Every recommendation engine I've encountered appear to be based on the idea that I care about artists or genres, rather than the sound profile of individual tra

Every recommendation engine I've encountered appear to be based on the idea that I care about artists or genres, rather than the sound profile of individual tracks. Spotify has the tech to do this, they've demonstrated it with a genre explorer tool, but they clearly don't use it in their radio stations and recommendations. As several other comments have mentioned, music companies inevitably end up being redesigned to match the desires of rightsholders, and not users. The only way around this would probably be some kind of legally mandated compulsory licensing, so that any streaming service or end user can play any content if they pay the predetermined price, removing contract negotiations from the picture.