2 tools to break free from Spotify’s stale music playlists

** NEEDS JUSTIN POT BYLINE **

Have you ever opened your favorite music-streaming app and wondered why all your playlists have the same five songs? It can be annoying, even if they happen to be five songs you’re really into right now.

And, make no mistake, they will be five songs you’re really into right now, because that’s how many of these services work—and it’s not because everyone else has the same taste in music as you. For instance, any Spotify playlist that says “created for” in the header is catered to the individual user, based on their listening history. There’s nothing wrong with that, necessarily—it can be nice to know you’re going to hear songs you like. But there are downsides.

Mostly, this feature makes it hard to discover new music. Maybe you want a little bit of an idea of what’s going on in the broader culture. Maybe you love discovering new songs. Music-streaming services have a tendency to stick the same songs into every playlist and radio station, but there’s a way to get out of the same ol’ song rut.

This tip originally appeared in the free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. Get the next issue in your inbox and get ready to discover all sorts of awesome tech treasures!

Time to escape the algorithms

I’ve actually got two Cool Tools to share with you today.

➜ Both of these tools will help you escape the music-streaming algorithms so that you can discover and listen to new music.

⌚ You can start using either of them in an instant.

1️⃣ The first tool is called Spoqify, and it creates a clean version of any Spotify playlist or radio station so you can listen to music like an anonymous user.

The easiest way to use Spoqify is through a browser. To get started, simply:

• Copy the URL for any playlist or radio station on Spotify
• Change the “t” in “spotify.com” to a “q”
• Paste that new URL into a browser

The service will instantly create a playlist for you containing what Spotify would show you if it had no prior knowledge of your listening habits. You can now listen to the updated playlist and even save it to your library.

Though it is a bit of a workaround, you can still use Spoqify if you’re on the Spotify app. Granted, it’s not as simple (you’ll need to install a tool called Spicetify), but it allows you to listen to Spoqify without ever leaving the service.

(Also, is anyone else getting confused with all the Spotify/Spoqify references?!)

2️⃣ If you don’t use Spotify or you don’t want to mess with URLs, you could always check out Playlist Generator—today’s second Cool Tool. This separate service lets you search for any song, artist, or album and creates a list of similar songs. It reminds me of Pandora, back in the day.

Once you generate your playlist on Playlist Generator, just click on the “Transfer” button—and you’ll be taken to their partner site, where you can export your playlist to any number of streaming services. Or, if you want to listen on Spotify, you can connect Playlist Generator with Spotify to save a list directly to your library.

I’ve been enjoying both of these services, though I recommend combining tools like these with a good community radio station, if your town has one. There’s nothing like real human DJs for finding new music.

• Both of the services mentioned here will work in any web browser.
• They’re also both completely free.
• You can use both Spoqify and Playlist Generator without creating accounts, though you can connect your Spotify account to Playlist Generator if you want. Playlist Generator does also collect some information, but the site’s privacy policy makes clear that it doesn’t sell or share your personal information in any shady-seeming ways.

Treat yourself to all sorts of brain-boosting goodies like this with the free Cool Tools newsletter—starting with an instant introduction to an incredible audio app that’ll tune up your days in truly delightful ways.