-engagement-through-discover-weekly/
- Van Buskirk, E. (2015, October 2). 50 Genres With The Strangest Names On Spotify. Hypebot. https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2015/10/spotify-identifies-50-genres-with-the-strangest-names.html
- Hoover, A. (2023, November 29). Spotify Wrapped is Back Again. Are You a Vampire or a Shape Shifter?. Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/spotify-wrapped-never-going-away/
- Spotify. (2023, September 12). Get Fresh Music Sunup to Sundown With daylist, Your Ever-Changing Spotify Playlist. Spotify. https://newsroom.spotify.com/2023-09-12/ever-changing-playlist-daylist-music-for-all-day/
- Tobias. (2023, September 11). Why its better to release singles than albums on Spotify. Playlist-Promotion. https://playlist-promotion.com/why-its-better-to-release-singles-than-albums-on-spotify/#:~:text=Spotify%27s%20algorithm%20tends%20to%20favor,%2C%20and%20ultimately%2C%20more%20revenue
- Busari, S. (2011, December 8). Spotify founder: I’m not music industry’s savior. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2011/12/08/tech/web/spotify-daniel-ek/index.html
- Blistein, J. (2019, May 24). Is Streaming Music Dangerous to the Environment? One Researcher Is Sounding the Alarm. Rolling Stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/environmental-impact-streaming-music-835220/
- Collins, B. (2022, October 12). How To Stop Spotify Feeding You The Same Old Songs. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/barrycollins/2020/06/11/how-to-stop-spotify-feeding-you-the-same-old-songs/?sh=129158aa44c5
- Q., J. (2021, July 1). Does Listening To Something New Everyday Affect Your Spotify Feedback Loop?. Medium. https://medium.com/the-riff/how-does-listening-to-something-new-everyday-affect-your-spotify-feedback-loop-9aeff86cce89
About the Author
Gabrielle Wasco
Gabrielle Wasco is Content Lead at The Decision Lab. She is passionate about translating groundbreaking research into engaging, accessible content to ensure behavioral science reaches and inspires a diverse audience. Before joining The Decision Lab, Gabrielle graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and English literature, sparking her love for scientific writing. Her undergraduate research involved analyzing facial and body movements to help identify the smallest unit of nonverbal communication. In her free time, you may find her cross-country skiing or playing music in the park.
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