I miss the times when someone else made recommendations for you. Now I’m stuck with the same content, which I like( don’t get me wrong), but I’m pretty sure our view of music and movies is much narrower nowadays, when we’re no longer "forced" to experience different content.
YouTube’s algorithm was pretty great back in the day but it was so easy to get lost forever on it.
Now I worry there’s too many “interests” forcing curated and sanitized content on us with no room for outliers.
This is so true. The algorithm optimizes for engagement, not discovery. I find myself watching the same types of videos over and over. Tools like this that bring back the randomness of channel surfing are a nice antidote you stumble into things you'd never search for.
Your post reflects the opposite of reality, in my opinion. In the dark days of FM radio in particular, some "DJ" bought and paid for by the record labels, forced everyone to listen to the same 20 garbage songs all day long, because the labels were pushing those artists. Now FM radio is dead, or in Denmark, stuck in some state funded Weekend-at-Bernies situation, and you can listen to anything you want. That leads to choice paralysis of course, so I've pretty much just stuck to Pink Floyd, Steely Dan and Tool.
I explore a lot of new music to listen to, probably in the region of 5000 new tracks a year. I find exploring labels helps with this as often I find music in the same label I also alike. Music app recommendations and also manually reviewing music festival line ups round the world where artists you like are playing, inventory who else is playing at those event and sample listen to some of there music.
Great to see someone else who loves those three. The first two I learned from my dad, although he only listened to one album from each of them, on repeat! Tool I learned from friends. That was the real recommendation system back in the day - close friends and family who you shared car rides with.