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Creator of everynoise.com laid off from Spotify

everynoise.com

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Re: Creator of everynoise.com laid off from Spotify

#21

Post by Aeolun »

goatbrain wrote: post #7

As an aside - but not completely, because it speaks to incidents such as this re Spotify... but have people been noticing a deterioration in the Spotify experience recently? For example, the UX of the app getting too complicated; the algorithms no longer have the "delightful serendipity" they used to, etc and so on. I suppose that is to be expected from any behemoth (especially one that is not particularly profitable…

I think this is more a matter of me having already heard all the songs in a certain genre over time? I mean, I feel it's getting worse, but only because I keep hearing the same things.

Re: Creator of everynoise.com laid off from Spotify

#22

Post by Aeolun »

supertofu wrote: post #20
goatbrain wrote: post #7

As an aside - but not completely, because it speaks to incidents such as this re Spotify... but have people been noticing a deterioration in the Spotify experience recently? For example, the UX of the app getting too complicated; the algorithms no longer have the "delightful serendipity" they used to, etc and so on. I suppose that is to be expected from any behemoth (especially one that is not particularly profitable…

The UX changes every other month it seems, which is upsetting and jarring every time. Lately, the app keeps forcing me to update my password which is annoying. I miss the heart button. Why would they remove it? I never like spotify's "for you" playlists.

Your heart button is gone? Every song I play still has it right next to the title?

Re: Creator of everynoise.com laid off from Spotify

#24

Post by pigeons »

fatherzine wrote: post #6
blakesterz wrote: post #3

They also wrote a blog post on being laid off here: https://www.furia.com/page.cgi?type=log&id=473

"as long as people are just units inserted into well-defined slots, the machinery doesn't need to care who they are." -- nailed it

It's a really good post, "The secret truth of business advice is that it's mostly about how to grimly extract residual value from the luck you already had, and the unearned love you were already unguardedly given, because there's really no method for making more of it."

Re: Creator of everynoise.com laid off from Spotify

#25

Post by maicro »

goatbrain wrote: post #7

As an aside - but not completely, because it speaks to incidents such as this re Spotify... but have people been noticing a deterioration in the Spotify experience recently? For example, the UX of the app getting too complicated; the algorithms no longer have the "delightful serendipity" they used to, etc and so on. I suppose that is to be expected from any behemoth (especially one that is not particularly profitable…

I've always had a bit of a love-hate relationship with Spotify - for the most part it's great, and I'm happy to be paying for a service that provides so much value (and it's a great example of how having a reasonably priced option defeats piracy, for uh, people I know). That being said, being advertised podcasts and audiobooks is super annoying (and yes, I consider "being presented with" as "being advertised" if I can't hide them) as it wastes a large area of the home screen.

The discovery algorithm in general has never been as good as say Pandora, but I guess I agree that it's felt worse recently.

Most annoying to me recently is how there seem to be three different ways to indicate I like a song, depending on which device I'm listening on (desktop app on my laptop or desktop, or mobile app on my Android phone) - I swear I've seen hearts, plus signs and thumbs-up symbols, without any clear indication of any differences. I know a sibling comment mentioned this change, but they made it sound recent - I _feel_ like I've had that point of confusion for over a year...

Re: Creator of everynoise.com laid off from Spotify

#26

Post by fatherzine »

xyzelement wrote: post #9
fatherzine wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"as long as people are just units inserted into well-defined slots, the machinery doesn't need to care who they are." -- nailed it

I mean, I think this is by and large just true. If I am looking for a co-founder, who that person and their very unique combination of skills, perspectives, etc, matters a ton. If I am looking for SRE #20,000 for a FAANG, I need them to do the basic SRE role in a way that aligns with how we think about our caliber and culture. Obviously the person can do that in their own way to an extent, but we're not really lookin…

agreed! at small scale, we are persons engaged in meaningful relationships. at large scale, we are faceless cogs in the machine, numbers on a spreadsheet. being a faceless cog is dehumanizing, stripping our very identity away. how to reconcile the efficiencies brought by scale with the dehumanization it inflicts is a unique challenge for the technological society. I have yet to see a plausible answer.

Re: Creator of everynoise.com laid off from Spotify

#27

Post by fatherzine »

pigeons wrote: post #24
fatherzine wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"as long as people are just units inserted into well-defined slots, the machinery doesn't need to care who they are." -- nailed it

It's a really good post, "The secret truth of business advice is that it's mostly about how to grimly extract residual value from the luck you already had, and the unearned love you were already unguardedly given, because there's really no method for making more of it."

there is the VC casino, which approximates a method. cruel and wasteful at personal level, but so far viable at scale.

Re: Creator of everynoise.com laid off from Spotify

#28

Post by alfalfasprout »

goatbrain wrote: post #7

As an aside - but not completely, because it speaks to incidents such as this re Spotify... but have people been noticing a deterioration in the Spotify experience recently? For example, the UX of the app getting too complicated; the algorithms no longer have the "delightful serendipity" they used to, etc and so on. I suppose that is to be expected from any behemoth (especially one that is not particularly profitable…

A sharp degradation. The UI also constantly freezes now and I've run into a lot of bugs.

Re: Creator of everynoise.com laid off from Spotify

#30

Post by bdcravens »

ilrwbwrkhv wrote: post #23

The pendulum is already swinging back from subscriptions to ownership and on device apps. I hope this little foray of our industry into SaaS and renting software comes to an end soon.

Are there any music download services showing numbers to support that assertion? I know that HN and the like talk about it a lot, but I feel like the public at large isn't trying to buy anything. They certainly aren't canceling a $15 Spotify account and turning around and spending $1000 to restore their playlists.
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