CULS20015 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Spotify
15 Jun 2018
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Department
Course
Professor
Lecture 4: music as commodity and industry
Avoiding technological determination
• Technology exists as a broader social construct
Understanding the industry
• Record labels
• Music publishers
• Music retailing
• Live entertainment sector
• Musical instruments - manufacture. Distribution, retail
• Reord laels ad pulishig opaies do’t hae otrol oer ho e osue usi?
Shift in music consumption
• People outside the industry having impact on how music is consumed -> apple, spotify etc
• Digital music is immaterial and intangible - no physical product
• Easier access to large databases
• Shift to buying product to a service
• Easier for artists to get their music out there
• Shift to subscription based services instead of owning music
• Digital music is data - no physical product to fetishize
• The LP and CD hold value in their physical form - they have an 'aura'
How to compensate for the cultural value associated with the physicality of recorded music?
• Digital music about abundance
• The ability to control the music
• Playlist becomes the main means of personal expression - everyone's a curator
• Gets rid of a lot of intermediaries -> cd producers, stores etc
• Streaming restructuring the music industry
• People outside music industry dictate the means by which music is consumed
• Key site of commodification from the home to the mobile self
o Greater sense of individualism -> bc targeting individuals rather than the 'family' as a unit
• Spotify as place where music is promoted, distributed etc
• Unending consumption - we are streaming but not buying music
• Streaming services get data about consumers - sold to advertisers
• Focus shift to promotion, curation rather than distribution
• Branded musical experiences
• Its about the value we attach to the goods
Branding and music
• Increased role of music and musicians in promotional culture
• Sonic branding - use of music or sound to reinforce brand identity - focus on emotional value of
music to help strengthen brand identities
• Recording artists as "brands" that appear across multiple formats and platforms
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
Avoiding technological determination: technology exists as a broader social construct. Understanding the industry: record labels, music publishers, music retailing, musical instruments - manufacture. Shift to subscription based services instead of owning music. Streaming restructuring the music industry: greater sense of individualism -> bc targeting individuals rather than the "family" as a unit. Spotify as place where music is promoted, distributed etc: unending consumption - we are streaming but not buying music, branded musical experiences. Streaming services get data about consumers - sold to advertisers. Focus shift to promotion, curation rather than distribution. Its about the value we attach to the goods. Increased role of music and musicians in promotional culture.
