Episode 7: Music in the Algorithm Age

Are you worried about the rise of machines? We are! This week, Emilie’s joined by Associate Editors David Garber and Ezra Marcus as well as VICE’s Senior Culture Editor Larry Fitzmaurice to talk about how unseen tech forces are shaping our music taste. First up, we discuss the rise of the hazy genre people are calling “lo-fi house,” partly on the back YouTube’s related video algorithms. Next, Ezra digs deep into the weirdly anonymous songs that pop up on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic song chart, and Emilie talks about musical.ly’s emergence as a major label marketing tool. Finally, we delve into the upsides and downsides of Spotify Discover and other digital music recommendation services, and whether playlists might someday kill us all. Be very afraid. Be very, very afraid. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.