The Miscellany News

Does an algorithm pick new music for you? If you are a Spotify user like me, the answer might be yes. 

When I open the app, I am confronted with algorithmically curated “Picked for you” and “New releases for you.” Other times, I will see “Your top mixes,” “Recents” or “Made for Clara.” The common denominator is that it is all music specifically selected for my tastes based on what I already listen to. A shuffling of the same artists over and over, the same genres, with only a handful of actually new-to-me songs. Yet, even those supposedly new songs always seem like they come from listeners like me, keeping me in the endless loop of liberal arts indie kids who enjoy Big Thief and Alex G. 

It was not always like this! I did not have Spotify until the pandemic. For a while, my family used Napster and, before that, Rhapsody. Yet, these services never felt like the driving force of our music life. What really felt like the fixture of my childhood was the radio. 

My mom and I had a long drive to school every day for years, and we would faithfully tune into the local Philly radio station, WXPN, at 7 a.m. every day. Kristen Kurtis, the morning DJ, became a familiar companion. On Friday nights, we listened to the station’s show, Funky Friday, and as a little kid, I tuned into “Kid’s Corner” on Monday nights. 

Over time, my dad discovered the world of streaming radio, expanding our radio world. When I recently asked him about his love of streaming radio, I expected a story set in the 2000s, stumbling across a new web page. Instead, he told me about his childhood, sitting in the living room and tuning into world music through shortwave radio. The technology allowed for international broadcasting and experienced its heyday between 1960 and 1990. He recalled dialing between stations and encountering stations from faraway countries, opening up his musical world. Since the beginning, he valued how radio could introduce us to music we would never otherwise encounter. 

And so, over time, KCRW, a station located in Santa Monica, became the constant soundtrack to our kitchen. KEXP, a Seattle-based station, soon followed. As we listened, favorite DJs emerged: Novena Carmel of KCRW and John Richards’ daily motivation and eclectic rock on KEXP. We have also always been fans of college radio, and our wackiest finds often come through the airwaves of WPRB, Princeton’s station. Many of my playlists feature songs my Dad Shazamed while listening to the college station. Now, at Vassar, I turn on WVKR anytime I am driving around the area. 

Listening to independent radio takes you outside of your bubble of comfortable music. It is an expansive experience—you never know what will play next—and makes your musical world richer. While algorithms are hesitant to recommend anything you might dislike or find bizarre, a radio show can include all sorts of unexpected tracks. For me, loving the radio embodies valuing “big ears:” listening from a place of curiosity and openness, asking your brain to consider new sounds, new cultures and providing opportunities to find new artists and go down new rabbit holes. I love the jolt of joy I get from finding a song I have never heard before that makes me want to dance. And I love the joy of the randomness of the radio—it feels almost divine to hear a song you have not heard in years on a weekend afternoon in the car. 

But besides just making you a more dynamic person, I think valuing radio fights the internet brain-rotification of our lives. Algorithm-driven services like Spotify are trying to push you into a niche so they can market to you better. More and more, AI-generated songs and even whole bands are appearing on the platform, generating streams and slipping into playlist recommendations. This new descent towards AI can make music consumption on these apps feel less real, less human and more boring. 

Contrastingly, independent radio stations are powered by human DJs, with all of their idiosyncratic tastes. Though it might seem dramatic, I am arguing that hanging on to the radio is part of retaining our humanity in an increasingly online and corporate-driven world. For me, the radio feels like tuning into a larger human community, whereas my Spotify feels more individualistic and untethered. 

For independent radio, this is by design. They are always supported by listener membership in some capacity, making them a place more intentionally designed for you. Their curation includes on-air requests from listeners, people calling in, commentary from DJs and the physical community when stations plan shows and events. To enjoy these spaces, we must actively commit to them. 

I do still love my Spotify account, but I try to balance this by going to KCRW’s new music playlist before I check out my over-personalized “Release Radar.” There are also a lot of Spotify users who are making a name for themselves through curated playlists. The user “margeaux” is a good example of this. She posts “what I’m listening to now” playlists chock-full of diverse sounds, along with more themed collections as well. I think profiles like hers can play the DJ role within streaming, adding that aspect of diverse human taste and community. In addition, I will look to magazines and sites like Pitchfork or The Line of Best Fit for new reviews, but I still gravitate towards reading about artists I already know. The surprise aspect of the radio cannot be beaten. 

So the next time you feel like your recent playlist is not hitting anymore, I encourage you to tune into your local radio. Stations streaming online make it easier than ever, and WVKR has lots of great student shows. You might just find your new favorite artist!