Spotify turns Two and HERC tries to Discover some new music

Happy Anniversary Spotify!

Two years in the U.S. and counting!

Regular viewers know HERC is a fan of the highest magnitude when it comes to all things Spotify.  While he never had much use for the What's New page that greeted him each time he opened Spotify on his PC, turns out the Discover page is of almost no use as well.

EXHIBIT #1:  (see image at top of post)  It actually had been a while since HERC had listened to the Unlimited Gravity Remix of "Sail" so he punched it up.  (TIP: Listen to it with quality headphones or any halfway decent car system with a sub.)  Not really a Discovery though is it?  Or is your boy HERC being too strict in his definition of "discovery"?  It's kind of cool that Spotify keeps a History of the tracks HERC plays; he's specifically referenced it more than a few times to remember a track.  Yet although he hadn't listened to that particular track in at least a few weeks, why was it brought back from the mists of the past and not some other track he hadn't listened to in weeks, months or even years.  SCORE: no points awarded.

And what's up with Top Lists?  How and when are they calculated and formulated?  HERC will cop to listening to all of the songs listed in his personal Top 20 Tracks (above) several times within the last two or three weeks EXCEPT the track listed at #10 which briefly played, maybe ten seconds, once and only once while HERC was looking for the Cher version as featured on that episode of The X-Files.

EXHIBIT #2:  As HERC scrolled down through his own personal Discover page, two things occurred to him: A) the hundreds of people he Follows kind of listen to the same music he does but not always and B) those songs listed in his Top 20 Tracks list were likely showing up on the Discover pages of his Followers and they were only the tip of the iceberg.  Oh and a third thing: HERC likes Cheap Trick, REO Speedwagon and Adam Ant and although they are nowhere to be found in his History or Top Tracks as listed, the Discover page made near constant reference to those three acts (above).  Here's what is wrong with the recommendations above: By the time Cheap Trick registered on HERC's radar in 1978, Bachman-Turner Overdrive had broken up.  What's the connection?  They're both Classic Rock?  Suggesting The Human League to someone who listens to Adam Ant makes a little more sense but here's where it all goes wrong:  "Mirror Man" is one of HERC's least favorite League tunes and he has no way of alerting the Spotify servers to his opinion so that they may hone their future suggestions.  SCORE: -2 points

EXHIBIT #3:  Here's another one of those Cheap Trick-based suggestions, this time coupled with Billy Idol (above). Scrolling down to the bottom of the Discover page, HERC counted each and every mention of Adam Ant, REO Speedwagon and Cheap Trick and there were 21 of them while no other artist was called out more than thrice.  The other thing hinky with this particular suggestion is the album Dragon Attack is a live album which sounds as if it was bootlegged by a guy with a microphone inside his pants pocket - it sounds muffled and lacks any sort of dynamic range.  HERC is hardly an audiophile but come on. SCORE: -1 point

EXHIBIT #4: HERC reads Pitchfork reviews on their site and does not use their Spotify app.  While HERC has enjoyed The Heist since it came out,  he enjoyed Snoop Dogg when he appeared on tracks with Dr. Dre more than twenty years ago and has not been as impressed since.  Pitchfork gave Snoop Lion's album two and a half stars - why is that worthy of a recommendation?  HERC considers himself a fan of rap and hip-hop from the get-go and, to a lesser degree, reggae, but Reincarnated is strictly a one-star album in his book. SCORE: -1 point

EXHIBIT #5: HERC listens to Tony Carey quite a bit so it comes as no surprise he registered on Spotify's Discover engine (above) but Carey's music sounds nothing like the dated, Eighties hard rock of King Kobra on their 2012 release.  Is there some sort of corporate agenda?  Wanna know what HERC did when he saw this Discover recommendation?  He listened to more Tony Carey and Planet P Project. SCORE: half a point

EXHIBIT #6: The return of the Cheap Trick and REO Speedwagon suggestion, this time spot on with Night Ranger and the track "(You Can) Still Rock In America" but does anyone else think of Golden Earring's Moontan when they play Pink Floyd (above)?  "Radar Love" is a great song and all but not even close to the majestic prog rock that Floyd put out once upon a time.  SCORE: +1 point for first tip but -1 point for second one = zero points

EXHIBIT #7: It's no secret that the music of Nickelback (above) is the butt of many jokes but this song is HERC's chosen Powersong in the Nike+ app, which tracks all the mileage and times for his runs walks. MRS. HERC, who has walked alongside HERC while he listens to this song, can attest to the fact that her hubby even has choreographed hand gestures he deploys while walking and listening.  He is such a non-fan of professional wrestling that he did not know this song was the theme song for some wrestling show until just last week when he didn't change the channel fast enough.  Doesn't change a thing though; it is still his chosen Powersong and there is no reason to listen to it on Spotify. Except maybe to practice that sweet hand choreography. SCORE: no points awarded

EXHIBIT #8: When HERC fired up Spotify this morning, this was the album he was planning on listening to; specifically, the booming and banging "9th Wonder (Blackitolism)", which is a fantastic way to start most days.  Is Discover psychic?  Why did it wait until this pick to show its true capability?   The fact that the album rated four and half stars with a Pitchfork critic is what HERC is talking about.  SCORE: +1 point

TOTAL SCORE for Discover after 8 trys:

-2.5 points

FULL DISCLOSURE: Bob Lefetz shared a similar opinion of Spotify's Discover shortly before HERC wrote this although HERC did not read it until just right now.  Happy accident?