Bravo Ryuichi Sakamoto 一 for highlighting the exact reason why Open Ear exists as a business.

Music playlists should tell a story; they should be site, season and time of day specific, they cannot be done by a computer algorithm.

Annoyed by restaurant playlists, the prolific musician and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto 坂本 龍一 assembled the soundtrack for Kajitsu, a restaurant in Murray Hill, Manhattan.

In this insightful article in the New York Times, Sakamoto goes into detail on his process for curating a playlist for some of his favourite restaurants in New York.

Sakamoto said, “Normally I just leave. I cannot bear it. But this restaurant is really something I like, and I respect their chef, Odo.”

Featuring music from Aphex Twin, Nicolas Jaar, Nils Frahm, Oneohtrix Point Never and more, the playlist was compiled in collaboration with New York producer and curator Ryu Takahashi.

If only he'd been told that using Spotify to deliver is illegal...

Come join our curator network, Mr Sakamoto!