A song we all know
I posted that it feels like there's no song of the summer anymore. Everyone's in their own music bubble. A song can be everywhere for you and basically not exist for the person next to you.Asked three friends, got three summers
Hits still exist. I mean the feeling that we all know the same one. The song you can bring up without pulling out your phone to play it. The first few seconds that make a whole room go “oh!”
I like what the algorithm finds me. I just wonder about the overlap. If everyone gets a better soundtrack of their own, do we lose some of the one we shared?
A good recommendation can make your world feel complete
It's really convenient to be handed more of what you already like. You don't need the artist's name or a free evening to dig for an album. The next song shows up, it fits, you keep going. As a product, it's almost effortless.
It also makes your own feed a bad guide to what anyone else is hearing. A track keeps coming up for you, so you figure it's everywhere. Then you bring it up and the other person has never heard it.
Two people can spend the same hours in the same app and come away with totally different ideas of what's big right now. Same platform, barely any of the same music.
The shared song didn't have to be your favorite
Part of a song of the summer was that you didn't pick it. It was playing at the store, someone put it on at a party, and at some point you just knew it. Maybe you loved it, maybe you were sick of it. Either way, everyone got the reference.
That's not the same as a recommendation that fits my taste perfectly. The shared song is useful even if I'd never save it. People sing along, make jokes about it, and years later it means that one summer.
That had downsides too. When a handful of songs get all the attention, everything else gets less. I'm glad I can find music outside that. I just don't think more choice makes the shared part pointless.
Leave a little room for someone else's taste
Maybe what I miss isn't big hits. It's how songs used to get to me. A song a friend sends comes with that friend. A playlist for a party has to work for a bunch of people at once. I'm listening for a reason other than “it sounds like the last one you liked.”It arrives with the friend attached
I'd like apps to make more room for that. Let me listen through someone else's ears for a while. A shared queue where the weird pick is the point. Anything that gets me out of my own bubble for a bit.
I still want music that feels made for me. I also want the odd song that belongs to a whole room. Sometimes the best part of a track is looking up when it starts and seeing everyone else knows it too.
Acknowledgements
From a post of mine on X about the song of the summer. Thanks to everyone who's sent me a track since. Still the best way to find one.