Music Recommendations are Icky
I don’t have music playing in my ears 24/7. I’m not musically trained—I can’t sing, play an instrument, or identify chords and notes in a song. Yet, I’m still extremely selective about what I listen to. And most importantly, I hate music recommendations - whether they come from people or algorithms.
I don’t know how to describe this quirk of mine precisely, but when someone unsolicitedly recommends a song, my first listen feels contaminated. It’s no longer a discovery; it’s something handed to me, which ruins the experience because it isn’t entirely mine anymore. There’s also the weight of expectation that the recommender wants me to like it. Maybe I would have loved the song if I’d found it on my own. But now it is tainted by the ick of a well-meant suggestion.
The same effect lingers with algorithmic recommendations, just less intensely. At least here, I don’t owe anyone a verdict on whether I liked the song. But the moment I remember that some line of code or scrap of data is tailoring suggestions to my listening patterns, the song instantly loses its appeal.
I love stumbling upon music by accident - a popular song blaring in a store, or an old classic playing at a cafe. I’ve googled the loading-screen music from games and apps, asked friends about the earworm they’ve infected me with, and lost hours hunting down a single background track from a YouTube video or a meme. I’ve even gotten hooked on karaoke lyrics in languages I don’t speak. After taking a liking for some artists, I've binged their albums and have submerged myself in the decade-long musical transformation they've gone through, standing beside them at every stage, even in their contemporary silence.
This way of discovering music has been deeply fulfilling. My playlist may be small, but every song in it reminds me of the phase of my life that I was going through when I stumbled upon it only to spend hours obsessing over it. Many of my favourites are popular songs, and I'm happy to know that a song I like is doing well among the masses. But the way I found them - organically, without influence - matters more to me than its popularity.
There are hundreds of millions of songs out there today, with thousands of them being released daily. Despite such a colossal amount of music in front of me, and so little in my bag, I'm somewhat relieved. I am happy with what I have and I know that the next addition to my collection cannot be far away.