Release Radar is the playlist I looked forward to every Friday. But it’s becoming increasingly useless. Spotify, please change your algorithm!

I can still remember times, when Spotify’s Release Radar justifed its name. The Release Radar, which is genreated by a algorithm, included new tracks from artists I followed, as well as some songs from artists Spotify thinks I might enjoy based on my listening habits.

Nowadays the Release Radar includes…

• a selection of far too many tracks based on artists/songs I listened maybe 1 or 2 times. As a playlist curator I listen to many different music. And no, I don’t like it all. But Spotify think I do.
• several tracks from the same release over weeks. An example? I archive my Release Radar using IFTTT in a seperate playlist, so I can prove my claim. Every track of Cari Lekebusch’s EP ‘Spagging’ get included within three weeks in my Release Radar. I already noticed in the first week the release of Cari Lekebusch’s new EP…

Conclusion

Spotify, please do the Release Radar what it should be: A playlist with all releases from the last week by the artists I follow. Neither more nor less. I don’t need a list of approximate 100 songs from releases I already know and artists I’m not interested in. In principle, the Release Radar is a brilliant idea. But the realization and the evolution are very negative. If you need a testing ground for algorithms or new AI technologies, please create something new and don’t use the Release Radar. The playlist is too valuable to play with. And please take a look at your community from time to time. I’m not the only one who thinks, that there is a need for optimization. I still have a personal advice: Don’t make the same mistake that Microsoft and Apple did. Listen to the needs of your customers instead of introducing changes and supposed improvements that you think it’s appropiate. Everything else will return to haunt you. By the way: Are your users happy with the corporate playlists feature like it looks at the moment?