Good news for cats, dogs, hamsters, birds and iguanas this morning, but less so for stick insects, micro pigs and goats. Spotify’s latest algorithmically-generated playlist is aimed at pets, but only those in the first list above. And while this may sound like an April Fool’s story, it’s not: Spotify says it surveyed 5,000 pet owners among its user base, and found that 71% have played music for their domesticated animals, and 46% think music is a stress reliever for them. Cue a website to create the – wait for it, wait for it, we’re proud of ourselves with this pun! – pawsonalised playlist.
People choose their animal; use sliders to say how relaxed/energetic, shy/friendly and apathetic/curious it is; upload a photo and type in its name; before getting served a playlist. On the one made this morning for the cat of Music Ally’s editor, King Crimson’s ‘Cat Food’ was the curveball addition, although in fairness, the fact that the final track was called ‘F**k U’ was a pretty accurate summary of said cat’s attitude to most human interactions that don’t involve cat food, so good job, algorithm! Our sympathies are with the Spotify social-media editors who’ll be patiently responding to ‘WHY NO OPTION FOR GUINEA PIGS YOU MONSTERS?’ style tweets for the next few hours.
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…