I've been dragged to recommendations, kicking and screaming


As a Tidal subscriber, every time I log in new hip hop artists are recommended to me.  Hilarious as I never listen to them, but lately I've been letting Roon play on and I'm discovering new artists and music I would not otherwise.

What's your experience been with online streaming and automated recommendation systems?
erik_squires
I’m thick.. Better they catch my eye, I probably wouldn’t listen otherwise.

I like shiny, pretty things, WIERD works to..

My new stuff come by way of the car radio. THEN I hunt what I want up, and give it a try..

I’ve been an avid Bali fan for many years... I just love some of that music.. I’m no expert, but I can listen for long period...
Bobby Shankar, still bustin’ out a tune or two.. LOL

Still no Yoko Ono, though...

New is fun... Yup..

Regards..
I haven't gotten into streaming yet. I generally google genre websites that publish new release listings ; or hear something I like while listening to Sirius/XM in the car.
Erik, I listen religiously to my Spotify "Discover Weekly" playlist that is personalized and pushed to me every Monday. It's approx. 2 hours worth of music, selected via Spotify algorithm, based on my previously "liked" selections and stuff I've played recently. I've discovered lots of great new/unfamiliar stuff via the weekly feed. In a typical week's 2 hours worth of selections, only about 2-3 selections are familiar to me. So, lots of new (to me) stuff to add to my growing "discovered" playlist.

BTW, my 17 year old son also listens religiously to his Spotify Discover Weekly playlist that is personalized to him. We rarely every have a track on our respective Discover Weekly Playlists that had previously been included on the other person's list. When he gets a great new track, he forwards it to me, and vice versa.

Happy listening...... 
Batting average isn't quite a Thousand, but I generally like the suggestions Primephonic's Classical Evangelist emails my way a whole lot.
I give a +1 to Spotify's recommendations.
Even the Discover Weekly offers up some obscure gem.
Though lately, I have been listening mostly to NPR/WAPO news, along with Seth Meyers and Trevor Noah. I got a 3 month discounted trial, but, I have to say Spotify, despite not being hi rez, offers a lot more than Qobuz. Even the 'Fans also like' has brought me to artists I never heard of and like.
Bob
I switched to Qobuz. It recommends only in the genres I’ve expressed interest in. Many of those recommendations have been fun to listen to.

I like Qobuz for the true HR streams, also, rather than MQA ones. As a DSP user, I find MQA problematic.
On ROON I often search up someone I want to check out and while listening to them I check out the recommended albums as I scroll down.  I've found some really good stuff that way.  
I use tidal as well as thousands of ripped and purchased rebook and hi-res music. I use Roon hints to explore new music. Roon's recommendations for similar artists to the 1 you are listening to have been eye opening

Tidal is owned by Jay-Z .. which is why you get hip-hop/rap suggestions... I get them as well.. 
Tidal is owned by Jay-Z .. which is why you get hip-hop/rap suggestions... I get them as well..


Right, which I knew, you'd just think that they'd have the promo page tied to my listening habits.
@erik_squires

I started streaming in earnest a number of years ago but really found that when I purchased an Aurender product and thus used their Conductor app, I was/am finding new music as often as I want/ed to. As you noted Erik, some genre’s you never "listened to them". I’m very similar. However, now Tidal and their Staff Picks, via the Conductor app, has opened my eyes, or ears if you will, to many many new songs and genres. I’m really enjoying listening to the music again - finding new genre’s has really been exciting. I’d recommend you listen not only to recommendations, but also just go pick tracks and try them. You have nothing to loose, but a gold mine to gain.
Not the same, but kinda is when it comes to discovering new music. 
I stream Radio Paradise - The World Music channel - And wow, so much new, and so many varied musical styles/voices.

Random, for sure, but I love being exposed to music I would never discover through an algorithm...
I love the Tidal app but the UX is horrible. They shove hip hop down your throat and don't let you organize your collection. But when I let their song radio play at the end of an album, it usually leads to some nice discoveries. I use Roon as my front end partly to avoid having to interact with Tidal other than having it feed my Lumin streamer. 
On Tidal, I've discovered several things I like due to having the autoplay option selected. Autoplay seems to be linked to the last track of an album and it makes a mix of tracks from related artists plus the artist whose album you were playing. I've saved several of these mixes as playlists for later enjoyment and examination. Often, if I like a song I haven't heard while listening to a mix, I'll click on the album title and save it as a favorite for checking out later. Its been a good way to find artists I've never heard.


The explore button is something I use almost daily to check out new albums in the categories/genres I enjoy. I wish there was a way to access all albums in a genre, say alphabetically, and be able to page through them. This would be another way to find artists unknown to me. Perhaps the sheer size of their catalog creates an issue with doing this.
Amazon Music Ultra HD, automatically creates the following ever-changing algorithm/history based playlists that can be downloaded to up to 10 devices to play offline: My Mix, My Soundtrack, and My Discovery Mix. Also, auto-fill is on by default (can be switched off). Those, combined with all the other auto-generated playlists and stations makes for easy exploration and discovery on Amazon Music UHD. Switching from Tidal, subscription, it's nice to not be bombarded with rap and hiphop ads all the time.
Yes.  it's a lot of fun. Over the past few years, went from Spotify to Tidal to Qobuz and back to Amazon HD recently.  The self learning engine on a few of them is the best part of discovering or rediscovering music.  
@diamonddupree

You are right, the Tidal android app sucks, but through Roon it's usable.
Greig, Ravel, Vivaldi and Led Zeppelin=Radio Paradise.  Mostly rock and roll on this internet station.  The variety is unbelievable, cost nothing, and is programmed by real people.
I’m under-impressed with Tidal’s album mixes it creates for me based ln my playlists, or the songs it chooses when i exceed my playlist. Pandora has the most flexible and robust music algorithm. While working, I listen to Pandora and enter songs I like in my Tidal playlists.
Give me radio with real people over algorthms anyday- also safe from every search being logged by our big brother friends. Have found more stuff from the radio anyway (like others above mostly whilst in the car). I find Alexa creepy- it's always on round a friend's house am really careful what I say. However ironically  I use you-tube more than anything now (used to subscribe to Spotify, now hardly touch it) which is probably worse...
I listen to the fm radio, both jazz and classical stations broadcasting in high quality FREE sound. I'm not paying for something I can still get for free, I seldom stream anything anyhow...
I have Spotify Premium and listen to a large variety of music. So every few days or so, I get updates in Release Radar and Discover Weekly. I've gotten to know so much new music as well as new releases from artists I love. It's a lot of fun.
Second to Radio Paradise. Also Tidal playlists lead to new discoveries. Equipment reviews also provide fresh listening. 
I have discovered more new artists through pandora. Set up a station based on an artist you like then they play songs of like artists. Once I hear someone I like I move over to quobuz to listen to the albums.
What's your experience been with online streaming and automated recommendation systems?
THX1138
I search for my own preferences and use Tidal.  They have great Masters recordings and MQA.  Once in a while it is fun to just click on an album to hear something new.  You might surprise yourself and listen to a different style of music you have never experienced.  For example electronic music can be fun such as DeadMau5.  Perhaps a female jazz vocalist like Diana Krall is nice to change things up.  Helps me get out of a rut and to expand my taste.  Throw in some classical once in a while here and there to again expand your horizons.  Listen to Little Person (Live) by Michael Wollney and listen for the drop down bass during the first 1 minute of the song.  Great song to show off the lower end of your system.  Really spacious recording.  This guy knows how to record.  Very relaxing and nice to play when sitting down with guests over a few glasses of wine.  
I get the impression that the Tidal system and Roon recommendations for Tidal are not the same, and I find the Roon system quite usable.
I also like Internet radio, and want to recommend JazzCast.ca as a great progressive Jazz station.