What are you listening to Today?

[inudesu]

i just spent way too much time nostalgia-scrolling this thread thanks to this post. i won't be able to get back the time i wasted, but i do think i found the last time guisslapp and i agreed on something, so there's that...

2007 was a long time ago.

This is a pretty interesting thread to re-visit. Lots of things changed (when embedding kicked in, "y'all should try this spotify thing") and lots haven't.

[arkansasbob]

i also managed to rick-roll myself, so that was fun.

[arkansasbob]

Getting back to the REALLY old original direction of this thread (remember how this started, as a "radio sucks, how do y'all find music" thread) - one interesting way I've been exploring lately for finding new music is Every Noise at Once. It's the spotify genre distinctions all mapped out, and there is a ton here. You can look to see what genres they use to classify your favorite artists to see who else they put in that bucket, you could look at a genre itself, you can find playlists (through some of the offshoot websites) based on what people are listening to in certain cities, genres based on locations, schools, sound based genres, mixes, etc.


I have mixed feelings about genre classifications. They're always weird and arbitrary and often inaccurate or unhelpful. Sometimes they conflate things that aren't what I'm most interested (or disinterested) in. It looks like a lot of these are regional or topical as much as they are about the sounds or styles of the music. They're also sooooooo niche these days in service of the algorithms (and the sheer amount of music available) that it's almost comical (some of these, come on - "stomp and flutter" is one I actually like, but what a silly name). But this is an interesting way to sort of browse around and see what's out there (just like we used to maybe flip through the cds in the rock/rap/pop/ccm bins at an actual record store).

People listen to music in lots of different ways (and find music in lots of different ways). I think that's kind of cool. Lotta nerds around here that get into data and hair-splitting and over-categorizing things, so maybe some of y'all will also enjoy poking around on these sites. If so - enjoy!

I actually ended up finding this because (based on the ways I already listened to music) I always end up with what seems like a crazy number of genres on my spotify wrapped reports every year, even before I was sampling lots of styles on purpose and one year I googled around to see how there could even be that many genres (because I couldn't imagine how there were so many, much less that I'd listened to them). Found an interview with the guy in charge of this and started looking around over time.

as for the actual point of this post, i mentioned earlier in this thread that the algorithms are seldom successful in predicting what i will want to listen to. pandora was horrible. spotify is a little better, but not much. youtube actually does a better job of predicting what i will want to watch/listen to, but maybe it just seems that way because they show me several options at once and if there's one out of five that interests me they've been successful.

genre classifications don't make much difference to me because i will routinely love and abhor songs in the same tightly-defined genre, and there aren't many genres that i absolutely will not listen to.

[inudesu]

as for the actual point of this post, i mentioned earlier in this thread that the algorithms are seldom successful in predicting what i will want to listen to. pandora was horrible. spotify is a little better, but not much. youtube actually does a better job of predicting what i will want to watch/listen to, but maybe it just seems that way because they show me several options at once and if there's one out of five that interests me they've been successful.

genre classifications don't make much difference to me because i will routinely love and abhor songs in the same tightly-defined genre, and there aren't many genres that i absolutely will not listen to.

The algorithms have a hard time with me as well, probably because my tastes run wide (but shallow) in most cases. I've definitely found music I like that spotify (or its predecessors) recommended to me. And there have been weeks where the "you might like this" type playlists worked pretty well. But most of the time it's not so great. Sometimes I can guess why they might think I'd like an artist or song, based on what else I do like. I can't stand letting a playlist keep going with suggested songs (or mixing them in now I guess). They aren't quite able to help me in that way (for one thing, I'm not always making playlists based on the musical genre).

I certainly have NO interest in this new unpopular tik-tok style feed thing they're pushing. Thankfully I got mad about a previous update and turned off updates so I'm running an old version (and will as long as it works).

I do like being able to see the classifications, though. I feel more in control being able to research that way and then make my own decisions about what I might be interested in. Just as another way to explore. You should look around in there some.

[arkansasbob]

i pretty much only use spotify when a song or artist comes up in conversation with my kids while we're riding in the car and it's one they need to hear to become well-rounded human beings. so all spotify knows about me is music my kids haven't heard.

[WWDog]

It's a Beautiful Day - White Bird

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cin0QzuEss

[WWDog]

Louis Armstrong - What A Wonderful World

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqhCQZaH4Vs

[WWDog]

Ane Trolle/Peder - White Lilies

https://www.google.com/search?q=lill...id:rFFYwTTskps

[WWDog]

The Weepies - World Spins Madly On

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4sa2HoXpsE

[WWDog]

Astor Piazzolla - Vuelvo al sur (Koop remix)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKkVciKgOHE

[WWDog]

Zombies - Time Of The Season
https://www.google.com/search?q=time...id:mce2Wp4xlyg

[WWDog]

The Keys Juzzie Smith

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01dmcMKvCts

[inudesu]

RIP Harry Belafonte

[WWDog]

Paul & Ed Simon - Anji (Live on Kraft Music Hall, 1968)

https://www.google.com/search?q=anji...id:1Q0szRvtT4M

[WWDog]

Janis Ian - At Seventeen (Live, 1976)