The New Music Manifesto
Breaking Free from the Algorithm's GripBreaking Free from the Algorithm's Grip
Do you find yourself getting the same rotation of songs in Daily Mixes on Tidal? Do all your radio stations end up playing the same five artist and song combinations on Spotify? No worries, this is a manifesto of sorts laying out my strat for keeping your algorithm fresh and discovering new music.
Wait a second, hold on. I appreciate everyone who has read to this point, but this one is for the music junkies. This is not a single-source quick fix. In the words of Bob Marley, "It's a journey, not a destination." The destination will be an algorithm that gives you fresh music tailored to your unique taste. The journey will be training that algorithm and the friends you make along the way. I am not joking—make friends on the way.
Alright, so now you're here, a self-declared music junkie. Let's get to work.
Expanding Your Musical Horizons
It's going to take work outside of your Spotify. Remember, your algorithm is stale and on a loop; it's no help in this scenario, so close the app for now. Two social media sites have yielded the best results from my experience (disclaimer: I don't have Facebook). Twitter and TikTok are the two that are going to help you connect with music experts or other junkies who are more locked into tracking releases. New releases are going to be your entry into resetting the algorithm. The key, however, is finding reliable sources that will give you variety in the genre you're looking to grow new tastes in.
TikTok
On TikTok, search a music-related topic and scroll through the first 10 TikToks. Like everything that seems even mildly interesting. A few searches should now add music-related content into your FYP. Pay extra attention to any music content on your FYP page and follow any accounts you find to be a vibe—after all, we are catering this to you. As you can see, this is a process, and you will probably not find a ton of music day 1 using this TikTok method, but the long game of always having random music TikToks that are geared toward your taste will evolve with you. Congrats, you now have your first algorithm working to find you new music.
The Twitter algorithm is not as friendly and passive as the TikTok algorithm. That's fine; I can start you off, and the further down the rabbit hole of music Twitter you choose to go is up to you from there. First and foremost, follow me. I am going to share music that is good that you have never heard, believe it! A couple of other accounts I personally recommend are Terrytalks and Elsie Not Elise. That's pretty much the strategy—find people who trickle into your For You page and follow them. Follow the artists you find as well; artists share other artists.
Make some friends on the way
This is for the ones who decided to travel down the rabbit hole. Remember that these are accounts and people who love music just like yourself; interact and engage with them. There are entire Twitter communities that you can join and Twitter Spaces where people talk about music. I talk in a hip hop one every weekend that is put on by fellow writer Jordan Levenque. You can find people to swap music with or someone just to talk to about music.
Now the most important part of all: Listen to all that new music that your ears and soul have been longing for!
