Tunescape
Music services such as the radio, Spotify and YouTube utilize playlists and recommendation algorithms that continuously present the same popular songs. As a result, music enthusiasts and individuals with a music background (such as those who have studied music or who attend concerts regularly) are likely to become tired and bored of the platform, and ultimately, stop using the platform for the purpose of being engaged in their music listening experience.
While YouTube has “mixes” with a lineup of songs associated with one preferred song and Spotify has “curated playlists,” the former is based on the listening preferences of similar listeners and the latter is not personalized to the user while being limited to one genre. Overall, the current approaches are considerably limited by the most popular songs and assumes that a user’s musical taste is solely based on what similar users like.
As a result, it is difficult for those new to a genre to gain a deep, enriching experience. Further, this repetition makes it difficult for new composers and musicians to reach their audience. This sentiment is radiated on Spotify forums and in YouTube comments of videos titled similar to "underrated classical music pieces."
Although not observably tangible, the lack of accessible and personalized enriching listening experience has compounded effects on music students, and individuals in the music industry. A music student that does not appreciate the full landscape of what they study will have less musicianship and is likely to have less musicality as they progress. In fact, Kathy Dornian, a piano teacher of international concert pianist Yuja Wang once said that she would rather prefer a piano student at a lower level that has an awareness of current pianists’ recordings than a student at a higher level but that is absolutely ignorant of the music scene. Students, teachers and those active in the music industry will likely have to invest more time and resources to garner the same inspiration of nuances in the genre that they would get from regularly becoming more cultured from instant Tunescape music discovery.
In the context of the general public, the more companies are motivated to play songs solely by what the majority of its listeners like (i.e. popular songs) the more equally memorable but underplayed, and perhaps historically underrepresented, music will remain inaccessible to eager audiences. If listeners who want to appreciate a genre are exposed to the full depth of their personal music taste, they will have a deeper appreciation for the art and increase their cultural experience. Tunescape can help music that was hidden, discarded, or underplayed in history be heard. Additionally, Tunescape provides an opportunity for new and emerging artists who may be disadvantaged in the market because of other popular, but not necessarily better music, by providing an opportunity to get their music heard.
