Great read. I love this thing you say about trying shit. It applies to so many areas of life — writing, singing; any creative endeavour… work, relationships, etc. — and it’s so simple yet so easy to forget.
I don’t use Spotify, as you know. I will occasionally see what Apple Music has in store for me in terms of stats, but since I predominantly spin vinyl (and I don’t keep track), I take those stats with an even bigger pinch of salt.
Wire is not familiar territory for me but I love the approach they took with those remixes or reworkings of songs.
I highly recommend Last.FM to anyone who wants to track their listening habits. It's been easy to turn on/link to any listening platform I've used (Spotify - now Qobuz for streaming, Sonos - now Plex for my home server) and to your phone.
I've tracked 460,540 plays (9,237 artists) since May 2, 2009 (an average of 74 plays per day). It's fun to check out certain artists or periods over time, and it's super handy for making your annual best-of list.
Kevin, it's fun to read your thoughts on Wire -- they always remind to listen to them (and the spin-off acts) more often than I do.
Thank you! And I'm glad you mentioned the spinoffs (Wir, Cupol, Immersion, etc.)- always a good time for them as well!
I've dipped a toe into using Last. FM , but really need to sit down and figure it out...and by "figure it out" I really mean connecting it to other platforms besides Spotify.
My Spotify stats since I joined aren't too surprising. A lot of listening and my top artist is Elvis P. Thanks, as well, for the share once again on my work on Laura Nyro - appreciative, as always.
Apparently my comment got lost right as I posted it. Second attempt, ad sorry if this somehow double-posts later:
The unspoken prospects of Spotify listener statistics never ceased to put a few question marks over my head from year to year whenever people showed off their screenshots. As someone who listens exclusively to a local library of purchased music (CDs primarily), by virtue of my narrowed scope (listening only to music I buy), I have pretty accurate recall of exactly what my music-listening activity has been, either by the year or even over the past decade. It makes me wonder, if people were to sit and think for a while, if they really cannot recall all or most of what they've listened to and the qualitative and quantitative attention given to each over the course of a year. I suppose the stat reports are necessitated by one's access to an unlimited breadth (and consequently unlimited meandering) of music. Harmless novelty as it is, I'm consistently left wondering why I tend to see communities almost completely silent about their music journey until this year-end Spotify report manages to prompt something.
Which leads into something else I think about throughout the year: I can't help but be pained by the irony that, within such an obvious conversation piece as personalized listener statistics, I never see any reflection or story attached to these screenshots people show me—certainly not even a fraction of what you offer in your post today. I get a screenshot, some one-liner caption containing some variant of vague wonderment, and then witness any potential for conversation die right where it sprouted. It doesn't occur to them to take those stats and convert them into any story of their joy of discovery or listening; it invariably starts and stops at the numbers.
This feature is one of the only things about Spotify I can sincerely praise, and yet, even with this much expanded data report Spotify is offering now, I fear that potential for storytelling or articulating one's life journey with their music will be squandered all the same, and just as quickly as its lesser counterpart. The irony really is painful; it was clearly intended to get people talking more about music (but I suppose there is a distinction between "talking about" and "discussing"). People really should capitalize on opportunities like these to share those dimensions of themselves—little else is more inviting than exploring another's mind and joys through their library. But if people don't talk about their exploration in music as you have and instead keep defaulting to shallow captions beneath hard numbers, I have my doubts that society's valuation of the art as a whole will soon restore the appreciation scarcely two decades removed (in my neck of the woods at least).
Thanks for sharing. Hopefully the comment goes through this time (this one is even longer than my first attempt was).
Great points! If I had to guess I'd say most people couldn't recall most of what they've listened to over the course of a year. There are outliers (like many of us here) who listened to a massive amount of music, and it makes sense that some would slip through the cracks. But the people I'm really thinking of are the ones that listen passively. Music's just on while they're doing something else. They won't remember the record, won't remember what they were doing when they heard it, and therefore, there can be no real memory associated with any given song/record.
And I get it; not everyone can do a close listen; sometimes you gotta have something on while at the office! But I think it's a same that things like finding a record in the wild, having someone make you a mix tape, etc. are quickly becoming a lost art, and we're the worse for it.
Ah, right, I hadn't considered those factors—passive listening and the use of music as a background to some activity. Now that you mention it, passive listening would aptly explain why I never see any real discussion result between people from Spotify wrapped screenshots shared. Passive listening doesn't offer much room for backstory in music discovery (or even enjoyment, to an extent) since it isn't much of an experience compared to active listening. That also explains the "vague wonderment" I mentioned in their reactions to their own stats. Well... seems my pessimism was weaker than necessary.
Things feel so oddly nebulous now. As someone who engages with music primarily through that barrier of one-time purchases, and as someone who is old enough to have grown up walking into stores to buy cassettes and CDs, there's something else I can't quite place. Broadly speaking, I believe the element of storytelling—detailing one's experiences before, during and after encountering and listening to an album—is one of the keys to the overall health and reciprocal value of music discussion. This was easiest to maintain decades ago since, to have access to any album at all, it required something of an adventure. However, while the internet merchant format has removed most of those steps which would have otherwise served as pieces of one's story, when I look at the hundreds of things I've purchased online, I'm able to share some modicum of a personal story (or journey) for most of them. In other words, I have difficulty placing blame on the internet's streamlining, as I don't believe it's removed quite enough organic interactions of the encounters with art to deprive the community of its ability to discuss music more deeply (or at least more personally) than it does.
Again, your response does provide some clear causes and symptoms on this front too, but I guess what I'm having difficulty placing is the timeline of it all. I've not once changed how I interact with music in the decades I've spent engaging with it; it's always been anticipate, purchase, listen intently, and keep it in heavy rotation. Because of this, it feels like I never noticed when the surrounding decline turned so devastating (I didn't touch Spotify until late 2021, for example, and it didn't last me a week). I noticed a decline in the early 2010s (or perhaps '09), but if someone were to ask me to identify the thresholds the decline had crossed and when, I'd be clueless. Almost feels like it happened all at once even though I know that isn't right. Anyway, your response is appreciated. Thanks for reminding and clarifying.
Wire is a wonderful band to have on your most streamed. I have a couple on vinyl I must dust off. I reason I cannot solve all the worlds problems so persist on Spotify despite…. So yes went there to find Manic Street Preachers riding high for me. With some New Order in there too.
Kevin, where did you find this Spotify assessment of your favorite songs? I'm not seeing it on my home page. I'm always curious when they put stuff like this together. Usually their yearly wrap up for me is completely wrong, filling it with songs I've never heard!
It was on the home page for me, down in the "Made For XXX" section. It's titled "Your All-Time Top Songs." My Wrapped usually has some glaring errors in it too. lol. This one seemed a little more accurate than those do.
Interesting. I get the "Made for Dan Pal" which includes Daily Mixes, Discover Weekly, & Release Radar. I also get "Your Top Mixes" and "More of What You Like" but nothing about my most listened to songs.
I'm intrigues by what appears to be a new feature called "Prompted by Us, Made for You." I need to dive into what they're generating.
I said goodbye to Spotify a number of years ago. And although they keep bombarding me with offers to return to the dark side, I’m not budging. My listening world today is thousands of times more interesting than my Spotify experience ever was.
I do understand your point that it’s nice to have all your musical adventures collected again in one handy list. But at the same time, it also highlights just how extractive these platforms are, exactly as you so rightly point out, Kevin.
The good news is that things do seem to be moving in other directions, and the eternal optimist in me still believes we’re heading toward a brighter future.
I agree that Subvert.fm is a very interesting initiative. I’m just not sure yet whether it’s the future, or whether it has enough staying power to survive long term.
Thanks Kev for letting me know about this Spotify Wrapped on steroids thing, had no idea! I just had a gander at mine and it's excellent if I do say so myself 😁
First song played: "Weight" by Alex Johnson back in Apr 2016, most streamed artist Blur, and you'll be pleased to know I have New Order at #50 and Electronic at #110 with only one spot for Radiohead ☺️
Really enjoyed your deep dive into Wire.
Thank you, Jim!
Great read. I love this thing you say about trying shit. It applies to so many areas of life — writing, singing; any creative endeavour… work, relationships, etc. — and it’s so simple yet so easy to forget.
I don’t use Spotify, as you know. I will occasionally see what Apple Music has in store for me in terms of stats, but since I predominantly spin vinyl (and I don’t keep track), I take those stats with an even bigger pinch of salt.
Wire is not familiar territory for me but I love the approach they took with those remixes or reworkings of songs.
Happy weekend!
Definitely easy to lose sight of. Happy weekend to you as well!
I highly recommend Last.FM to anyone who wants to track their listening habits. It's been easy to turn on/link to any listening platform I've used (Spotify - now Qobuz for streaming, Sonos - now Plex for my home server) and to your phone.
I've tracked 460,540 plays (9,237 artists) since May 2, 2009 (an average of 74 plays per day). It's fun to check out certain artists or periods over time, and it's super handy for making your annual best-of list.
Kevin, it's fun to read your thoughts on Wire -- they always remind to listen to them (and the spin-off acts) more often than I do.
Thank you! And I'm glad you mentioned the spinoffs (Wir, Cupol, Immersion, etc.)- always a good time for them as well!
I've dipped a toe into using Last. FM , but really need to sit down and figure it out...and by "figure it out" I really mean connecting it to other platforms besides Spotify.
I think you’ll be proud of what i have to say about Qobuz (and, weirdly, not *that* against Spotify) in my first post of June!
Right on! I'll keep an eye out!
My Spotify stats since I joined aren't too surprising. A lot of listening and my top artist is Elvis P. Thanks, as well, for the share once again on my work on Laura Nyro - appreciative, as always.
Of course! It's a great series.
"Much better—and much more interesting—were the players unafraid to do what I (very professionally) referred to as trying shit."
And that, sir, is the reason I'm a paid subscriber to Kevin Alexander. You have " new moves " weekly.
Thank you, John! I really appreciate that.
Apparently my comment got lost right as I posted it. Second attempt, ad sorry if this somehow double-posts later:
The unspoken prospects of Spotify listener statistics never ceased to put a few question marks over my head from year to year whenever people showed off their screenshots. As someone who listens exclusively to a local library of purchased music (CDs primarily), by virtue of my narrowed scope (listening only to music I buy), I have pretty accurate recall of exactly what my music-listening activity has been, either by the year or even over the past decade. It makes me wonder, if people were to sit and think for a while, if they really cannot recall all or most of what they've listened to and the qualitative and quantitative attention given to each over the course of a year. I suppose the stat reports are necessitated by one's access to an unlimited breadth (and consequently unlimited meandering) of music. Harmless novelty as it is, I'm consistently left wondering why I tend to see communities almost completely silent about their music journey until this year-end Spotify report manages to prompt something.
Which leads into something else I think about throughout the year: I can't help but be pained by the irony that, within such an obvious conversation piece as personalized listener statistics, I never see any reflection or story attached to these screenshots people show me—certainly not even a fraction of what you offer in your post today. I get a screenshot, some one-liner caption containing some variant of vague wonderment, and then witness any potential for conversation die right where it sprouted. It doesn't occur to them to take those stats and convert them into any story of their joy of discovery or listening; it invariably starts and stops at the numbers.
This feature is one of the only things about Spotify I can sincerely praise, and yet, even with this much expanded data report Spotify is offering now, I fear that potential for storytelling or articulating one's life journey with their music will be squandered all the same, and just as quickly as its lesser counterpart. The irony really is painful; it was clearly intended to get people talking more about music (but I suppose there is a distinction between "talking about" and "discussing"). People really should capitalize on opportunities like these to share those dimensions of themselves—little else is more inviting than exploring another's mind and joys through their library. But if people don't talk about their exploration in music as you have and instead keep defaulting to shallow captions beneath hard numbers, I have my doubts that society's valuation of the art as a whole will soon restore the appreciation scarcely two decades removed (in my neck of the woods at least).
Thanks for sharing. Hopefully the comment goes through this time (this one is even longer than my first attempt was).
Great points! If I had to guess I'd say most people couldn't recall most of what they've listened to over the course of a year. There are outliers (like many of us here) who listened to a massive amount of music, and it makes sense that some would slip through the cracks. But the people I'm really thinking of are the ones that listen passively. Music's just on while they're doing something else. They won't remember the record, won't remember what they were doing when they heard it, and therefore, there can be no real memory associated with any given song/record.
And I get it; not everyone can do a close listen; sometimes you gotta have something on while at the office! But I think it's a same that things like finding a record in the wild, having someone make you a mix tape, etc. are quickly becoming a lost art, and we're the worse for it.
Ah, right, I hadn't considered those factors—passive listening and the use of music as a background to some activity. Now that you mention it, passive listening would aptly explain why I never see any real discussion result between people from Spotify wrapped screenshots shared. Passive listening doesn't offer much room for backstory in music discovery (or even enjoyment, to an extent) since it isn't much of an experience compared to active listening. That also explains the "vague wonderment" I mentioned in their reactions to their own stats. Well... seems my pessimism was weaker than necessary.
Things feel so oddly nebulous now. As someone who engages with music primarily through that barrier of one-time purchases, and as someone who is old enough to have grown up walking into stores to buy cassettes and CDs, there's something else I can't quite place. Broadly speaking, I believe the element of storytelling—detailing one's experiences before, during and after encountering and listening to an album—is one of the keys to the overall health and reciprocal value of music discussion. This was easiest to maintain decades ago since, to have access to any album at all, it required something of an adventure. However, while the internet merchant format has removed most of those steps which would have otherwise served as pieces of one's story, when I look at the hundreds of things I've purchased online, I'm able to share some modicum of a personal story (or journey) for most of them. In other words, I have difficulty placing blame on the internet's streamlining, as I don't believe it's removed quite enough organic interactions of the encounters with art to deprive the community of its ability to discuss music more deeply (or at least more personally) than it does.
Again, your response does provide some clear causes and symptoms on this front too, but I guess what I'm having difficulty placing is the timeline of it all. I've not once changed how I interact with music in the decades I've spent engaging with it; it's always been anticipate, purchase, listen intently, and keep it in heavy rotation. Because of this, it feels like I never noticed when the surrounding decline turned so devastating (I didn't touch Spotify until late 2021, for example, and it didn't last me a week). I noticed a decline in the early 2010s (or perhaps '09), but if someone were to ask me to identify the thresholds the decline had crossed and when, I'd be clueless. Almost feels like it happened all at once even though I know that isn't right. Anyway, your response is appreciated. Thanks for reminding and clarifying.
Wire is a wonderful band to have on your most streamed. I have a couple on vinyl I must dust off. I reason I cannot solve all the worlds problems so persist on Spotify despite…. So yes went there to find Manic Street Preachers riding high for me. With some New Order in there too.
Can't go wrong with a little New Order! :)
Kevin, where did you find this Spotify assessment of your favorite songs? I'm not seeing it on my home page. I'm always curious when they put stuff like this together. Usually their yearly wrap up for me is completely wrong, filling it with songs I've never heard!
It was on the home page for me, down in the "Made For XXX" section. It's titled "Your All-Time Top Songs." My Wrapped usually has some glaring errors in it too. lol. This one seemed a little more accurate than those do.
Interesting. I get the "Made for Dan Pal" which includes Daily Mixes, Discover Weekly, & Release Radar. I also get "Your Top Mixes" and "More of What You Like" but nothing about my most listened to songs.
I'm intrigues by what appears to be a new feature called "Prompted by Us, Made for You." I need to dive into what they're generating.
I said goodbye to Spotify a number of years ago. And although they keep bombarding me with offers to return to the dark side, I’m not budging. My listening world today is thousands of times more interesting than my Spotify experience ever was.
I do understand your point that it’s nice to have all your musical adventures collected again in one handy list. But at the same time, it also highlights just how extractive these platforms are, exactly as you so rightly point out, Kevin.
The good news is that things do seem to be moving in other directions, and the eternal optimist in me still believes we’re heading toward a brighter future.
I agree that Subvert.fm is a very interesting initiative. I’m just not sure yet whether it’s the future, or whether it has enough staying power to survive long term.
Thanks Kev for letting me know about this Spotify Wrapped on steroids thing, had no idea! I just had a gander at mine and it's excellent if I do say so myself 😁
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1CKWlmCbxERfqL?si=ycNagqU9RfyaDpWPIZMyrQ&pi=p_98eEELTqCuW
First song played: "Weight" by Alex Johnson back in Apr 2016, most streamed artist Blur, and you'll be pleased to know I have New Order at #50 and Electronic at #110 with only one spot for Radiohead ☺️