Spotify too repetitive? Here's how to retrain the algorithm

(NEXSTAR) – Over the past couple of years, complaints have piled up in online forums from music lovers having trouble discovering new music. Why? No matter what they do, Spotify seems to be serving them the same old songs, again and again.

On Spotify, much like other music streaming apps, you can curate your own playlists. But you can also listen to playlists made by Spotify editors and playlists that are created by algorithms, based on your listening habits.

That's where most people's complaints are coming from. It seems Spotify notices you listened to the new Sabrina Carpenter single, and then it serves it to you again and again. Or if you like Taylor Swift, it mixes a handful of her songs into playlists again and again, but doesn't surface the deeper cuts.

If you find yourself trapped in the echo chamber of your own music taste, Spotify's support team has offered some advice.

Spotify doesn't have a dislike button anymore, but there are still ways you can offer feedback. You can "hide" songs you want removed from the repetitive playlists and add songs you want to hear more to your "liked songs." It's a good idea to do an audit of your "liked songs," too. There may be something in there you loved last year but are sick of hearing now.

"It's also a good idea to expand your music library by following more artists. That way you'll give the algorithm a boost," writes Spotify support. "Keep in mind that it might take up to a couple of weeks for the changes to take effect."

There are also certain playlists explicitly designed to introduce you to new music that you might like, including Discover Weekly and Release Radar. Both are updated once a week.

Finally, you should consider exploring beyond Spotify's front page and digging into the editor-curated playlists. These aren't based on your tastes, and so are less likely to feed you the same songs you had on repeat all year. Search by genre or mood and explore from there.

Nexstar reached out to Spotify for additional comment but didn't hear back by publication time.