Algorithms are useful for many things. But automating any aspect of a brand voice is risky. Sure, it’s possible to pick a few representative artists and ask a program to deliver songs of the same kind, and that might work for a while. But eventually, the wheel will have to be touched to prevent massive repetition and disconnected content.
Artists aren’t necessarily consistent in style and the metadata used by algorithms to link songs into threads is still fairly coarse. Users have to feed the software more and more information, and could end up spending more time babysitting the autopilot to mixed results or inadvertently “thumbs-downing” a playlist into over-pruned monotony. And no matter how advanced the catalogs, metadata, and algorithms get in the future, music-on-autopilot can’t easily adapt to changing floor-set themes, promotions, seasons, or day-parts (easy mornings, upbeat days, high energy nights and weekends, etc).
Relegating important music choices purely to quantitative and automated methods for economy’s sake is missing an opportunity to tell a more compelling brand story about the environments, the company, and what it stands for.
About PlayNetwork
PlayNetwork is the leading global provider of music and entertainment media experiences for brands worldwide. We partner with over 400 brands spanning 110,000 customer locations in more than 110 countries, our work reaching 100 million people every day. This post is a part of our Keys to Marketing with Music series. To learn more about PlayNetwork, visit www.PlayNetwork.com.
