Why is This AI Judging My Music Taste?

I'm coming to you all with another one of my "champagne problems". Maybe that could be the title of a series moving forward. Time will tell.

Anyway, a lot of us have devices that we use to listen to music in our cars. From what I know, a CD player, tape decks and eight tracks have gone the way of the dodo. These don't seem to exist in any model of a car made after 2020. I have heard people talk about the lack of this, but we have moved into this bluetooth hookup world while we drive now. That's all well and good with me. I prefer to have the least amount of stuff I can carry when I'm driving around my neighborhood anyway. The less I have to bring the better. So, if all I need is keys, my wallet and a phone, I'm here for it.

The issue I keep running into lately while listening to music in my car, all streaming from Spotify on my phone, is the attitude I tend to get from my AI generated DJ's, or commercial after commercial after commercial. I used to use Pandora and Jango for music, but have since moved on from those. The reason why, I was sick of having a skip limit, or after skipping two or three songs in a row, I'd get what seemed like a five minute ad break. This frustrated me. I'm fickle when it comes to music. I've actually gotten a little more fickle the older I've gotten. I like the music I like and I go through phases of wanting to hear certain songs time and time again. So, when Pandora or Jango would play something different, I was quick to skip. But then the commercials happened. I almost felt like I was being punished for not wanting to listen to what they were recommending, or playing a very deep cut from an artist I had shown affection for at the time. I don't need to be criticized by computers for not liking what they suggest. In fact, a lot of the stuff they suggest is not for me. I'm not into whatever the hippest new pop song is at the moment. I don't like modern country music. I don't want to hear mumble rap. So, if I go on a binge of listening to Ben Kweller or Johnny Cash or NAS, I don't want to hear what Pandora or Jango's bots think I'll like. They have a very, very low success rate.

Moving on from those services was easy because my wife got us all subscriptions to Spotify awhile back. That was cool. I could hear similar stuff as much as I wanted, and check out new records from the artists I like without having to buy a physical copy. That being said, I have been thinking a lot about getting a record player and getting into vinyl, but that is a different story for another day. And when Spotify introduced this AI generated DJ, I thought it was a good idea. I know this may sound contradictory to what I'm saying today, but I've never been much of a playlist person. As I said before, I tire of the songs and move on to a different artist in a different genre. I also feel obligated to listen to a full playlist at any given moment, but that's due to OCD. Playlists just aren't my thing. But this AI DJ intrigued me. So, I use it and I use it a lot. I like how it starts out by playing artists that I'm currently listening to at that time. And when they go into their second part, they play music from different eras that I tend to check out. The problem for me is when they play stuff they think I'll like. Sometimes it works. I've found a few artists that I genuinely listen to now based on the DJ's suggestions. But, when I find artists I don't like, or heaven forbid I skip a few songs in a row, the DJ chastises me. I was doing this very thing the other day and the DJ came on and gave me the third degree. They told me that I could just skip right away or press some button on my phone to immediately get to what I want to hear. Look, I'm all for trying to find new music, but if the picks by the AI DJ aren't working, don't yell at me about it. They messed up. They gave me poor recommendations. I don't need to be yelled at by a robot, of which I'm paying monthly subscription to by the way. That seems like a bit too much. I just want to freely skip songs that I may not want to hear at that time and I don't appreciate being judged for it.

I know it may sound silly to some, me complaining about this, but hey, it happened the other day and it has been a thorn in my side. I just want the streaming services to allow me to consume music how I want. Is that so much to ask? 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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