Foundation of the House, 72nd Day of Summer, 525 M.E. (Betelgeuse): Okay, AI clearly still has no idea how groundwater works. Hell, AI clearly has no idea what groundwater even is. 

I'm trying to wean myself off of Facebook and Spotify. The reasons for the latter should be fairly obvious - the shitty way they pay musicians and their creative partners, the increasing amount of AI content they try to pass off as music, and their investments in AI military defense technology. 

Also, and I have to share the blame myself with Spotify on this, but it's cheapened the way I enjoy music. Way back in the day, I used to purchase an album, either on CD or before that on vinyl, and earnestly listen to the entire thing many times over. I had made a literal investment in the content, and after enough repeated listens I came to enjoy or at least appreciate the entire album. With Spotify, I may make a snap decision within seconds if I like something, and if not, immediately remove it from my queue never to be heard again. No investment, no effort. I'm sure I've overlooked hours of great music I'd have come to love if only I had given it a closer listen.

It may be time to go back to buying music - Bandcamp would come in useful here - and listening closely to each cherished new acquisition. I also still have a fairly extensive (136 GB) collection of music in digital format but the collection was fairly randomly assembled and not necessarily representative of my current musical taste. But that's okay, there's a lot in there that I've barely listened to, and I could probably spend years going through that whole library. And then I have literally hundreds of CDs, both commercial releases and MP3 files burned to disc. I'll probably never work my way through that entire library.    

As far as new music, I never relied on the Spotify algorithms to suggest what new to listen to. I regularly use NTS radio to fall down new musical rabbit holes and discover new sounds and new genres. 

What Spotify does do well, though, is to instantly provide some track I've randomly thought of, or artist that I've read about, or a recommendation that I've received. It's a great way to preview something before making the financial investment of buying the album. It provides instant gratification to almost any musical itch. Apple, Amazon, and YouTube Music all promise basically the same service, but I haven't tested them out yet.