Meet Qobuz, the anti-Spotify for music lovers

Remember that feeling you got when you found a new song that you absolutely loved? Maybe you heard it randomly on the radio or a friend turned you onto some up-and-coming band. Chances are, discovery of your favorite songs had a very human element behind it.

To rediscover this musical serendipity, there are services like Qobuz. It’s a music streaming service that puts the emphasis back on human recommendations rather than algorithms.

Qobuz has a team of music experts who handpick albums, curate eclectic playlists, and write reviews. It gave me instant nostalgia as soon as I started using the service. It reminded me a bit of walking into a record store and asking the person behind the counter what they’ve been listening to lately.

The people who share music are the ones who love it the most—something that is lacking when an algorithm is making the choices. Recommended music fed to you by Spotify and other streaming platforms often all sounds about the same. This cultural homogenization leads to boring playlists and flat sounds.