if you get it by word of mouth, you actively look for it and your choice affects what the algorithm shows you.

Considering that the professional music industry has been taken over by large firms buying listeners to gain chart entries and actually independent musicians have no chance to get into their corrupt system, the recommendation-system where no one but you decides what is recommended to you, is vastly superior.

If you start looking for new music, you get new music.

"Algorithms that show you what you want to see" only show you new music if you have a habit of looking for new music. If you don't bother looking, how should the algo know what you want?

Sure, they are not perfect, but at least better and more democratic than the practice of buying chart-ranks by paying for fake streams...