11 Comments

This idea of recommendation being privileged over curation right now is a really interesting one and it rings true. I hope hipsters come back, just so I have something to be/hate again.

Expand full comment

I wrote a similarly themed post recently (https://ponytail.substack.com/p/sevens-all-in-my-cypher). Spotify shouldn't be our only gatekeeper. I want more opinions!

Expand full comment

awesome article — thanks for sharing !! "not enough gatekeepers" is a funny and apt way to put it. I like that framing because it flips the concept of gatekeepers on its head; plentiful gatekeepers is a possible world! and we can each then choose who our gate keepers are!

Expand full comment

Exacta-moondo.

Expand full comment

really enjoy this, and very well-said!

Expand full comment

It's interesting to think about how the return to curation will work within our current algorithmic recommendation systems. How will we find the people who curate for us?

Expand full comment

Interesting question and I guess we'll see! There have been bloggers/curators on TikTok for a while now and I think those creators will take on increased prominence as people get tired of finding music through TT audio, but I mainly think a lot of this will happen outside of TikTok and more through real social/clout networks re: Perfectly Imperfect and stuff of that ilk

Expand full comment

i will say, i do think that people still share things amongst themselves--i send articles to my friends that i think they’ll like--but those interactions are often limited to a single link in the chain rather than many, or many intersecting links. but trust that i am creating a whole curatorial nightmare in my messages with anyone who will tolerate it :)

Expand full comment

totally! I guess curated blogs (definitely what you do), media spaces, festivals, are like blown up versions of a friend recommending what they like to their friends ... now that I say it, I guess the blog era was inherently para-social then lol

Expand full comment

this rings true

Expand full comment

slay thx!

Expand full comment