Streaming, Artificial Intelligence, and the Resistance of Human Music Curation
Streaming has changed everything. Not just how we listen — but what listening means.
Between algorithms, automated playlists, and AI-generated music, the question is no longer technological. It is cultural.
Who decides what we hear? Who is actually in the control room?
When choosing an album was an act
There was a time when selecting an album was deliberate. Pause. Expectation. Risk.
We read the cover. Imagined the first track. Wondered if the journey was worth taking.
Now, everything starts with infinite scroll. The algorithm decides before we do. Music arrives before intention.
Convenient? Yes. Human? No.
Increasingly, tracks appear with no clear author, no studio, no story. Music designed to match mood, productivity, or simply fill silence.
Does it work? Yes. But what is lost when the human hand disappears?
Music streaming: algorithm or human curation?
With platforms occupying different positions, the market is clearly divided between:
1. Music as inventory
Retention-optimized playlists. Functional tracks. Catalogs inflated with anonymous content. Music engineered to fill silence, boost productivity, or simulate emotion.
Once only in airports and elevators. Now everywhere.
AI produces “perfect” music: no flaws, no biography, no memory.
Does it work? Yes. But culture is more than function.
2. Music as a cultural act
Platforms like Qobuz defend human curation, editorial context, and transparency regarding AI-generated content.
This is not nostalgia. It is responsibility.
Algorithms maximize retention. Curators maximize meaning.
AI-generated music: the problem isn’t the sound
It can sound competent: balanced, structured, coherent. But it lacks human friction.
No failed rehearsals.
No creative tension.
No conflict.
No producer shouting: “One more take!”
Music without friction becomes music without memory. Without context. Without soul.
A breath, a hesitation, a slight delay — these transform sound into story. AI can simulate patterns. It cannot simulate lived experience.
Impact on the musical ecosystem
When platforms prioritize volume and retention:
- independent artists tend to vanish;
- context dilutes;
- authorship loses value;
- discovery becomes predictable.
The result? More efficiency. Yes. Less identity. Of course!
Optimization applied to culture is always simplification. And simplification kills risk. Kills surprise. Kills life in music.
Every Play is a vote
Pressing Play is both an economic and cultural decision.
Discovery or repetition? Authorship or functional noise?
Are you funding the artists, or the platform’s shareholders?
Human curation: strategic luxury
Subjective. Imperfect. And precisely for that reason, invaluable.
The MoustachesToys public playlist I use for reviews, for example, is not automatic. Each track follows two simple rules:
- My personal taste;
- Testing dynamics, microdetail, spatial imaging, harmonic texture, and more.
Simple. But human.
An algorithm recommends similarity. A curator proposes the unexpected.
Surprise is human. Repetition is statistical.
The future of streaming is decided now
This debate is not anti-technology. It is against abdication of responsibility.
AI is a tool. It cannot replace the human touch.
The future of music cannot be decided by codecs or retention metrics.
It has to be decided by who chooses to listen — and how they choose to listen.
If we leave everything in the hands of algorithms, we lose something that cannot be measured: context. Risk. Identity.
I choose to listen to people.
Music without humanity is just sound. Choosing to listen to people is choosing meaning.
Listen & Explore
To explore the music used in Staches Views (MoustachesToys reviews), there is a public playlist on Qobuz.
A 60-day experimental access is also available on a platform that chose to defend human curation — an opportunity to listen, compare, and form your own conclusions.
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