Spotify can tell if you're sad. Here's why that should scare you. Want to figure out if someone is a patient with a mental disability: Ask them what their favorite song is. A New York University study last year found that people who loved Eminem's Lose Yourself and Justin Bieber's What Do You Mean? were more likely to have trouble with mental disabilities than people who were into Dire Straits.
Over the past few years, Spotify has been improving the ability to analyze information to help businessmen target consumers with advertisements made specially for their needs. They conclude this from the sort of music you're listening to, combined with where and when you're listening to it, along with third-party data that might be available.
Now, to be clear, there's nothing significantly illegal about what Spotify is doing with your information. I certainly don't think that they are working with shadowy consulting firms to serve you ads selling a culture struggle while you're listening to music that suggests you might be in a terrible situation. However, I find it disappointing that our personal, private moments with music are increasingly being turned into information points and offered to advertisers.
You can see where this could go, can't you? As ad targeting gets ever more accurate, businessmen will have the ability to target our feelings in potentially improper ways. According to one study, you are more likely to spend more on a product if you're feeling sad. You can imagine some companies might take advantage of that. And on that note, I'm feeling a little down about all this. Head off to treat myself to something expensive.
