Taste in the platform age: music streaming services and new forms of class distinction

ABSTRACT

Music streaming services, such as Spotify, have the potential to transform the social dynamics of music consumption in ways not previously encountered. These platforms facilitate anytime, anywhere access to vast catalogues of licensed music at little or no cost, making it possible for people from across class backgrounds to affordably access music spanning hierarchies of highbrow and lowbrow. Not only this, music streaming services are personalising the experience of consuming music. By drawing on music recommendation technologies that extract and predict similarities in music taste, individually and at scale, these platforms have the potential to reinforce class divisions in music taste at an unprecedented rate and scale. Yet, little is empirically known about if and how music streaming services are shaping the part that music taste and consumption play in the pursuit of class distinction. Drawing on 42 interviews with a combination of music streaming key informants and everyday users, this article demonstrates that music streaming services are creating opportunities to achieve distinction ‘on’ and ‘off’ platform. First, it highlights how technical command over these platforms and the practice of playlist curation represent opportunities to mobilise technical and music expertise in the pursuit of distinction. Second, it demonstrates that consuming music in physical formats, such as vinyl LPs, is a way for some to achieve distinction by challenging the speed at which music is made available by music streaming services. This article contributes to debates about the changing nature of the cultural assets underpinning class privilege in the platform age.

KEYWORDS:

• Bourdieu
• class
• consumption
• cultural capital
• music streaming services
• taste

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Prof. Susan Halford, Dr Brian J. Hracs and Dr Nicholas Gibbins for their vital contribution to the development of this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Jack Webster is a PhD graduate in the interdisciplinary field of Web Science and is engaged in social scientific research about the cultural dimensions of class inequalities in the digital age.