[tbatchelli]

To each their own, I guess. I also pay for Apple Music and have access to all that music, but there is no substitute for curation with a sense of taste and musical direction.

For me, having access to all the music in the world is only marginally better than what I had before when buying CDs (or records even); I don't listen to more music than before. What I really love, instead, is being introduced to a new track that captures my interest, a track that I know I will be listening to multiple times in the future. The quality, and the fact that I would have probably not have found it by myself, or not liked it without the context.

When I was younger, when I had enough pocket money, I would go to the record store, and the problem wasn't how to get a CD, because they had oh so many!, but what CD to get. For this, I relied on friends, radio stations, and the shop keepers. They all had a good portion of the music world in their head, with their own taste and opinion about what's interesting, and I found many gems this way. Automated recommendations don't quite do it for me, nor I have been lucky with other people's playlists; I gotta get acquainted with the curator first in order to trust their curation.

So I listen to SomaFM, and when something gets me interested I go and buy it or add it to my library. Best of both worlds!

[hfourm]

To be honest, Pandora has served that role for me over the years. I am always amazed to look back at my Pandora station history to see how it has evolved into different streams/genres, all stimulated from hearing new music through a Pandora channel, and then starting a new station after I liked it. This has created a web of new music I wouldn't have sought out otherwise.

Obviously, I do think that a human DJ may perform this role better in some cases/genres though.

[rektide]

Buying the Music Genome Project was one of the best purchases any company on this planet has ever made. https://www.pandora.com/about/mgp

I discovered a ton of fantastic music video Music Genome Project before the buy out, on some wonderful slick visualizations. The ability to transition this way & that around some base of music, to have a central idea & to be able to explore outwards, then come back, & transit out to another nearby genre, before coming back again... deeply compelling. MGP was great at broadening my listening horizons.

By contrast, it feels like most music services very quickly are like, "if you like this artist then you'll definitely like this ultra-popular heavily-played artist!" You're like 2 hops away from top 100 music, & they'll actively try to push you into the popular music. Please, I'd just listen to the radio if I wanted to be bored to death with pop music. Switch it up!

[damontal]

Pandora can be maddening.

Create a station for Pixies. Some Bowie song plays. Ok that’s cool.

Create a station for Velvet Underground. Same Bowie song plays. Ok. I guess that makes sense.

Create a station for Warren Zevon. Same goddamned Bowie song plays!

[michaelcampbell]

I'm a 70's-90's metal fan and once heard Ronnie James Dio 3 times in a row... all on different bands. Solo, Sabbath, and Rainbow =D Was fun but weird at the same time.

[inferiorhuman]

My favorite part of SomaFM is that I discover new artists (or get encouraged to go on a deep dive) fairly regularly. I've never bothered with Pandora or Spotify but the impression I get is that SomaFM is much better with the more niche genres.

[gffrd]

I find the same. I feel more "weight" in a choice made by a human, who has their own "map" of the music and what connects it … so, I care to know about the choices made and why they were — the context of the choice.

I'm happier with a song pairing that has some arbitrary, personal history than one that's a logical walk down a relationship model.