Spotify didn’t just change how music is paid for. It changed how music gets designed.
A massive amount of Spotify listening happens through playlists.
Not albums. Not artists. Playlists.
And once playlists become the center of music discovery, artists start optimizing for playlist survival.
Low skip rates. Fast hooks. No long intros. Nothing too weird. Nothing too challenging.
Music that works while somebody studies, drives, cleans their apartment, or scrolls TikTok.
Songs get to the chorus faster now. Intros are shorter. A lot of tracks feel emotionally flattened out because streaming rewards consistency over risk.
Spotify didn’t invent bland music obviously. But its algorithms definitely reward it.