Are you feeling algorithm burnout from your music streaming platforms? Wondering where all the new music has gone? Technically, it hasn’t gone anywhere, but it’s getting harder and harder to find because of the algorithms. Enter Music League.
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Music League is an app that’s taking the algorithm out of music discovery and giving it back to the listeners. That is, it’s making music discovery and playlist building organic again. Through the app, building playlists has been gamified and turned into a community activity.
Why is this a good thing? Considering the rise of AI and borderline useless algorithms, giving the power of music discovery back to listeners is a great achievement. Remember when Spotify used to be actually good for music discovery? Then they laid off crucial teams, and now it feels like every playlist is made by AI?
Actually, Spotify recently put out a feature with Billboard introducing their editors so listeners can see that the playlists aren’t AI. However, as great as it is that the playlists are made by humans, that still doesn’t explain why the playlists are kind of narrow and generic. When I get a Spotify-made playlist of music recommended for my tastes, I don’t want it to start with the same five songs I listen to on repeat, regardless of the theme.
Music League Gamifies Playlist Curation and Turns Music Discovery Into a Community
The way Music League works is you sign up through the app and link your Spotify account. From there, you can join existing leagues, create your own league, and invite friends.
Each league has a certain number of rounds and a specific theme. League players are notified when the league opens and then must submit a song that fits the theme. Every submitted song is added to a playlist. The playlist is sent out to each league member when the submission window closes.
Members listen to the playlist, consider the submissions, and then return to the app. There, you can leave comments about the individual songs as they pertain to the theme, as well as assign points to the songs.
Then, comments, points, and submissions are revealed to the league. Members can see who submitted what song, who left comments, and how each song was rated. Points accumulate until a winner of the league is crowned, but isn’t the real prize the unique, human-curated playlist we all made along the way?
Featured Image by Music League LLC
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