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Why does the Spotify algorithm keep serving Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” and Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!”? | Vox

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Steven Phillips-Horst had a problem — er, “problem,” depending on who you ask — that plagues many a modern Spotify listener. No matter what song the podcaster and comedian played, whether by Taylor Swift or Celine Dion, Morgan Wallen or the band How to Dress Well, the platform would immediately queue up Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” next. “How is it that no matter what direction my unique personality takes me in, it leads me back to this same song that I only heard three days ago that I don’t even really like that much?” he asks over the phone, not knowing that the same thing had been happening to me, too. The disco-inflected soft pop hit, performed by a Polly Pocket-sized former Disney Channel star, was deemed the song of summer nearly as soon as it was released in mid-April. But Phillips-Horst wondered, was that because the song was good? Or, as he proposed on X, was it because of the tantalizing (if unfounded) theory that Carpenter’s label was paying Spotify to force-feed “Espresso

Culture The Spotify conspiracy theories about “Espresso,” explained Why is Spotify making me to listen to Sabrina Carpenter? by Rebecca Jennings Jul 1, 2024, 11:30 AM UTC Paige Vickers/Vox Rebecca Jennings was a senior correspondent covering social platforms and the creator economy. Her work has explored the rise of TikTok, internet aesthetics, and the pursuit of money and fame online. Steven Phillips-Horst had a problem — er, “problem,” depending on who you ask — that plagues many a modern Spotify listener. No matter what song the podcaster and comedian played, whether by Taylor Swift or Celi

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