Pandora VS Spotify Algorithmic Plays

I was surprised to see that my tracks on Pandora received more plays than the same tracks on Spotify. I think there are a couple reasons that this may be, and it likely has something to do with how the algorithms differ. I will use the track “Wherever You Go” as an example.

It seems that the Pandora algorithm is friendlier to independent artists than Spotify’s algorithm. I cannot say exactly how this is, but I will shave a few ideas below.

Both Pandora and Spotify have artist radio options, so either service will play “Wherever You Go” when a listener launches Pure Evergreen radio. It seems that the radio option is much more popular on Pandora, and is far more beneficial to independent bands than Spotify radio possibly because Pandora is well know as “radio”, and Spotify seems to be know more for on demand play, and playlists. Pandora is by far better at allowing DIY musicians traction algorithmically at the time of this writing. Algorithms change frequently, and are updated and fine-tuned by streaming services as Internet users browsing patterns change, so I don’t think there will every be a set understanding of exactly what each algorithm is programmed to look for.

To be continued…