Please see reason, please turn off new release notifications!
I have a modest collection of about 4,000 songs. Naturally some of these are artists who frequently appear on compilations (e.g. Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash). Due to this I am getting notifications about every few hours on the web app telling me there is "music from artists in your collection."
This is infuriating. It's the Rdio equivalent of spam. It has all but erased the social aspect of Rdio, since shared music now becomes lost in the clutter of the myriad of new music no one I don't care about, and it is slowly turning me away from using the web app. Every time I see the little orange number I hope it's a new notification from a friend, because I just received eleventy-billion new release notifications and it couldn't possible be another one of those... click... and another wave of disappointment: it's more new release spam. For the love of god stop.
This is a no-brainer. It was a bad idea. The person who came up with it should be fired and thrown down a well. His/her employment history should be erased from Rdio's HQ. Speaking this person's name around the Rdio halls should be received with the same admonition as thespians saying the name of the Scottish play.
I beg of you. This is an intervention. It's gone on too long. Too much damage has been done to those you love and who love you. If someone is interested in new releases they will move their mouse pointer up to the New Releases link and click it, they will experience the joy of finding that repackaging of Etta James songs with more digital remastering, they will be hopelessly grateful when a friend sends them an Rdio link to the new Taylor Swift single from the album released five months ago. They will not be benefitted in any way by receiving new release notifications. By sending these Rdio you're killing this person's joy. Why are you killing the joy Rdio? Why?
Community Responses
Rdio Employee
Jan 04, 2013 07:36AM PST
Hi Paul,
Thanks for sharing your feedback. As you know, you can't currently turn these notifications off, though you can manage the email notifications at Settings > Notifications (http://www.rdio.com/settings/notifications/). That said, we're gathering feedback on these notifications, so thanks for yours.
Have a great day,
Kevin Ebaugh | http://rd.io/people/kev
I, too, would like these notifications turned off. I have a large collection and it's really annoying to see the notification badge light up many times a day.
Please just turn them off until you get it right. They offer absolutely no value (in fact it's a negative value) unless they're relevant to music I'm actually LISTENING to. Thanks.
Also, to Kevin's point, you should strongly consider segregating those new music notifications to a separate tab/area - they are not socially relevant. This would be equivalent to the "now available" type of section as you would see in netflix.
+1, please allow me to turn these notifications off. They're driving me nuts!
Please turn these off, or provide an option to turn them off.
Adding my +1 to this - it's an exceedingly annoying feature (especially as it bounces and adds a bade in the OS X doc - very distracting).
I'm growing concerned that everyone hates this spam and yet Rdio continue to adopt a we'll-do-what-we-like attitude, as if we were just like Facebook users complaining about some redesign instead of customers paying a monthly fee.
Rdio Employee
Jan 09, 2013 02:29PM PST
Hi Paul,
Thanks for your continued feedback. I apologize that I don't have any further news on this front at the moment, but rest assured we're keeping track of your suggestions.
Thanks,
Kevin Ebaugh | http://rd.io/people/kev
+1 to turn notifications badge off
very bothersome in the OSX dock
Adding my request to have the ability to turn off the Rdio suggested notifications. They overwhelm the notifications that I as a user truly want to see and cause me to simply ignore ALL notifications. I realize that Rdio is trying to help folks find music they may enjoy but for those with large collections it is simply counterproductive.
Yes! Please let me turn it off! Please, I'm asking nicely!
I would also like it turned off. thanks!
Never EVER add a song by the band The Hit Co to your collection. You'll get 10 messages a day of a "new" release. Ugh.
+1 - far more annoying than useful. There is a new Edith Pilaf album every day it seems! Ugh!
Subscription cancelled. Why oh why did Rdio refuse to listen to customers?? Oh well, if I hear they've woken up I'll be back.
YES PLEASE.
I like the idea, and for artists that release music infrequently it would be nice. However it does not work for:
- Classical music
- Jazz artsist who have "retrospectives" and "best of" and other collection albums put out frequently
I would love to be able to disable this feature for specific artists or genre's. If that is too complicated then please at least give me a big OFF switch!
I think I'm the only one who likes these?
I don't get notified often and when I do, I find it relevant (Like the out-of-the-blue new song from The Postal Service - after 10 years).
Maybe my collection is small? Maybe the artists I listen to don't get featured in that many collections? Maybe something to do with me living in Brazil?
I just find it amazing that I get notified if an artist I like releases a new album or single. I haven't see the other side you guys are talking about.
@Gustavo try adding an Edith Pilaf album to your collection to see the negative side of notifications: http://imgur.com/o7TnpDX
+1 on this too. I find the constant Johnny Cash and Ella Fitzgerald notifications (of which there are many) annoying. I tend to ignore them and this means I don't get to see notifications for new material. I like the notification idea, I just want a way of muting it for certain artists - e.g. "hide all new notifications from this artist".
P.S. I realize that the OP is teasing a little, but please don't blame Rdio for coming up with the idea (or the individual who is responsible). It's only by trying out these ideas and improving them that we make progress. That said, if you do try out new ideas then you need to be able to move quickly to make them right. I hope this extra comment in a long list of comments will help you to prioritize this a little higher :)
The constant Johnny Cash spam is incredibly irritating for sure, the "publishers" of these stupid "compilations" should be kicked off.
I get about 5 notifications a day, this is ridiculous.
+1 for segregating these notifications from normal notifications. Or allow us to disable notifications by artist? That would be the better solution imo.
@Gustavo: Obviously you're not a Miles Davis fan. ;)