Can Human-Curated Music Survive the Algorithm?

What happens when you take the algorithm out of music? 

This is the story of Radio Paradise: how one human obsessed with the art form of radio DJing created a tiny internet radio station that has become a global community of music lovers. For 26 years, Radio Paradise has been doing something a little unusual: making radio entirely by humans. 

No algorithms deciding what comes next. No ads. No paywalls. Just people who love music choosing songs for other people who love music, kept alive by the listeners who believe this strange little experiment is worth supporting. It's also about something bigger. What happens to music when discovery is driven by algorithms designed to keep us in a box? What do we lose when our listening habits are continually fed back to us? And what happens to art when maximizing profit becomes more important than....well, ANYTHING! 

Radio Paradise is a 26-year-old art experiment. A great soundtrack should take you somewhere you didn’t know you wanted to go. Music discovery should be guided by curiosity, instinct, surprise, and human connection, not by an algorithm feeding you more of what you already know. I mean, unless you like that sort of thing. And art should be accessible to everyone, whether they can afford to support it or not. 

So far, the experiment is still working thanks to the thousands of people who voluntarily support it.

 Listen at Radio Paradise: radioparadise.com Or find the Radio Paradise app in the Apple App Store and Google Play. 

We love hearing from you. In particular, why do you think human curation is more important than ever in this age of endless algorithms? It's a weird world we are in. 

Sometimes it kinda feels like it's all some crazy experiment. AND if this film resonates with you, one share really does go a long way in helping human-curated radio find the people who are looking for it.