[nerdponx]

Are these artists even "fake"? Are they "bad"? Or are they just mediocre and good enough for background music?

I guess the complaint is that jazz is still kind of a niche genre, compared to "background music that generally resembles jazz". But maybe real jazz is actually less good as background music compared to not-quite-jazz. Otherwise, why aren't actual jazz labels putting effort into playlist placements like these so-called fake artists are?

Or is the assertion that Spotify themselves is populating their platform with no-name artists, to avoid paying record label royalties? Maybe you can take issue with vertical integration, but that doesn't make the artists involved "fake".

[Dotnaught]

I believe the most apt analogy would be Amazon promoting Amazon-commissioned knockoffs of its merchant's products, something that's already drawn the attention of antitrust authorities.

It will be interesting to see whether antitrust law can be applied to Spotify in this context, since its actions are arguably anticompetitive.

[giraffe_lady]

Most people I've run across who say they like jazz do not like music by contemporary musicians who consider themselves to create jazz. Jazz right now is wildly diverse but overall pretty weird, pretty electronic, very sonically influenced by hip hop, metal, and pop. Lotta sampling, drum machines, even autotune.

[cwkoss]

> Jazz right now is wildly diverse but overall pretty weird, pretty electronic, very sonically influenced by hip hop, metal, and pop. Lotta sampling, drum machines, even autotune.

This sounds interesting, have any artist recommendations?

[kyleashipley]

A random sampling - Thundercat, Louis Cole / Knower, MonoNeon, Nate Smith, Vulfpeck, GoGo Penguin, Snarky Puppy

Interested in other recommendations too!

[giraffe_lady]

Robert Glasper, Esperanza Spalding, Shubh Saran, Tigran Hamasyan fit in that crowd too.

[ketzo]

I just discovered Slip by Shubh Saran — wow, what an interesting and unique song. I’ll definitely check out these other recommendations, thank you!