An algorithm takes a set of inputs and generates an output, the same way a recipe turns ingredients into a cake. For Spotify to rely on algorithms means it uses data from its consumers to generate music discovery delivered through playlists. Open Spotify’s home page and you can find any number of curated playlists that source user data collected from the app, from “Top Songs in the USA,” which aggregates collective data, to “Discover Weekly,” which draws from personalized data. To create these playlists, Spotify tracks the music you listen to, organizes it into certain categories, measures tracks against other listeners, and uses that information to choose what music to show you.
These choices and recommendations often come with their own sets of biases and assumptions around gender and mood. They help mold a ‘templated self’ or what David Marshall describes as a dual strategic personadual strategic persona:
Through a particular study of online entertainment reviewing, this chapter explores the emergence of a new strategic persona in contemporary culture. It investigates the way that the production of entertainment-related commentary, reviews and critiques online is increasingly defined by a complex relationship and intersection with what is described as a dual strategic persona. Along with a public presentation of the self as reviewer across multiple platforms, the new online film reviewer is also negotiating how their identity and value are aggregated and structure into algorithms.
Although these curations are designed to share, I am more interested in using them as a point of reflection. I am always intrigued about what they do and do not say about my listening habits this year, this goes with the regular recommendations as well. I actually wonder if Spotify Wrapped reflects the place that music has served at times this year, a form of fast food, consumed as a means of escape, rather than something to stop and consider. For me, this has led to more pop at times. In addition to this, my statistics are corrupted in that I often play music for my children.
In addition to this, there are quite a few albums not on Spotify, which have soundtracked my year, such as Kate Bush’s Before The Dawn and Damian Cowell’s Only the Shit You Love. Also, I created a playlist of all the tracks that Damian Cowell mentioned on his podcast, which I noticed totally threw out my recommendations at times too.
Welcome back to another month, actually make that two months. Things just got too busy in December to stop and take stock.
At work, things were in place for the end of year. I had unpacked everything and thought I had put in place a clear plan. However, what I learnt is that I was only in charge of half the picture. Things blew up in regards to aspects that were outside of my control. In addition to this, I had another issue arise that I had not accounted for take up a significant amount of time. In some ways, this reminded of Nassim Nicholas Taleb discussion of extremistan in The Black Swan:
On the family front, my wife and I celebrated our fortieth. Our girls had their end of year dance concert, outdoors. We even went to children’s party at an indoor playcenter. It all feels really strange now as the number of cases where I live have skyrocketed.
On the personal front, I went to my first concert for years. I saw Twinkle Digitz and Damian Cowell’s Disco Machine. I had forgotten what I had missed. On the birthday front, I got two synthesisers, a Roland MC-101 and Behringer MS-1. After spending years thinking that it was enough to have an app, I am really enjoying the therapy of tweeking physical knobs. In regards to my listening, I have been getting into new albums from Damian Cowell’s Disco Machine and The War on Drugs. While I continued with my return to books, diving into Milan Kundera’s The Book of Laughter and Forgetting and Marcel Proust’s Swann’s Way.
Here then are some of the posts that have had me thinking:
Education
How music boosts learning and wellbeing (Big Ideas)
Anita Collins unpacks a number of benefits associated with music, including the association between hearing, speaking and reading, the importance of melodies in voice to aid cognitive development, the connection between singing and empathy, the link between rhythm and learning to read, and how learning a new instrument at 40-50 can help reduce cognitive decline when you are older.
What is Design Thinking and how can teachers get started?
Tom Barrett provides an introduction to Design Thinking. He addresses what it is, its purpose and how it can help in education.
Schools are surveying students to improve teaching. But many teachers find the feedback too difficult to act on
Ilana Finefter-Rosenbluh, Melissa Barnes and Tracii Ryan discuss the challenge between collecting feedback and improving learning outcomes.
First Steps to Getting Started in Open Source Research
Giancarlo Fiorella provides a number of tips for getting started with open source research.
Can “Distraction-Free” Devices Change the Way We Write?
From literary Rube Goldberg workflows, distraction-free text editors and e-ink tablets, Julian Lucas dives into the world of distraction-free writing. He explores the friction between paper and computers, and the benefits and negatives associates with each.
Technology
Why it’s too early to get excited about Web3
Tim O’Reilly explains that investments and speculations in technology do not equate to success. The lay of the land is only visible years later.
Tapefear
Chris Johnson has created a site for discovering music that would not normally be surfaced by the Spotify algorithm.
Spotify Wrapped, unwrapped
Reflecting upon Spotify’s Wrapped, the yearly review, Kelly Pau reminds us of the place of algorithms and artificial intelligence embedded within these choices.
Learn from machine learning
David Weinberger compares the way in which the Western world has traditionally conceived of generalisations and certainty with the way in which machine learning works.
Turning Text into Music (A Small AI Experiment)
Kevin Hodgson dives into the world algorithmic music generation.
General
History is Over (Throughline)
With the anniversary of Kid A and Amnesiac, as well as Kid A Mnesia Exhibition, Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei speak with Stanley Donwood and Thom Yorke about legacy of albums.
Why U2’s One is the ultimate anthem
Dorian Lynskey dives into the many ambiguities associated U2’s song One.
The story of Paul Mac
From classical piano to Itch-E and Scratch-E to Dissociatives to Stereogamous to teaching at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Paul Mac has had a wide ranging career.
David Graeber’s Possible Worlds
Molly Fischer digs into the life and thinking of David Graeber, including how he got so things done on just five hours sleep a night.
Samples
Chris Beckstrom has put together a wide collection of electronic samples derived from his modular setup.
Read Write Respond #071
So that was November/December for me, how about you? As always, hope you are safe and well.
Image by Bryan Mathers
Cover image via “Time Isles: Post Apocalyptic” by Brick.Ninja is licensed under CC BY-SA
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