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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

#51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I basically did exactly that.. I canceled Spotify and pretty quickly bought tons of stuff. Check my "collection" at Bandcamp: https://bandcamp.com/amatecha In a casual manner, I allot myself ~$15/mo (or more) to buy new stuff on Bandcamp. As you can see, it's going nicely and I have a ton of music from my favorite artists, also stored permanently on my NAS in mp3 and FLAC formats.

I'll step out on a limb and say that the kinds of consumers I'm talking about think that NAS is a rapper and think that FLAC is a short way of talking about the company with the talking duck. :-)

Re: Creator of everynoise.com laid off from Spotify

#52

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…

Everything is working fine for me, same as the last few years. I mostly listen to weird electronic music in my car with an iPhone.

Re: Creator of everynoise.com laid off from Spotify

#53

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…

[deleted]

Re: Creator of everynoise.com laid off from Spotify

#54

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 algorithms no longer have the "delightful serendipity" they used to

There is a limit to "delightful serendipity". At some point, you will have heard everything you could potentially be interested in but not normally listen to. After that, it will be either not your thing or more of the same.

Also, algorithms don't read your mind, they just match your usage patterns (mostly what you are already listening to) to other people usage patterns and give you what they have and you don't. For example you may listen to psy trance, and the algorithm notices that many people who listen to psy trance also listen to folk metal, so it will give you some of that. And there is a good chance for you to like that even though it is a completely different genre you may not be aware of.

But once all the matches are done, that's the end. There may be a few paths left for you to explore, because you are an individual and not an average, and tastes change, but there is no easy way for any algorithm to find that. The only solution is to go with stuff you probably won't like, so, not so delightful serendipity. Or just give you more of the same.

Re: Creator of everynoise.com laid off from Spotify

#55

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…

Their recommendation algorithm has gone to complete shit. I used to get a stream of good songs I was actually interested in whenever the album I was listening to ended. Now It seems to just play the same 4-5 songs immediately after my album finishes which fills me with an intense rage and has made me hate some songs that I otherwise would enjoy.

Re: Creator of everynoise.com laid off from Spotify

#56

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…

I don't think that's necessarily what the author is trying to communicate.

First of all, "If I am looking for a co-founder, who that person and their very unique combination of skills, perspectives, etc, matters a ton." Is that not just a well defined slot by another name? It sounds like your whole process is slots from conception to death.

"Obviously the person can do that in their own way to an extent", can they? This feels like a platitude. I can't speak to the SRE roll but most places I've worked you might get to choose from a list of pre-written algorithms and a few small UX details. And when you talk about collaborating on larger problems most individuals don't usually even get a choice of code style.

At a mature company I will agree that no, you shouldn't be hiring SRE's for product insight. Unless they fit into an insanely small bucket insight into your product is well outside of their scope. A contracting firm like McKinsey & Company would be a better fit for that kind of guidance. But tech insight? yes, you should be getting that from your SREs.

Also your example "insight" just feels... bad faith.

It's very possible I read into your comment to much and you were just saying "it is what it is". And I agree, it's just that I also think... https://yarn.co/yarn-clip/b097417f-9a28-4369-af3a-6739f1d361...

Re: Creator of everynoise.com laid off from Spotify

#58
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ca…

I'm in the same boat - have been very happily paying for Spotify family for many years, love the access to music, but hate the way they push crap I don't care about. And their recommendation algorithm has never really worked for me. In part out of frustration with Spotify, and in part to hedge against streaming disappearing one day, I'm in the process of ripping my exiting CD collection to FLAC, and buying either dig…

> In part out of frustration with Spotify, and in part to hedge against streaming disappearing one day, I'm in the process of ripping my exiting CD collection to FLAC, and buying either digital or physical copies of my favourite albums.

This is bizarre to me. So to punish the record industry for ruining Spotify you're... giving them even more money?

Re: Creator of everynoise.com laid off from Spotify

#59

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…

Absolutely. It no longer appears to make any effort to avoid playing me the same set of songs in every algorithmic playlist.

I can choose pretty much any "song radio" and the same set of artists shows up. I mean, I like Alice in Chains, but not in every play list.

Re: Creator of everynoise.com laid off from Spotify

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea it's a mess. The heart conversion to plus recently was idiotic. Trying to combine the functionality of two distinct actions was not a smart idea. I also keep getting sponsored shit that I can't turn off even with a premium subscription.

Why don’t you pull the plug then?

Where should I go? I looked at Tidal, seemed like a possibility, but I'm not sure if they have the same selection. I have no interest in YouTube Music, Apple Music, or Prime Music.
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