The Spontaneity of Humanity: Music, AI, and the Algorithmic Oppressor
How Algorithmic Systems Suppress Discovery and Why Embracing Spontaneity is The Most Human Thing on Earth
I've been thinking a lot about spontaneity.
I'm a Sagittarius, and if you believe in zodiac traits, you'll know that spontaneity is one of my most prominent characteristics.
As a woman, spontaneous moments are the most exciting—making eye contact with a stranger on the subway, watching a bright male cardinal perch at the window for just a moment, stumbling upon a new café with warm croissants, drinking alone at a bar and making friends with other patrons, playing funny faces with a baby in a checkout line, finding vintage Versace at a charity thrift store, bumping into an old friend…
Spontaneity fuels me—the chance that anything at all is around the corner.
Spontaneity in Creativity
As a creative director and artist, my process centres around spontaneity. But contrary to what some might assume, spontaneity doesn’t mean chaos. I am incredibly organized. I research my materials and processes meticulously, catalog their limitations, benefits, and nuances. I document every detail, building a repository of learning that refines efficiency and quality. My habits—how I source materials, clean, repair, and store them—are structured. I maintain version history hygiene, and I practice patience. All of this discipline is in service of something greater: creating the ideal conditions for absolute spontaneity in the act of making.
The most exceptional work I’ve ever created emerged from this tension—between planning, instinct, and absolute magic in the moment.
The Limits of Machine Spontaneity
Computers are not spontaneous. Parts of the internet, especially without an API or to a non-developer, can appear random. Networks, in a way, have a sense of self-directedness informed by their participants' actions, but they aren't truly spontaneous either. AI, though non-deterministic, does not operate on instinct. While facts remain unchanging, the perspectives surrounding them can shift, offering distinct insights. The non-deterministic nature of AI allows for different interpretations based on context, but spontaneity—the beautiful, unpredictable interplay of intuition, timing, and human impulse—remains absent. AI can introduce entropy, but it does not create disorder. It functions within a structure, a protocol. Even when we are spontaneous in our interactions with AI, the outcome remains bound by predefined parameters.
Brain Dead, Diego Bergia, and Isolarii
The Algorithmic Cage: What We Lose When We Let AI Curate Our Tastes
In an era dominated by algorithmic feeds, intentional discovery is an act of spontaneity. Algorithms favour engagement metrics over genuine exploration, flattening discovery into an endless cycle of recommendations designed to keep us clicking rather than truly discovering. Take Spotify, for example. It organizes music and listeners, but it does not curate. Curation, as I described in my creative process, involves deep organization, planning, historical and emotional context, and artistic risk. Risk is human.
Human curation seeks to inspire listeners to take control of their own artistic journey. Algorithmic recommendations, by contrast, seek to control that journey. True discovery happens outside of automated playlists—whether through zines, independent labels, curated record stores, or word-of-mouth recommendations. Resisting algorithmic homogenization means reclaiming the spontaneity of music, shaping our own experiences, emotions, and thoughts rather than allowing a machine to determine them for us.
The Shift from Active to Passive Discovery
Streaming services have fundamentally changed the way we consume music, stripping away the once-diverse methods of discovery. There was a time when finding new music was an active pursuit—downloading MP3s from obscure blog posts, trading burned CDs, ordering vinyl from DIY distros, picking up mixtapes hand-distributed at punk shows. Music discovery was deeply personal, shaped by subcultures, word-of-mouth recommendations, and crate-digging rather than algorithmic predictions.
Today, that organic journey has been replaced by engagement-driven algorithms that encourage passive consumption over active exploration. Recently, I listened to an episode of Tech Won’t Save Us featuring writer and critic Liz Pelly, which explored Spotify’s transformation of the music industry (episode here). The discussion reaffirmed how deeply streaming platforms dictate our listening habits, shaping not just what we hear but how we experience art itself.
Pelly has extensively analyzed how Spotify, under the guise of accessibility and innovation, has centralized control over music discovery. Instead of traditional record labels dictating access to listeners, Spotify’s algorithmic curation, opaque royalty structures, and engagement-driven recommendations have created a new form of corporate gatekeeping. Success is no longer measured by artistic merit or community support but by an artist’s ability to conform to the tastes of machine-learning models designed to maximize user retention. The promise of democratization in music has, in many ways, led to an even more extreme form of exploitation.
Pelly’s work is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how digital platforms shape our cultural landscape. You can check out her book and website for more insights.
Revelation Records, punk2003@yandex.ru, System System
Choosing Spontaneity: Intentional Discovery as Resistance
Resisting algorithmic control means reclaiming spontaneity in how we engage with culture. It requires stepping outside passive consumption and choosing active participation. It means seeking out music, art, and ideas through human curation rather than predictive modeling. Spontaneity is an invitation—to break free from algorithmic sameness, to take risks, to wander freely (like a singular spontaneous human person).
More Discovery:
Instead of Spotify: Use Bandcamp, Audius, or Resonate—platforms that prioritize artist compensation and allow users to support musicians directly. For a more dynamic, ever-evolving music discovery experience, consider open streaming radio platforms like NTS Radio or Dublab, where human curation drives eclectic, independent programming rather than algorithmic recommendations.
Web3 Platforms: Here are some platforms actively experimenting with radical, democratic models across various creative industries.
Hio Music – A peer-to-peer music platform that enables artists to maintain full ownership of their work while exploring alternative distribution models beyond traditional streaming services.
Audius – A decentralized music streaming service where artists have control over their content and earnings, breaking away from exploitative royalty structures.
Mirror.xyz – A web3-native publishing platform that empowers writers through crowdfunding, NFTs, and reader-backed models, reducing dependence on ad-based revenue streams.
Patreon – A membership platform that allows artists, podcasters, and content creators to be directly funded by their communities, breaking away from the advertising-driven model of mainstream platforms.
Zora – A decentralized marketplace and protocol for fashion, art, and creative projects, ensuring that independent designers retain control over their work and profits.
Livepeer – A decentralized video streaming infrastructure that provides an alternative to YouTube’s ad-based model by distributing hosting across a network of independent contributors.