day 20 script

My experience up to this point, with the curated playlists, has been boring, lacking variety and repetitive.

The RA has really boxed my music tastes into a corner (Some kind of boxing or fortnight clip) The genres I am recommended are mostly house, RnB and rap, and the RA never seems to divert from these genres. And my Spotify feedback loop has stayed rather consistent with the artists and songs that I'm being recommended.

I have noticed patterns in the RA such as the repetitive nature of some of these mainstream artists and songs. Artists like Drake, SZA and songs like The spins and Bad habits are constantly showing up in my recommendation pool. 

Almost like the RA has taken note to which songs I seem to "enjoy" more. Re-recommending them in hopes I stay on the app longer, listening to music/

I have noticed these "personalised illusions", while in this experiment, that have led me to believe the RA is recommending content outside of my personalised filter bubble. 

Playlists like Discover weekly and Lo-fi-House offer experiences that are only slightly different from the base playlists you are recommended. And you've probably already heard most of the songs featured on these playlists. Most of the songs featured are popular on social media or are so mainstream you've probably heard them on the radio.

While I have had temporal changes in my recommendations (Edit in pictures of pop and RnB to House) the overall experience has stayed pretty much the same throughout. And this has lead me to believe that I have been trapped in a filter bubble throughout this whole experiment. 

So  The same genres. the same artists, and a heavy amount of mainstream music. Why

Well this seems to be because the RA is designed to keep you using the application. And by recommending you your "favourite tracks" The RA sees this as the most applicable way to keep you listening to music. 

We still haven't finished this experiment yet but things I am already wanting to see is:

  • More variety in the curated playlists and more diversification in your recommendations 
  • More options to discover new music 
  • and more randomness in the algorithms system 

These aren't just gripes that I have



 have as well

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