The algorithm is now a part of my (our) lives as we surf the net. I never cared much for a long while until I got my music distributed formally through CDbaby and became a part of the indie-dom.
Meanwhile, I detest social media for the past years and only got into FB in late 2017 out of peer pressure. Now I sort of get inactive because it does not help my music at all. Please take note that FB worked for others. It is just not for me when it comes to music propagation.
I felt more the flow of algorithm in my veins when I had a group of friends in my new network, where I actively interact music-wise. We are discussing music, algorithm, and relevant matters. There is a little world about it.
Last night, I got curious about how I had this infamous "Spotify Radio" that goes with "Fans Also Like” in my Spotify profile. I first had it alone when I was a Spotify n00b when I was not yet as active in the social media. It coincided some months after my song “Still” made it to one of Spotify Editorial Playlists in 2019. But the radio disappeared as fast as it appeared. Shortly, I got kicked out of the playlist. Left alone in the barren wasteland (of music), I decided to toil the ground.
For some months, my friends had the radio ahead of me. Then, it was like the holy grail because it was taking forever for me to have it back. By the eve of the new year 2021, I got it again. Only then I started to care!
Last night, I read how the algorithm involves musical and social media habits. I was like -- wow!
From what I read, Spotify tallies/computes by the ratio: if 60% of your listeners (fans) and another artist, whose 60% of fans also listen to you – that makes similarity with another artist. An accumulation of similar fans at such a quota generates the Artist Radio. That is how I understand it.
In a way, it is cool to have the radio.