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Re:Etsy Strike by ChrisMarshallNY on Monday April 11, 2022 @07:43PM (#30996691)
That reminds me of an idea that I sent in to Apple, via their bug reporter (you can submit suggestions).

I'm an Apple One subscriber. I only listen to Apple Music during my morning three-mile walk (45-50 minutes). The rest of the day, I'm working, and I don't listen to music, then.

I use their "Create A Station Based on This Song" feature, like Pandora. It generally works fairly well (I think Pandora works better, but they also limit skips -even for paid subscriptions).

I like to hear obscure, indie, music, from artists off the beaten path. I tend to immediately skip, when I get a song that is in my library, or that I've heard a lot (like the song used to create the station). I also tend to skip a lot, anyway, because a lot of undiscovered music is obscure for a reason.

One time, I was listening to relaxing, wordless, techno/trance, and a freaking Lady Gaga pop song plops in, like an airborne gift from a dyspeptic, incontinent, buzzard. The only possible relation to what I was listening to, was that one of her band members was maybe playing a sampler. She's a talented artist, and all that, but that was not what I wanted to hear. It was quite jarring.

Someone is selling eardrums. That was probably an AI hiccup.

In any case, my suggestion was to create "Undiscovered Music" stations, so you say "Play more songs like this one, but ones I've not heard before, and are definitely not in my library."

I would want to hear indie tracks, and songs from obscure artists. I listen to a lot of different types of music, and most of my tastes are heavily represented in the indie space. I often find it difficult to discover music that I'm not already familiar with.

I suspect that if Apple did it, they would sell out. They'd stuff these "Undiscovered Music" stations with commercial pablum; rendering the entire concept useless. They'd probably kill it, soon afterwards, because "Nobody uses this service."

The current push for "Bigger, Louder, MOAR!" is something that does not favor craftsmanship, Quality, or independence.

Re:Etsy Strike by samhw on Wednesday April 13, 2022 @07:19PM (#31021519)
> I suspect that if Apple did it, they would sell out. They'd stuff these "Undiscovered Music" stations with commercial pablum; rendering the entire concept useless.

Why would they do that? It would be massively unpopular, per your own comment, so I can't understand why that would be a commercial move.

It's not even like an indie radio station selling out, because a radio station is at least (usually) an independent competing entity. It's more like a record shop inexplicably filling its death metal section with madrigals.

It would simply lose those customers who liked it, and not even gain any others, since pop customers want the opposite thing (and are already amply catered to) so wouldn't even click on it to begin with.

Re:Etsy Strike by ChrisMarshallNY on Thursday April 14, 2022 @05:15PM (#31033395)
> so I can't understand why that would be a commercial move.

In my experience, "monetization" people Just. Can't. Bear. To. See. Anything. Not. Making. Money.

It seems to be something that causes them physical discomfort, and they regularly destroy so many good things, by trying to make money from them.

Call me a cynic.

Re:Etsy Strike by magicroot75 on Thursday April 14, 2022 @07:54AM (#31025656)
It's likely the music platforms' data is showing them that users vastly prefer explore+exploit lists vs just explore. If you're in the small minority who wants to listen just to new music, there are plenty of curated playlists you could select.

Asking for an all-new list is akin to asking for a HIIT workout plan, but without the pauses.

Re:Etsy Strike by ChrisMarshallNY on Thursday April 14, 2022 @05:13PM (#31033370)
> there are plenty of curated playlists

I've had issues with these. There's so many spammy, garbage playlists, that it's impossible to pick out the good ones (and I have found gems, but it's a lot of work).