AARP Hearing Center
Get More Music You Love on Streaming Services
Making Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora and more work for you requires a little digital manipulation
Try these handy tips to help you curate your favorite music on streaming services.
Mojo Wang
Every time my daughter plays music in our kitchen, I cringe.
Not because I don’t like her choices — well, that’s partly it — but because of what those selections will do to my music streaming account. I just know that in the near future, the service will try to serve me up more Juice WRLD when I’m in the mood for something off the Who’s classic album Who’s Next.
I’m not alone. The algorithms that determine what you hear when you don’t pick a specific artist or song are a regular source of frustration for many users. Listeners — whether they’re on Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, Amazon Music or another service — wonder why songs or music styles that they have little or no interest in hearing are being suggested to them. The particulars of each streaming service’s algorithms — computations that take info about you and your listening habits to figure out what else you might like — are carefully guarded secrets. And so sanctioned ways to manipulate them to better align to your own tastes are hard to come by. But there are some steps you can take to find more music you'll enjoy. Here’s what I’ve learned from online research and a lot of trial and error.
More Ways to Benefit
- Related Benefit 1
- Related Benefit 2
- Related Benefit 3
- Related Benefit 4
- Related Benefit 5
Be choosy with who uses your account
Streaming services don’t know whether it’s you or a friend or family member making the choices. That’s what caused my long battle to reclaim my algorithm and rid my account of tunes for younger tastes. Instead, you can sign up for a family account so that each person gets their own separate listening recommendations.
Use the like/dislike button liberally
This is the best way to let the service know what type of music you enjoy. Don’t limit those likes and dislikes to just songs either. If there’s an album or artist you have especially strong feelings about — good or bad — express that. Also, if a song you don’t like starts to play, skip it quickly. The longer you let it run, the more the algorithm thinks you might be enjoying it.
Make exclusions
Some services, like Spotify, allow you to keep a playlist off your main taste profile. If, for example, you have a calming playlist you listen to at bedtime, excluding it will reduce the impact of those songs on the service’s suggestions.
Use suggested playlists
You'll often be served suggested playlists from your streaming service as a training tool. Take advantage of hearing new music this way and like or dislike the songs there, or add in others you really enjoy, to make your own playlists.
Follow your favorites
Click the “follow” button for artists you love. You’ll get more songs from them and from musicians with similar styles.
Be curious
Don’t be afraid to dig. Searching for new music or artists shouldn’t affect your suggested songs. It’s good to be curious.
Turn on auto-play
Songs that auto-play after a playlist are similar to music from that playlist. So it’s smart to have several playlists for your different musical moods, such as country, classic rock or pop. Make a list of your favorite songs in each genre so you don’t have a song from Tammy Wynette’s The First Lady coming on after the Rolling Stones’ Tattoo You or Adele’s 21.
Weed your playlists
Was there a song you once liked that has since lost its appeal? Don’t just skip it; remove it from the list to let the service know your tastes have evolved.
AARP Membership
Join AARP for only $15 per year with automatic renewal. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of benefits, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP The Magazine.
More From AARP
Michael McDonald: Memoir, Music & Marriage
Memoir reveals music journey, personal battles, and marriage insightsTake Our Totally Tubular ’80s Music Quiz
Test how well you remember the decade’s most bodacious beats
AARP’s 12 Favorite Albums of the Year
2023 brought new music from Cher, Semisonic and Paul Simon