Stephanie G. Mathis Music streaming has changed the experience that people have when listening to music. Anyone with a Springer account can now listen in on our music choices.
How does the ” Spotify Snooping ” and streaming music in general change our listening habits?
Music is everywhere
To better understand how music is consumed, I interviewed 49 people who use streaming services.
These services make music more accessible in everyday life.
As one interviewee explained, streaming:
It has been easier for me to include it in my life as part of the soundtrack. It’s so well integrated. The technology allows us to access music with a simple click. Music is easier to flow through me when I have it flowing.
Music streaming is now a part of our daily lives. Matthew Michael/Unsplash
The algorithms behind music streaming technology are designed to influence how users interact with music. This includes platform-curated playlists. The user must navigate through features that filter, select and decide which music to expose to listeners.
One participant described:
I feel almost like I’m stuck… And I will go and find it. Even though it is not Spotify’s problem, I feel like I am [trapped] into the world I have created for myself through listening to certain things. The algorithm promotes the music you already listen to. It only offers you slight variations of that because it does not want to scare you. It’s probably its job. Sometimes, it can be limiting.
Read more: Stream Weavers: The Musicians’ Dilemma in Spotify’s Pay-to-play Plan
Who’s listening in?
Users I spoke with said that because streaming services are also social media platforms and your listening habits could be seen by others, they need to use music streaming carefully.
One interviewee mentioned the “social pressure” that he feels to choose what he listens to.
I am also aware of how much music I listen to, and I wonder if it is embarrassing. Is it that I listen to this music too much? Is it too much music for me? This is something that I think about when I choose music.
Other people resent being reduced to a series of data points.
How does our listening change when someone else is listening? Melanie Pongratz/Unsplash
One participant suggested:
You don’t always want to share your feelings with others or even reflect them. It’s weird if you broadcast that. You know, it’s awkward.
The experience of using a streaming service is shaped by the knowledge of how these services track and allow others to follow users.
One interviewee said that they listened to music on their iPod in private.
It was also anonymous. I like the fact that I can listen to music in bed with headphones and not necessarily have it recorded online. There is a part of myself that feels a bit resentful about the fact that you cannot download music the way that you used to be able to in the past and listen […] indefinitely.
Read more: Audio cassettes: despite being a bit rubbish’, sales have doubled during the pandemic – here’s why
Fading passions
While streaming is undoubtedly a major way that we engage with music today, some interviewees have also indicated that it has changed their relationship with music:
Owning music is different from having a subscription. I’m less enthusiastic about streaming services […]. I guess I feel passive, or less active, with Spotify. Every time I try to be busy, I get frustrated because I can’t find what I am looking for […].
Vinyl can be more tactile and special. JossBroward/Unsplash
This could explain, in part, the revival of physical formats like vinyl or even tape.
Streaming technologies change not only how we listen to music but also the experience that is associated with it.
Streaming music allows you to integrate it into your everyday life and infuse it with musical elements in a variety of ways. It can transform private listening habits into ones that are viewed as risky if they are not carefully managed.
