Thirteen years later, Spotify continues to be a leader in innovation.[4]<\/a> Spotify has patented a technology that can analyze human voice and surrounding noises to make song suggestions based on \u201cemotional state, gender, age, or accent\u201d and several other characterizations.[5]<\/a> According to the patent, Spotify\u2019s new technology would be able to access a user\u2019s social settings and determine if they were at a party, a small group, or if they were alone.[6]<\/a> Spotify intends for this technology to better assist users by providing more accurate music recommendations.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n They have been adamant about the need to protect their user\u2019s privacy, disavowing \u201cany future research or applications that violate ethical standards of data usage\u201d.[8]<\/a> However, several users and artists are concerned that Spotify\u2019s new technology will come at the expense of user privacy.[9]<\/a> Several activists groups, users and musicians have called the technology invasive and have suggested the software is discriminatory.[10]<\/a> One musician candidly said, \u201cClaiming to be able to infer someone\u2019s taste in music based on their accent or detect their gender based on the sound of their voice is racist, transphobic, and just plain creepy\u201d.[11]<\/a> There is also a concern that the use of artificial intelligence to recommend music in this way will further divide, be inaccurate and exclude people who don\u2019t speak the languages the system might have been hardcoded to prioritize over others.[12]<\/a><\/p>\n Although Spotify may have pure intentions to offer their users the best musical experience, they may do more damage than good by implementing this technology.[13]<\/a> While it may not be fully accepted yet, similar technology has already been patented by Apple, Google and Amazon in the last few years.[14]<\/a> The reality of the situation is in the next few years speech emotional recognition technology may be widely used and effect more than just Spotify users.[15]<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> See<\/em> How Spotify Came to Be Worth Billions<\/em>, BBC News (Mar. 1, 2018), https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/newsbeat-43240886.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n [4]<\/a> See generally<\/em> Mark Savage, Spotify Wants to Suggest Songs Based on Your Emotions<\/em>, BBC News (Jan. 28, 2021), https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/entertainment-arts-55839655.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n [7]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n [8]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n [9]<\/a> See<\/em> Umberto Bacchi, Spotify Urged to Rule Out \u201cInvasive\u2019 Voice Recognition Tech<\/em>, Reuters (May 4, 2021), https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-tech-music-privacy\/spotify-urged-to-rule-out-invasive-voice-recognition-tech-idUSKBN2CL1K9.<\/p>\n [10]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n [11]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n [12]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n [13]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n
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