The Algorithm, Part 1: How to stop Spotify killing your music taste

Headlines: Australia’s road toll hits 12-year high, Aussies pay more for dental care than most OECD countries, Donald Trump to sign order banning trans people from US Military and New York gets in on the stinky flower trend.

Listen to our September 2024 deep dive 'The Case for putting dental in Medicare' with Jordan Steele-John on Apple or Spotify here.

Deep Dive: Most of us have been listening to music for years through streaming apps – like the one you’re reading this on right now. But these platforms are not neutral. They are massive businesses with a vested interest in keeping you listening.

In Part 1 of a two-part The Briefing special, Bension Siebert interviews the man who invented many of Spotify’s algorithms. Glenn McDonald reveals what these algorithms are doing to our taste in music, what we can do about it as individuals, and what happens behind closed doors to make songs viral.

In Part 2, you’ll hear from an Australian songwriter who has reached 1.4 billion streams, on how the incentives of streaming are changing the kind of music that gets made in the first place. Listen to The Algorithm, Part 2: How Spotify changed music forever in the Briefing feed this afternoon from 3pm.

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