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evening sitdown
Your evening longread: How Spotify affected the alt-rock algorithm
It’s a coronavirus-free zone as we bring you an interesting longread each evening to take your mind off the news.
EVERY WEEK, WE bring you a round-up of the best longreads of the past seven days in Sitdown Sunday.
And now, every weeknight, we bring you an evening longread to enjoy which will help you to escape the news cycle.
We’ll be keeping an eye on new longreads and digging back into the archives for some classics.
Ever wondered why some bands you’d never heard of before keep popping up on Spotify with millions of streams?
(Frieze, approx 10 mins reading time)
Because Spotify’s algorithms have consistently rewarded bands with a down-tempo sound, many recording artists have quieted down and simplified their styles, so their tracks fit more seamlessly into playlists, and hence get more plays. YouTube’s algorithms honour those who best embody ‘chill vibez’ with more frequent appearances in the video sidebar and on the homepage. Its ‘playlists’ are endless and their orders are randomly arranged: if I click on Loving Is Easy (2017) by Rex Orange County, Everytime (2017) by Boy Pablo or Pretty Girl (2018) by Clairo might auto-play next, but I’ll hear both eventually.
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