Can you help me use Spotify? Because ughh... :(

Cafe Society
1

I have Spotify and on occasion I listen to it for an hour or two and then get frustrated and just quite for a while. Days? Weeks?

I signed up primarily to discover new music. There is a ton of good music on Spotify that is easy to find but I’m not interested in that as if it’s any good and I know about it then I own it already.

So, in my search for new music I end up picking some stream that sounds like something I might be interested in and after a while I just can’t take it. It’s just so bad. The music sucks. Bland, boring, derivative crap. Song after song.

So I pick a different stream. And another. And another… nothing.

There are a lot of streams, so maybe I don’t know how to find the stream that’s right for me?

Here are the most recent song additions to my listening rotation and some others that pinpoint the direction I want to go in:

Age of Consent - Colours
Brian Jonestown Massacre - Anemone
Courtney Barnett - Avant Gardener
Eels - Fresh Blood
Father John Misty - Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Girls - Carolina
The Flaming Lips, Stardeath and White Dwarfs - Borderline
Ryan Adams - Everybody knows
Sebadoh - Tree
TV On The Radio - Province
Anna Von Hausswolff - Singing From The Grave
Apparat - Goodbye
Low - Witches
Mark Ronson - Bang Bang Bang
Moon Duo - Sleepwalker
Mothxr - Easy
Panama - Destroyer
Wolf Alice - Moaning Lisa Smile
Arcade Fire - Sprawl II
Beach House - Master Of None
Beta Band - It’s Not Too Beautiful
Billy Bragg & Wilco - California Stars
Black Angels - Young Men Dead
Perfume Genius - Queen
Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill
Sol Seppy - Enter One
Washed Out - Feel It All Around
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club -Fault Line
Bon Iver - Holocene
Calexico - All Systems Red
Cary Ann Hearst - Hell’s Bells
Darwin Deez - Constellations
Delta Spirit - Salt In The Wound
King Of Leon - Knocked Up
The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio
World Party - It’s All Mine
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold Lion
13 & God - Perfect SpeedPixies - Where Is My Mind
PJ Harvey - Down By The Water
Paloma Faith - Only Love Can Hurt Like This
Patti Smith - Dancing Barefoot
Tricky - Abbaon Fat Tracks
Little Dragon - Twice
Low - Broadway
Grant Lee Buffalo - Jupiter And Teardrop
Infusion - Meant To Be
Rah Bras - Monde Sewer Cholera Net
Raveonettes - Aly, Walk With Me
Robert Pollard - Sea Of Dead
Rubyhorse - Fell On Bad Days
The Lumineers - Ho Hey
MGMT - Time To Pretend
Viva Voce - Business Casual
Wild Belle - Keep You
Radar Bros. - The River Shade
Divine Fits - Would That Not Be Nice
FC Kahuna - Hayling
Folk Implosion - Brand Of Skin
Gazelle Twin - Anti Body
Simple Kid - Seratonin
Stereophonics - I Miss You Now
Tarwater - Across The Dial
Tiga - Plush

Given my tastes, what Spotify stream(s) do you recommend?

Thanks for the help!

2

I assume you tried the Indie Genre radio station. Of the 15 songs that loaded immediately for me on the playlist, I see Father John Misty, Beach House, and Courtney Barnett as artists you mentioned.

You can also try Artist Radio, accessed from the “…” button on the artist’s page. For example, when I just went to Low’s radio station (chosen because you list two of their songs), it played songs by (in order) Low, Yo La Tengo, Slowdive, Grandaddy, Low, My Bloody Valentine, Broadcast, Songs: Ohia, Slowdive, Yo La Tengo, Low, Have a Nice Life, Slint, Galaxie 500, and Low. Naturally, those results won’t be as diverse as your list, so you may need to switch up the results.

Pitchfork, Consequence of Sound, and Stereogum all have user accounts with their own curated playlists – some of them (e.g., Pitchfork’s Best New Music) might pique your interest.

Also, if you add the songs/albums you like to your library, Spotify’s Discover Weekly and Your Daily Mix will (theoretically) have interesting stuff in there – if not new, at least maybe new to you.

3

That’s awesome, thanks for your suggestions. I will take your advice and check out the options you mentioned.

4

I find you have to babysit Spotify quite a lot, and keep steering it towards music you like. Otherwise it will either play the same songs over and over, or inexorably slide towards crap. Maybe if you use it enough its algorithm will pick up on the kind of things you like. I thought that’s the theory anyway, but it seems to be a slow learner.

5

I’m an album rather than playlist listener generally, but I’ve found the Related Artists feature can lead to some interesting new stuff. Also, the Browse tab has a Discover page, which will feature recommendations and new releases that it thinks you’ll like. I’ve definitely found some good stuff from there, but I’ve got a few years of regular listening to train it in what I like.

Combining that with the Artist Radio thing might get you some good stuff, especially if you vote up or down the stuff you hear on it.

6

I was just about to suggest the Discover Weekly playlist. This week i found 4 new (to me) artists that i like.

7

I try to my Discover Weekly playlist every week as well. I’ve found lots of new, interesting music and artists that way.