Ubiquitous tunes, virtuous archiving and catering for algorithms: the tethered affairs of people and music streaming services

Abstract

Music streaming services all provide affordable and easy access to massive databases of music and instead attempt to increase customer loyalty by optimizing personalized recommendations and offering opportunities for listeners to build their ‘own’ music libraries. In this paper, these features are operationalized as the convenience, price, archive and algorithmic value of streaming services. Existing studies detail the multitude of ways of making sense of these services, but do not allow for specifying what features matter more. Drawing on an online survey and interviews, this study indicates that price, convenience and archive value predict continued intention to use music streaming services. Survey results negate the importance of algorithmic value, but the interviews suggest that for some, algorithmic individuation is too evasive to be noticed. Those who ‘see’ and value recommendations ‘cater for algorithms’ and consider their own listening and archiving practices as input for optimizing output. Combined, the different features set the stage for both overt and covert tethering of people and streaming services.