How It Works

How Maya broke free
from the algorithm.

A real session with Crate. Seven acts. 40+ tools. Zero hallucinated track names. Every claim sourced from music criticism, not listening data.

Maya, 28, Brooklyn. Former Spotify Discover Weekly devotee who noticed she's been hearing the same 40 artists for two years. She likes Japanese ambient, UK garage, Brazilian MPB, Detroit techno, and jazz — but Spotify keeps feeding her bedroom pop and “chill beats.”

Act 1 of 7

“What Am I Actually Into?”

Maya starts by telling Crate about herself so it remembers her across sessions. Then she catalogs what she already owns.

crate
crate > I'm a record collector focused on vinyl. I like Japanese ambient (Hiroshi Yoshimura, Midori Takada), UK garage (El-B, Zed Bias), classic MPB (Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa), Detroit techno (Drexciya, Underground Resistance), and spiritual jazz (Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane). I mostly buy on Bandcamp and Discogs. Remember this about me.
remember_about_userMemory
crate
crate > Add these to my collection: - Hiroshi Yoshimura "Music for Nine Post Cards" vinyl, 1982, rating 5 - Midori Takada "Through the Looking Glass" vinyl, 1983, rating 5 - Drexciya "Neptune's Lair" vinyl, 1999, Tresor, rating 5 - Pharoah Sanders "Karma" vinyl, 1969, Impulse!, rating 5
collection_add×4Collection
crate
crate > Show me my collection stats
Totals by format, decade, average rating, top tags — all from her local SQLite database.
collection_statsCollection

Act 2 of 7

“Who Influenced My Favorites?”

Maya wants to understand why she likes what she likes — and trace where it leads.

crate
crate > Trace the influence path from Pharoah Sanders to Floating Points
Pharoah Sanders → Sun Ra Arkestra → Don Cherry → Four Tet → Floating Points Evidence: - Pharoah Sanders → Sun Ra: MusicBrainz (Arkestra member), Last.fm 0.72 - Sun Ra → Don Cherry: Pitchfork co-mention, shared Impulse! lineage - Don Cherry → Four Tet: The Quietus — "Kieran Hebden cites Don Cherry's Organic Music Society as a foundational record" - Four Tet → Floating Points: Last.fm 0.91, collaboration on "Promises" (with Pharoah Sanders himself — the circle closes)
lookup_influencesInfluence Cacheget_similar_artistsLast.fmget_artistMusicBrainztrace_influence_pathInfluencecache_batch_influencesInfluence Cache
crate
crate > Deep dive into Don Cherry's influence web
get_artist_infoLast.fmget_artistMusicBrainzsearch_reviewsInfluenceextract_influencesInfluenceget_summaryWikipedia

Maya didn't know Don Cherry was the bridge between spiritual jazz and modern electronic music.

Act 3 of 7

“Find Me Something New”

Now Maya wants discovery — not "similar artists" but genuinely surprising connections.

crate
crate > Who bridges Japanese ambient and Detroit techno?
Carl Craig (Detroit techno producer who cited Ryuichi Sakamoto), Susumu Yokota (Japanese producer spanning ambient and techno), Jeff Mills (whose "Planets" series draws on ambient composition).
find_bridge_artistsInfluence
crate
crate > I've never heard of Susumu Yokota. Tell me everything.
search_artist + get_artistMusicBrainzget_artist_infoLast.fmget_articleWikipediaget_artist_discogsDiscogssearch_bandcampBandcampsearch_reviewsInfluence
crate
crate > What's the best Susumu Yokota album on vinyl? Is it expensive?
Sakura — 3 copies on Discogs starting at $45. Grinning Cat — Japan-only pressing, 1 copy at $120.
search_discogsDiscogsget_master_versionsDiscogsget_marketplace_statsDiscogsget_album_infoLast.fm
crate
crate > Add Susumu Yokota "Sakura" to my collection as wishlist, vinyl
collection_addCollection

Act 4 of 7

“Build Me a Playlist”

Maya wants to hear the connections she’s been reading about.

crate
crate > Build me a playlist called "Spiritual Machines" — tracks at the intersection of spiritual jazz and electronic music. Use real tracks only, pull from Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane, Floating Points, Four Tet, Susumu Yokota, and Carl Craig. Verify every track.
A formatted playlist with verified tracks, each attributed to the tool that confirmed it.
get_top_tracksLast.fmsearch_recordingMusicBrainzget_artist_tracksBandcampplaylist_createPlaylistplaylist_add_track×12Playlistsearch_tracksYouTube
crate
crate > Play it
Streams the entire playlist through mpv, audio-only.
play_playlistYouTube
crate
crate > What's playing now?
player_controlYouTube
crate
crate > Skip this one
player_controlYouTube

Act 5 of 7

“What’s Happening Right Now?”

Maya wants to stay current — not just dig into history.

crate
crate > What are the latest album reviews from Pitchfork and The Quietus?
Review titles, artists, dates, and links pulled from RSS feeds.
get_latest_reviewsNews
crate
crate > Search music news for anything about Japanese ambient in 2026
search_music_newsNews
crate
crate > Find me new ambient music coming out of Tokyo on Bandcamp
Fresh releases from Tokyo-based artists with prices, formats, and tags.
discover_musicBandcamp
crate
crate > Play some ambient radio while I browse these results
Streams live from 30,000+ independent stations worldwide.
search_radioRadioplay_radioRadio

Act 6 of 7

“Go Deeper on This Song”

Maya finds a track she loves and wants the full story.

crate
crate > Tell me everything about Alice Coltrane's "Journey in Satchidananda"
Producers, writers, who sampled it, 2.3M listeners, full credits: Pharoah Sanders on soprano sax, Rashied Ali on drums, Cecil McBee on bass.
search_songs + get_songGeniusget_song_annotationsGeniusget_track_infoLast.fmget_recording_creditsMusicBrainzget_articleWikipedia
crate
crate > Who has sampled Journey in Satchidananda?
Song relationships reveal samples by DJ Shadow, Common, Madlib, and others.
get_songGenius

Act 7 of 7

“Export My Research”

Maya’s been at it for an hour. She wants to save everything.

crate
crate > Export my Spiritual Machines playlist as markdown
A formatted document with track listing, artists, and notes.
playlist_exportPlaylist
crate
crate > Show me all the influence connections we discovered tonight
Total nodes, edges, most-connected artists, breakdown by relationship type.
influence_graph_statsInfluence Cache

The Difference

What Spotify can't do.

Capability
Spotify
Crate
Why two artists are connected
“Fans also like” (no explanation)
Traced influence path with cited reviews
Bridge between genres
Not possible
find_bridge_artists with evidence
Vinyl pricing
Not available
Discogs marketplace stats
Local scene discovery
City playlists (editor-curated)
Bandcamp location search (direct from artists)
Full credits
Songwriter only
Producer, engineer, session musicians via MusicBrainz
Sample chains
Not available
Genius song relationships
Live radio
Spotify-only stations
30,000+ independent stations worldwide
Source attribution
None
Publication, author, date, URL for every claim
Your data
Locked in Spotify’s cloud
Local SQLite — you own everything
Memory across sessions
Algorithmic (opaque)
Explicit preference storage you control

One Session

15

Servers

40+

Tools Used

86

Total Toolkit

Maya used 15 servers and 40+ distinct tools in one session without thinking about APIs, keys, or data formats. She just asked questions in plain English.

Your Turn

Stop discovering what the
algorithm wants you to hear.

Crate is free, open source, and runs entirely on your machine. Install it and start asking questions about the music you actually care about.

Get StartedView on GitHub