{"id":539,"date":"2025-06-05T13:34:18","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T13:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mississaugaoffice.com\/?p=539"},"modified":"2025-06-20T09:43:54","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T09:43:54","slug":"ai-playlist-curation-is-harming-uk-festivals-heres-how-we-can-fight-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mississaugaoffice.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/05\/ai-playlist-curation-is-harming-uk-festivals-heres-how-we-can-fight-back\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018AI playlist curation is harming UK festivals \u2013 here\u2019s how we can fight back\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A long weekend spent camping and listening to music with your friends is a major appeal of festivals – but it seems to be lost (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The UK is famous for its music festivals. <\/p>\n

Hundreds of thousands attend festival giant Glastonbury<\/a> every year while newer events like All Points East have become calendar events in London<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But since 2019, 192 music festivals across the UK have disappeared. Last year alone, 60 festivals were cancelled or postponed. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s to blame? For Will Page, the former Chief Economist of Spotify<\/a>, and Nico Perez, CEO of Mixcloud, it\u2019s artificial intelligence. <\/p>\n

Specifically, AI curation of playlists. <\/p>\n

If you have Spotify, you\u2019ve already seen AI at work on a popular music platform. Those \u2018daily mixes\u2019 and the personal DJ are forms of the technology at work, catering to users’ every need. <\/p>\n

But just how far will AI go in the music world – and could it be the death blow to music festivals? <\/p>\n

At SXSW London, Will and Nico sat down to chat about how AI has reshaped how we discover, personalise and consume music. <\/p>\n

‘A playlist made for someone else’<\/h2>\n
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\n\t\t\t\tDICE's 25 grassroots artists to see in 2025\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
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Ticketing app DICE has put together a list of their 25 grassroots artists you need to see in London over the next six months.<\/p>\n

With tickets ranging from free to \u00a327.50, these shows will ensure a great night to suit all tastes and budgets.<\/p>\n

Click HERE<\/a> to catch the full list.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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More attendees are opting for day passes, rather than spending the whole weekend (Picture: Jim Dyson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are a number of reasons why festivals have faced hardship in the past few years. <\/p>\n

A pandemic, inflation, the cost-of-living, and what Will and Nico call a lack of connection. <\/p>\n

Will pointed out: \u2018I\u2019m not seeing any \u2018sold out\u2019 stickers on festival posters in May, like they normally are. <\/p>\n

\u2018Our music \u2018Venn diagrams\u2019 are not crossing. When you look at a festival lineup now, to many, it looks like a playlist made for someone else.\u2019<\/p>\n

In recent years, many festival-goers have opted to buy one-day tickets to see one or two artists they care about – a sharp contrast from festival culture just ten or fifteen years ago. <\/p>\n

\u2018No one wants to take a risk on day two or three. We don\u2019t take risks anymore when it comes to music,\u2019 Will added. <\/p>\n

How can we fight back against this lack of risk-taking, which is, as Nico and Will point out, threatening festivals? <\/p>\n

Nico observed: \u2018I always say, nobody will wait in line for an AI DJ in the rain.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018We have to remember it’s important not to seek those million subscribers, or a large number. There\u2019s been such a focus on views and ratings, and in that process, we\u2019ve lost sight of \u2013 are these quality artists?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Form small communities. Stay connected with people. Oftentimes, these are focused around local radio stations or local music,\u2019 Will said.<\/p>\n

Personalisation turning into an echo chamber<\/h2>\n
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Spotify AI is a great option for listening, but is often an ‘echo chamber’ (Picture: Spotify)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Personalised playlists using AI offer a wide selection of genres, artists and decades – but they\u2019re not foolproof when it comes to expanding one\u2019s horizons. <\/p>\n

A quick look at Metro reporter Sarah Hooper\u2019s Spotify, when she asked it to make a \u2018Rainy Day\u2019 AI playlist, offered 50 songs. <\/p>\n

When she asked for a \u2018Love Song\u2019 mix, the same songs and artists on the ‘Rainy Day’ playlist were featured – again. With a noticeable lack of new music. <\/p>\n

Nico explained: \u2018What you\u2019ll often find with these AI recommendations is that there\u2019s a lack of serendipity that you lose in the process.\u2019<\/p>\n

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The days of custom mixtapes are long gone (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Long gone are the days of spending hours burning CD Mixes of your favourite tunes for a loved one, or personalised cassettes. <\/p>\n

AI curation has allowed people to listen to their own echo chamber, Nico says. <\/p>\n

\u2018If every single person is listening to their own echo chamber, we don’t have any backgrounds or shared experiences in the music world. <\/p>\n

‘Over the long term, this ends up making us more isolated,\u2019 he said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

For more stories like this, <\/strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A long weekend spent camping and listening to music with your friends is a major appeal of festivals – but it seems to be lost (Picture: Getty) The UK is famous for its music festivals. Hundreds of thousands attend festival giant Glastonbury every year while newer events like All Points East have become calendar events…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mississaugaoffice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mississaugaoffice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mississaugaoffice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mississaugaoffice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mississaugaoffice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mississaugaoffice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":546,"href":"https:\/\/mississaugaoffice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539\/revisions\/546"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mississaugaoffice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mississaugaoffice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mississaugaoffice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mississaugaoffice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}