In the lull of gigs (there’s not a lot going on locally right now) and buying vinyl (I’m not allowed this close to Christmas in case its already bought and wrapped) I find myself down a regular rabbit hole on Spotify where I can while away way too much time discovering new songs and hopefully new bands with a collection of tracks that simply catch my attention. Not always successful and I often end up revisiting old bands that I have not listened too for a while. There is so much choice right now and for me that is a great thing, or is it?
I read about a psychology theory called ‘The ‘Paradox of Choice’ which led me to an article on Forbes which I have taken a few quotes from in the post. The first being….
Over the years, music consumption changed while discovery did not. Listeners graduated from records to cassettes and, finally, CDs. But in 2003, everything changed. With “1000 songs in your pocket”, Apple transformed the music industry with the release of iTunes and the iPod. Not only did iTunes change music consumption, but it also took the first step toward changing music discovery.
Enter Spotify. Today, it has over 456 million monthly active users, with the largest percentage of streamers, owning 34% of the entire market. What iTunes did to music consumption, Spotify did to music discovery. After all, having 200 years’ worth of songs means little if the experience is akin to drinking from a fire hose. – Forbes.com
I love this phrase “having 200 years’ worth of songs means little if the experience is akin to drinking from a fire hose” and I get it, all too often I end up with way too many tabs open in my browser as its easier to revisit pages that way than rely on the history or my memory when I’m surfing the internet. If I visit my ‘liked’ songs on Spotify it’s an almost unlistenable playlist, especially in the car journey shared with others. It’s a growing list that I really need to housekeep at some time, a proportion of which I will just unlike as I know my ‘taste in music’ will just double tap that Airpod or push the volume knob to the right in the car to skip. It’s the same as filling your shopping basket in the supermarket then leaving a selection of items at the till before you pay.
Finding your next favorite song is more complex than turning on the radio and putting on your favorite station. For many years, finding music involved actively looking for music online—and naturally, you gravitated towards genres you were already predisposed to. But as choices rack up, so do your mental batteries. – Forbes.com
Today, everything the consumer needs is within reach of her fingertips. Yet, with the increase in the production of goods, and therefore branding and differentiation, consumers are ironically crawling backward, once again foraging through hundreds, even thousands, of options. This phenomenon is called the paradox of choice: the more effort consumers put into choosing, the less they enjoy the experience. – Forbes.com
Do I enjoy the experience, or has it just become a chore of life, well of course it hasn’t, I still enjoy looking for new music wherever it comes from. This past year I’ve been taken aback by more than one support act that I saw just by chance they were given a slot. I have heard songs I had missed by allowing the Spotify algorithm to wander off and play songs it thinks I would like; these may be album tracks from albums I haven’t bought but then do. Or the occasional Shazam if I hear songs during the plethora of TV we are bombarded by daily. American TV can an amazing place to discover new bands
“Freedom of choice” leads people to feel powerless and frustrated, because choosing ‘one’ among many other options means giving up the rest of the opportunities. At the same time, since people can easily change and replace the choice, the absolute value of making a choice no longer exists. – Schwartz 2004
The absolute value of choice no longer exists? It does but depends on what is the value? Yes, it is like playing Spotify roulette, there is a chance you may miss something great but at the same time discover something else, you may subconsciously give up, revert to type and play a safe existing playlist that still gives you a smile as it is the music you like.
There are no rules to this, and you may be reading this thinking I’m overthinking the process, will of course I am, the idea that my free thinking irrelevant to anybody else but me deep dives into Spotify is actually beholden to published theory does make me overthink it, but, the absolute value is the occasional gem that is discovered, its getting harder and harder but they are still around. I can still remember where I was the first time I heard certain bands over the years and that’s worth my own ‘paradox of choice’.
Just a think piece – an article in a newspaper, magazine, or journal presenting personal opinions, analysis, or discussion, rather than bare facts.
