It has been years and I know the fight is lost… but I truly hate the change to Thumbs Up/Down ratings (Review: Rating System(s)). I hate this so much.
My music algorithms are impossible. It isn’t helped when I want to share kids-safe music with my son I can’t just switch to a different profile while driving. So stuff like “Peter, Paul and Mommy” (awesome kids music) plays six times a week…. and the algorithm assumes that’s all my taste is these days. So I have to go hunting and intentionally thumbs up things in the other genres I like. I do a lot of “explore” options to try to find what suits my mood.
The worst is that I’m not the most musical person and I know it. So really, in general I just want “good music” playing without having to work at it. I know that isn’t reasonable. But I’m a spoiled girl of the 21st century and if there was a first-world problem, this is it. I just want all the different musics all the time. For awhile there, I had an awesome radio station on Pandora years ago, but since I couldn’t afford it I got sooooo many ads I ended up switching away. Seeking free-and-good. Very bad plan but I was pretty broke at the time and now…. ugh I don’t wanna do the work to get a good randomizer.
In case you can’t tell, I am being a bit sarcastic. I recognize some of this is my own fault. I didn’t want pay to avoid ads. I don’t want to do the work to fix my algorithm. I’m too lazy to just install a different music app to use for my kid and one for myself. Laziness abounds!
Still, I don’t feel like the simplistic rating system improves the entire thing. Because the various programs don’t know if I love this song and want to hear it every hour or I like this song and want to hear it once every 100 rotations. Maybe I only want to hear it when I first wake up and then not for another 24 hours. There is no way for them to figure that out and I so I have to keep interacting when all I want is good background noise so I’m not listening to the office air conditioner all day.
Dream by Day 