An Exploration into How the Rise of Curation Within Streaming Services Has Impacted How Music Fans in the UK Discover New Music
Digitalisation and the rise of the Internet has wrought havoc upon the music industry, forcing it to frivolously adapt and transform the modes of music production, consumption, distribution and discovery. The act of music discovery has always existed as an integral process for both consumer and industry, yet in an age where music listeners are presented with so many discovery options, which do they perceive to be the most effective? The following study investigates the rapidly growing industry of music streaming services, exploring how UK based service users aged 18 35 are discovering new music, and subsequently, the effect that this has had on traditional music discovery techniques. Findings have been categorised into four research objectives: (1) benefits, limitations and usage of streaming services, (2) leading methods of music discovery, (3) how relevant traditional discovery platforms are in the streaming age and (4) the roles that human and algorithmic curation play within streaming services. The following study locates that subscription streaming services surpass simply a listening platform and exist today as a leading method of music discovery for users. Additionally, whilst certain traditional methods of music discovery are perceived as archaic, the mediums of Radio and Word of Mouth still exist as leading music discovery platforms for these users. Conclusively, it was discovered that within streaming services, whilst human curated playlists were perceived to offer a more consistent recommendation of music, algorithmic curation exists as the most effective form of music discovery. Identifying streaming services as a leading music discovery method has opened the door for further research to be conducted in this area. Additionally, a number of implications for practitioners can be extracted from the findings within this study.