I've tried using Spotify and similar services that try to track your preferences but they're just, I don't know, boring. I much prefer the challenge of a human-picked DJ set.

I usually listen to dublab (los Angeles, cologne, and Barcelona) and nts1 (usually London) and nts2 (location rotates). They have 1 or 2 hour DJ sessions (live or recorded) and your hear some music that you normally wouldn't be exposed to and sometimes you hate it but usually not.

I've tried using Spotify and similar services that try to track your preferences but they're just, I don't know, boring. I much prefer the challenge of a human-picked DJ set.

The significant problem that AI faces in automatically curating something is that the input data is usually pretty terrible. It's based on either similarity of the thing being curated which doesn't work because people don't want things to be too similar or to dissimilar, or it's randomness which doesn't work because it's too discordant, or it's based on patterns in the data (people who listened to X listened to Y, so recommend Y to people who listen to X) which works but only if the listener's taste aligns with the majority. If you introduce multiple sources of patterns in the data you quickly lose any variation and things stop being interesting.

This is a hard problem. No one has ever really solved it, despite Spotify, Netflix, YouTube, etc investing hundreds of millions into the space. Humans are probably just too fickle to accept that an algorithm can choose for us. It lacks the social proof that a tastemaker like a DJ brings.

I think what you're describing is what people working with recommender systems call serendipity. Maximizing serendipity, while maintaining relatively high relevance/recommendation success rate, is supposedly a pretty difficult problem to solve. I'm not sure if LLMs have changed that.

I rather do my own mix tapes, or mix MP3, taken from CDs that I still buy, occasionally directly from bands after concert.

Otherwise a few European radios, even if with ads, as a second goal is to keep my foreign language skills up to date.

Also a few lucky algorithm gems on YouTube, or the KEXP, Tiny Desk, ARTE Concerts, Colours channels.

Never got into Spotify.

These are great, thank you so much for sharing the recommendations. I tuned in to NTS and casually just kept on listening for a very long time. If anyone else has good recommendations, I'm all ears. Thank you.

NTS is truly excellent yes.

The streaming app algorithms are bland as hell, built for people who just want noise in the background.

Which weirdly enough has made Soundcloud one of my primary sources for finding music I enjoy, via DJ sets.

Thanks for these tips. I even find my Youtube gives me better recommendations than Spotify.

https://www.nts.live/radio

Right now NTS Guide to: Italian Library, Soundtracks and OSTS

https://www.dublab.com/

I avoid ghetto music but aslong as it has classical, OSTs, calm jazz, trance etc :)

A bit turned off by a certain section but I can ignore it.

aha okay, I can search for "NTS Guide to" on Spotify and people have just made playlists! Great! thanks

Spotify should have twitch-style, human hosted, radio shows (intentionally no video) with live chat. with full access to the catalog, it would easily bring back communities built around good music.

tiny desk

you have to do your own search and play, but some of the stuff by unknowns and famous artists giving back is profound, they KNOW when they hit it, all live, mostly acoustic and all useing musicians, no tape, no sequencers. listen to one such performance, and maybe you dont need anything else for a week.