What streaming services have done well is influence content in ways that are aligned with corporate interests—namely, selling placement in playlists and “programmed streamshare”—while maintaining a sense of feigned neutrality, especially aesthetically through the lack of contextualization in the interface. Businessmen might say this is genius, but for the public, it’s a disservice. It’s not neutrality; it’s deception. For users and artists alike, it creates confusion.
