What's Happening?
The Deezer Community has put forward a suggestion to enhance the artist profile pages on the music streaming platform. The proposal advocates for the inclusion of an 'All Tracks' section that would display an artist's complete catalog, moving beyond the current
'Top Tracks' selection. This change aims to allow users to easily browse and play every available song by an artist, irrespective of its popularity or release format (singles, EPs, or albums). The current system often limits visibility for smaller artists, sometimes showing only a single track even when many more exist. The community highlights that the global search function is not an adequate alternative due to irrelevant results from similar song titles or artist names. The suggested 'All Tracks' section would ideally include sorting options by release date, track title, and popularity, providing a more comprehensive and user-friendly experience for music discovery.
Why It's Important?
This proposed feature is significant for both artists and music consumers. For smaller and lesser-known artists, it offers increased visibility for their entire body of work, potentially leading to greater exposure and listenership. Currently, their extensive catalogs might remain undiscovered if they don't have a 'Top Track' that gains traction. For users, especially those keen on deep-diving into an artist's discography, this change would streamline the discovery process, eliminating the need to navigate through individual releases. This could foster a more engaged user base and encourage exploration beyond mainstream hits. The current limitation to 'Top Tracks' can create a skewed perception of an artist's output, potentially hindering their growth and limiting listener engagement with their less popular but equally valuable creations. Implementing this feature could democratize music discovery on the platform, giving a fairer chance to a wider range of artists.
What's Next?
The suggestion is currently a community proposal within the Deezer platform, indicating it is in a phase of user feedback and consideration. For this feature to be implemented, it would likely need to gain significant community support and then be reviewed and prioritized by Deezer's product development team. If adopted, Deezer would need to allocate resources for design, development, and integration into their existing platform infrastructure. This could involve technical challenges in collating and displaying extensive track lists for all artists, especially those with vast discographies. User testing and further feedback would also be crucial during the development phase to ensure the feature meets user expectations and integrates seamlessly into the overall user experience. The timeline for such an implementation would depend on Deezer's internal development cycles and strategic priorities.
Beyond the Headlines
The discussion around displaying all tracks on artist profiles touches upon broader issues within the music streaming industry concerning artist visibility and the algorithms that dictate music discovery. Many platforms prioritize popular tracks, which can inadvertently create a 'winner-take-all' scenario where established artists dominate, and emerging artists struggle to gain traction. This suggestion from the Deezer community reflects a growing desire among users for more comprehensive and less algorithm-driven ways to explore music. It highlights a tension between algorithmic curation, which aims to simplify choices, and user-driven exploration, which values completeness and depth. If implemented, it could set a precedent for other streaming services to re-evaluate how they present artist catalogs, potentially shifting the balance towards a more artist-centric and discovery-rich user experience, fostering a healthier ecosystem for diverse musical talent.
