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Charli XCX explains how Spotify changed music

All of the Future of Music episodes with Dani Deahl have been good, but this last one is a banger. Charli XCX just up and says what everybody suspected: artists are straight-up changing their songs to game Spotify's algorithm.

"If I'm writing a song that is for another big pop artist, I want to play all the games," Charli says. "Chorus within the first 30 seconds. No weird self-indulgent intro… Hook at the top in the intro, maybe even start with the chorus, under three minutes.

Here's the thing that I love about this episode, though: this isn't a reason to get angry or freak out. It rightly points out that the whole idea of a music album was a construct of technology from the 1950s (the LP) in the first place!

Any music that uses an instrument is literally culture created by technology and always has been, and the distribution method is just another piece of that chain. It's not necessarily good or bad, it's just the most obvious and direct example of how technology changes culture and is, in itself, a participant in culture.

All of this, by the way, is why I think that the word "instrument" is a much better metaphor for most gadgets than "tool."

Anyway, I encourage you to watch this episode especially: Charli XCX explains how streaming is changing songs

Have a good weekend!

- Dieter

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