By Lilly Streeter
Alexa, the world renown smart speaker is changing the way consumers consume music. Studies show that in January of 2018, over 39 million Americans, 16%, owned a smart speaker.
Have you ever gotten home after a long day and said, "Alexa, play me something relaxing," or if you're making dinner, "Alexa, play me a dinner playlist". Before smart speakers came out, it wasn't likely that people would search for music by what activity they were doing. That is why metadata is so important in this day in age. Labels will now 'classify' / categorize their music under moods and activities. They essentially add 'tags' (metadata) to their songs to describe them. So, streaming algorithms incorporate that data to get on to a curated playlist made for your mood. Streaming services have codes/algorithms to have curated playlists ready at the sound of the consumers voice, crazy right?
Not only is this beneficial to the consumer but, artists get more exposure than they would have before streaming. Smart speakers make it easier to find new music which brings up artists numbers as well.
As complex as 'Alexa' might be, smart speakers are taking over and revolutionizing the world of streaming. So next time when you get home from a long day and want something relaxing ask, "Alexa play me Lydia Luce's new album Azalea".