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Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Spotify creates playlists based on what your friends have in common

Spotify Mixmates comparing two artists

It's tough to create a playlist that your friend or partner will enjoy just as much as you do, especially if your tastes don't quite sync up. How are you going to reconcile your fondness for tender folk music with your pal's addiction to drum-and-bass? Spotify thinks it has an answer. Its Mixmates website crafts playlists based on both your favorite artist and that of your buddy, creating Kevin Bacon-like degrees of separation from song to song. If you like the resulting mishmash, you can save the playlist for posterity.

I found it very simple to use and generally on the mark, although the length and quality of the playlist is undoubtedly going to vary wildly based on how much you have in common. Compare two dance music legends (I tried Above & Beyond and Underworld) and you'll get a short-but-sweet playlist of classic electronic tracks -- there's no real challenge there. Try to pit polka versus techno, however, and you'll get a gigantic playlist with styles that are all over the map (like Lawrence Welk, Cece Peniston and Danny Tenaglia, among many others). It's doubtful that Mixmates will create the perfect background music for a house party, then, but it's smart enough that you might find some shared selections.

Source: Spotify Mixmates

An interesting read via Engadget

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