Your data print: music playlists
CommonAlly
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They say you are what you eat, but these days, we wonder if that still rings true. Are we, instead, what we search? Are we the daily digital actions we make every day: the questions we google, the music we play, the articles we read?
Like the rings of a tree, our data footprint grows as we grow. In CommonAlly’s Data Print Series, we examine everyday activities that inform our digital DNA.
When I press play, the familiar beats and lyrics of musicians I love fill the air, from Nirvana to the Bill Evans Trio. As I observed my eclectic playlist, it struck me: is this how I’m summed up? Does this compilation of disparate songs tell the story of “me”?
Flashback to my childhood of the 80s, creating my mixtape was an arduous task (and, likely, copyright infringement) of blank cassettes and mastering the precision of hitting the “record” button at the right time. In ye olde days, I defined what I listened to and, therefore, what it said about me.
The largest streaming services were designed to create a better music experience. And hands-down - they have. It’s when they present me with music they think I’ll like - I wonder: do they know me better than I know myself? And, do they get it right? How do they know that a particular song coming over the airwaves will generate a “that’s my jam” response?
Our everyday interactions with every online platform generate a data profile that I neither see, own, nor can change.
Let’s dive deeper into the data print of music playlists.
The who
Currently, there are two music streaming services with the lion’s share of the global market:
Depending on who you talk to (and the amount of subreddits on the topic), one is better than the other for various reasons. But both platforms offer data-driven playlists and stations tailored to the listener.
The what & why
Leveraging various data sources and algorithms facilitates music streaming platforms' ability to cater to their users' diverse musical preferences.
Yet, most platforms are also tracking your activity and data through:
In exchange for listener data, the platform provides personalized recommendations and custom playlists designed to introduce new music, including tracks based on listening history. Sometimes, this process works well. Other times, we find our favorite Radiohead and Deftones are replaced with BTS and Taylor Swift, due to a crafty 9-year-old daughter (who got her hands on the “play” button). Let’s just say that can make for a rather…wide ranging listening sesh.?
For both freemium and premium listeners, though, that history of beautifully curated data belongs to the streaming service - even if they don’t hang on to it after account deletion.
Questioning if you signed up for all that?
Like your tastes in music genres and artists, your data print is constantly changing and evolving. It’s as unique as your fingerprint and as complex as T-Swift lyrics.
Customized music playlists offered by streaming services uncover stories behind the data prints you leave behind. This everyday example of your data print creates a highly personalized listening experience that you can enjoy for hours on end.
I’ll take that over manually recording cassettes any day!
Written by Aaron Lyles , Founder + CEO at CommonAlly