With respect to APPLE MUSIC, which is churning out playlists like sand on a beach, and TIDAL, which is focusing hard on A-list exclusives (which are evil, but that's a different rant), SPOTIFY seems to be playing the subscription music game at a different level these days. The algorithmically curated DISCOVER WEEKLY playlist is hit-and-miss, but I often find good music in there, and, more interesting to me, it shows a company that's actively thinking not only about what to program but how to program it, when to program it and how to deliver it. The unsexy-but-crucial heart of curation, that is. Thinking about the gallery itself as much as thinking about the art inside. This interview with product lead MATT OGLE offers some great behind-the-scenes insight into how the company is approaching both its programming and its product, and it gives me hope for a future where subscription music is more of a utility and less of a chore... SPOTIFY is now claiming 30 million paid users, btw... As for all those handmade APPLE playlists, I'd like to dissent on the over-the-top praise for this one: a marijuana playlist called "SONGS ABOUT MARY" that, like a rigidly programmed terrestrial radio station, refuses to stray beyond its classic rock/pop borders. No jazz. No country. No, um, reggae. If a TV show like "BETTER CALL SAUL" can make viewers care about mariachi and country waltzes, surely one of the world's leading music services can interest 420-inclined pop/rock fans in reggae. I like this one from APPLE curator COMPLEX, which uses the music sampled on KANYE WEST's "THE LIFE OF PABLO" as an excuse to build a playlist around NINA SIMONE, PASTOR T.L. BARRETT, SECTION 25, WHODINI and more. Music discovery can be as easy as that.