The music-software industry is starting to realize
that the greatest
power of “discovery” isn’t
robots or algorithms, but good old-fashioned recommendations from friends (or at least, real
human beings). Is there a place for automated discovery? We only need to look at what’s happening in the the wider world of media publishing to find out. Looking back, it seems Pandora may have been the tipping point, the proof of concept
that swayed people and subliminally convinced them
that curation could be done by
robots and algorithms just as well as it could be by humans. The service did surprisingly well at picking tracks similar to what you suggested it start with, without being too predictable. Credited with taking more and more jobs, it seemed inevitable
that machines would also pick our music, TV, movies, and reading content on their own. A clever algorithm coded to be fluid and ever evolving software should be the best recommendation solution, right? The current trends, however, would suggest a constant
human element present is needed in making media discoverable across all types of consumer content. The biggest
store on the planet, iTunes, uses both automated means and
human power to suggest new content to users. In the form of "Genius," the store provides suggestions based on your past listening habits in addition to other factors. While the results are fine, usually recommending things people do, or would, like, it doesn’t provide the same wow factor as a
human emotionally involved can. The same feeling you get from a person saying “I’ve enjoyed this music, I think you will too.” Possibly the reason Genius results are halfway down the page and often overlooked. The highlighted and featured albums in the genre sections--which are handpicked by Apple employees--do often give
that wow factor, even breaking notable artist The Boxer Rebellion based on the iTunes feature.Read Full Story