New research has analyzed more than two million tracks on Spotify and it suggests the platform’s AI‑driven recommendations may be narrowing what listeners hear and what artists get discovered. As streaming becomes the dominant way Australians consume music, some in the industry are asking whether algorithmic playlists are reshaping the landscape so dramatically that traditional radio, with its human curation and local focus, is being pushed aside.
Image: image: Shutterstock – Fabio Principe
Produced By: Thomas Koutis
Featured In Story: Dr Mohsin Malik – Associate Professor in Project Management in the School of Business, Swinburne University of Technology
First aired on The Wire, Wednesday 25 March 2026