An Algorithm Killed My Mother

follow my May need to update idk

I am the first person to ever say this! This blog post is 2000% original. No one in the history of the internet has ever said anything bad against algorithms till now.

Music

I stopped using Spotify a few days before I moved to my new place; I had off and on been into the idea but never really got into having local music. I almost exclusively listen to local music now, and it undeniably is better for me. When I feel like listening to something that isn't in my own collection, I use a YouTube Music client to listen to some of my playlists, but it's rare.

I started finding music in other ways, from randomly stumbling upon it on YouTube (yes, I know this has an algorithm; when your YT algorithm is as fucked as mine though, it doesn't really matter) to magazines that still talk about music and do reviews of shit. I have found an actual love for finding music again from other humans.

Bandcamp

I started using this super recently, but it's easily THE way I am going to find new and interesting artists. I am notorious for wishlisting anything that slightly interests me on other platforms (my Steam wishlist currently has over 900 games on it). This has been the same experience so far; my wishlist is full of queercore and punk bands and will only grow honestly.

No ulterior motives posting that link :3

I have found more interesting and unique sounds and bands on Bandcamp than I ever did on Spotify.

I love art, March 2024 :3

So weird art/games I played in March aren't happening. I don't have enough time, lmao. BUT count this as me doing that here and now! I'm not a music reviewer, so it's just gonna to be rapid-fire albums you should check out, especially cause I haven't been able to really get fully into them just yet.

Radio

No, not the radio in your car; those are fine, but commonly the motivation is more on money than any way of recommending you the songs. You're gonna get the same 20 bands on most any radio station, and even if you can find new music, the likelihood of finding a station you like in your area is low.

I mean internet radio. If you're on Linux, that would mean ShortWave, if you're on Windows, you're shit out of luck. I can't help you, lmao. Shortwave has a cool feature where it auto-records the last few songs so you can keep them and refind them later for easier access or if you liked the song.

I highly recommend it. I love finding cool bands through human recommendations.

Sites For Music

This is a wide range of meanings, from NTS.live, which has so much cool shit on it, to easily learn about music and other things people create. Or Album of the Year, where people and critic scores show how albums have been rated. Or Rate Your Music, which is a more pretentious Album of the Year. It's a more human-focused way of finding music. There are also YouTube channels like COLORS that show off a number of different artists of certain genres. Kinda Neat if you can hear me; please come back. ;-;

Magazines

It's not my favorite way, and I don't really have any recommendations, but find music mags and journalists and go through their reviews. Even Pitchfork, which understandably has a lot of hate, has a great "new releases" section that you can actually get an RSS feed too directly. So you don't have to see anything else from them.

Reviewers

A lot of people like Anthony Fantano, and listen, if you like him, Hell yeah, I think he's pretty alright, though I disagree with a lot of his scores I find. There are a whole lot more out there like Deep Cuts (though he's not around much anymore). Find one that is in your niche, and you'll likely find some really cool ass music.

Blogs

I don't have enough experience in finding blogs, but I do follow a couple like Reilly Spitzfaden (RSS) who I found through a databending post.

RSS

I love RSS, and did you know I have one?

Did you also know you can turn almost anything into an RSS feed with OpenRSS? I use this for basically everything, including news, YouTube (though YouTube doesn't need this, channels already have a hidden RSS feed), blogs, newsletters (like Substack(fuck newsletters), and Bandcamp. You can even use it for social media if you hate things but still want to follow artists or people.

I love and hate non-algorithm social media, actually. I use Bluesky, and I kind of just post whatever the fuck I want about what I'm doing, honestly.

Social media is hell; I think it's mostly fine, but the way the algorithm for most social media works makes them unusable for people with no following if you want to share your art with people. However... that doesn't magically go away when there is no algorithm. It's harder to find people and things you like on Bluesky, and more niche things or specific things likely don't have a community on there. Which, to be fair, don't have a community on the algorithm ones either.

So it's like two sides of the same coin to me; I prefer the no-algorithm of Bluesky, to be fair, or Tumblr with no algorithm. However, I can't say these things are amazing or anything. I kinda just wish forums were popular again for actual community lmao.

Human Interaction In The Digital Age

Its rare to have human interaction online now a days, and that's because a big company has made robots that pick and choose what is best for you to see. The algorithm gives you an illusion of choice around what you watch, listen too, or read.

Where actually discovering things through other people, with no algorithm feels far better. I enjoy bands my friends told me about from years ago still, I enjoy music i found through the tony hawk games as a kid. I enjoy books friends let me borrow, or people recommended. I enjoy shows that people recommend me. More than I do ones that just happened upon me due to an algorithm finding the "perfect match"

Other Shit

I haven't posted another blog post in a bit cause I am working on them atm lmao, and I am working on my game, and I am working on worldbuilding. I might post some of it, but who knows with me? I am also working on a new fun little side project so I can do some coding while figuring out my bane, 3D modeling. The circus happened. I do actually want to share it, but I need to upload it to my computer so I can edit it all down and such. Then the concert in May, which I can't wait for.

ALSO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111111!!!!1 My birfday is in April, :3 April 14th, so hell yeah, I'll be 27 in less than a month.

Love Every Trans Woman You Meet Before It's Too Late.