Spotify does not respect my musical taste
“YO THIS YOUR BOY BIG SEAN, INTERUPTING YOUR MOGWAI PLAYLIST WITH A MESSAGE FROM SPOTIFY!”
This has happened to me so many times, I’ve lost count. Sure sometimes it’s the pleather cowboy sincerity of Lady Antebellum cutting into a long set of Radiohead, or Titus Andronicus briefly pausing so Ke$ha can say a few words.
I’m not totally opposed to ads. I’ve done the math, and I don’t use any of the streaming music services (Spotify, Rdio, Pandora, MOG, et. al.) enough to really justify the $5-$10 per month they charge for the convenience of listening to music anywhere. And unless there’s a freak accident where my computer and external drive get zapped by an electrical storm that wipes out the mp3 collection I’ve been curating since sophomore year of college, I really don’t see this changing any time soon. So it’s the free, entry-level Spotify for me.
The problem is the ads. What in my current playlist would lead Spotify to think I’m likely to buy the new Black Eyed Peas album? Every other freemium internet service has figured this out. Gmail’s tenacious robots read every email in my inbox and show ads based on what the content of those messages is. Which is why emails from my mom are accompanied by ads for dog services, “What to Expect Before You’re Expecting” books, and recipies for chocolate chip cookies.
Same goes for Facebook, which has built an entire business on getting me and my friends to list things we like, then showing them ads based on those things.
And it’s not like the technology doesn’t exist for music. Spotify knows what I’m listening to. If you turn on the radio feature, or if you use Pandora or Rdio or any other internet radio service, it’ll recommend similar content based on the specific tracks you’re listening to.
All I’m asking is that they take this technology and use it to pick the ads that interrupt my playlists. If I’m listening to an old Calexico EP, for instance, show me a banner ad for the new Iron and Wine album. Or maybe Jim James interrupts the My Morning Jacket album I’ve got cued up to ask me to subscribe to Spotify Premium.
Like I said, I don’t mind the ads. Just show me something I might have the barest minimum of interest in.
