How did I not know there was an add to Spotify button on Tik Tok and this whole time I’ve been saving vids of the song – (A Tik Tok post)
It is an interesting way to view music, maybe not to some but I am from the generation that relied on specific radio shows presented by the likes John Peel and Steve Lamacq to find new music. There is an element of leaving the discovery of new music up to chance, and by what Tik Tok deems pertinent to their platform, especially after the “More music leaving TikTok over Universal Music row.” – BBC
The culture of music has changed exponentially over the last 20 years, last 2 years even. Steaming has been a major contributor to that, and I am certainly not against it. One of my all-time musical heroes Mr Johnny Marr summed it up perfectly.
‘I understand the appeal of walking down the street, and thinking of a song, and putting your finger on a piece of glass, and it appearing in your ears,’ – Metro
‘If you offered that option to me as a 12-year-old I would have said, “well build a time machine and put me in it!” He confessed: ‘I use those platforms so as a music fan I really get it, but it does have consequences, but I don’t want to turn back time – you just have to adapt.’ – Metro
You just have to adapt!
What I find interesting is the way we, the fan, the listener adapts. I personally love the algorithm, when a playlist runs out and it starts suggesting songs, often tracks I have not heard in a while and sometimes new artists that I discover. Only the other day I got I the car and selected the ‘liked songs’ on Spotify and what a list, not all good but good enough for me to save for later. Likewise, my Shazam list, Shazam is the gift that keeps on giving, out and a bout, an obscure remix track or a chosen song for a scene on TV it is all knowing, just needs occasional housekeeping to update the playlists on streaming from it.
But I trawl Spotify the same was I trawl record shops, one is just a lot cheaper than the other so I’m always searching, for what I do not know? I find myself on YouTube from time to time watching ‘What’s in My Bag?’ The series features musical artists and ‘tastemakers sharing what they found at Amoeba Music in California. There are some great suggestions of bands I would never otherwise come across and to visit an episode armed with a mobile phone and Spotify, the musical world can be your oyster!
The new generation, and I’m not going to start the debate on music, Gen Z, Boomers, Gen X, Millennials etc as we are all fans of music, and we are all products of our musical growth which differs a lot between and within all generations. The new generation of musical discovery as in ‘right now’ leaves us with a multitude of options. But to be led by social media is an oddity to me? We are pretty much all on social media, although not all on all as that can be generational. Social media, it’s a platform, but surely, you’re led by the culture that surrounds you? the bars and clubs you attend although for a younger audience that is all tied into socials and influenced from, it’s a strange world and I have written the word generations way too many times in this paragraph!
I was reading an article on SageMusic which made some interesting points to think about, pretty much already known points but they put it all together well.
“The complete saturation of the musical landscape can be observed simply by scrolling through the new releases section on any music-based website.“
So thanks to the ability to record and release via these platforms without a record company or a record deal we have a lot of musical voices out there, which is a good thing!
“And all metrics are recorded, every artist, every album, every song, every like, it’s all their for the companies to see!” “We also know that this data is currently used to find “gaps in the marketplace,” where the desire of listeners is not being fully met. It does so by using metrics ….. then attempts to fill those market gaps with new or similar artists.” – SageMusic
“This recorded data and the patterns that emerge from it, it will eventually become possible for Spotify or any company with access to this information to input it into an A.I. based machine.” – SageMusic
So you could leave it all up to Spotify or other streaming platforms to tell you what to listen to, not because you asked, but because your streaming history puts you in a demographic category that is linked with one of their “gaps in the marketplace” and subsequently your social channels contain content chosen by their Ai, clips and videos based as much on what you think you like, but more so on what the streaming giants Ai decided it knows you want.
It’s a really complicated modern version of a respected radio DJ taking the time to listen to new music, then presenting it and ‘talking it up’ on a show that you listen to with the purpose of finding ‘new music’. Is the modern world that different.
Sorry no answers here just a rambling think piece.
