Music industry insiders reflect on the waning influence of popular, human-curated Spotify playlists, as the company shifts towards AI-driven personalization
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg : Threads: @__philipclark , @seaninsound , @ashleycarman , @ashleycarman , and @lazyboyloops Threads: @__philipclark : 5.5 years ago YouTube Music hired away Tuma Basa from Spotify. Nothing against his replacement but I wonder if that has an impact. Sean Adams / @seaninsound : Humans need human connection, not robots serving up more of the same slop. I have Release Radar a rare try earlier and it was bland af and contain Ryan Adams FFS. Ashley Carman / @ashleycarman : “The way fans discovered new music was radio back in the day, then Spotify editorial playlists, then there were a few years where people only discovered new music through TikTok,” one exec told me. “All those things still work ... we're all just trying different ways to make sure songs get to the right people.” … Ashley Carman / @ashleycarman : NEW: Seven years ago, music industry execs credited Spotify's RapCaviar playlist for breaking Cardi B's single Bodak Yellow. Now, execs say the once-hit-breaking curated playlists are losing their might. They've seen streams from RapCaviar drop anywhere from 30% to 50% this past year. … Aaron / @lazyboyloops : Spotify is losing its influence and I'm here for it.