Abstract
The eased access to new digital technologies allowed for new possibilities, with content streaming being one of the most expressive digital consumption and business models in the phonographic industry. Following, brand-new discussions regarding the consumption habits of its users took place. What is not yet clear is the consumption dynamics on these new platforms, particularly, when referring to exploration scenarios, the most relevant tools and what role factors such as familiarity and taste play in the discovery process of the existing catalogue. The intent is to comprehend the expressiveness of these music streaming platforms, what dynamics come to play referring to exploratory behaviours, and which tools or mechanisms are the most important in this process. Following data collection of 264 respondents through a survey, the results indicate both the popularity of streaming platforms and the respondents' high exploration tendencies, with existing features like playlists being the most significant tools to discover the catalogue.
TopIntroduction
Technological evolution brought a series of changes to various social sectors. These changes paved the way for new music consumption forms relying on digital formats at the expense of physical ones. Existing research has shown that some of the main advantages of digital music platforms include comfort, convenience and access to an extensive catalogue. These advantages result from technological innovations, the pervasive nature of the Internet, the appearance of social networks and, later, the appearance of multiple streaming platforms (Mendes, 2019; Charron, 2017). It has previously been observed that digital sources of music consumption play a vital role in the phonographic industry, with streaming platforms like Spotify and others being crucial regarding music consumption and revenue income sources. Accordingly, it is stated that streaming as a business model made up more than 60% of the total revenue generated in the global phonographic industry during 2020, with subscription services playing a central role in this field. On the other hand, more traditional digital consumption models, like iTunes or other downloading platforms, have shown a steady decline over the years, similar to the physical format as well (IFPI, 2021; Nielsen Music, 2020; Audiogest, 2020; Maasø, 2018; Mendes, 2019; Eiriz & Leite, 2017). Over the years, consumption practices have shifted from unit-based models to an access-based model, propelled by the appearance of various music streaming platforms on the market (Coelho & Mendes, 2019). Table 1 summarizes the evolution of revenue source income in the international phonographic industry during the last three years.
Table 1. International revenue distribution in the phonographic industry between 2018 and 2020
| Revenue Models | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Subscription streams | 37% | 42% | 46% |
| Ad-supported streams | 10% | 14.10% | 16.2% |
| Physical format | 25% | 21.60% | 19.5% |
| Downloads | 12% | 7.20% | 5.8% |
| Performance rights | 14% | 12.60% | 10.6% |
| Synchronisation | 2% | 2.40% | 2% |
| Total Revenue (in billions of American dollars) | 18.7 | 20.2 | 21.6 |
Source: (IFPI, 2021)
Key Terms in this Chapter
Performance Rights: Refers to the rights to play songs in live venues or by broadcasters.
Superstar Tracks: A term used to describe music tracks that stand out as having a large consumption volume.
Synchronisation: as defined by the IFPI, it refers to music that is used in films, games and television.
Long-Tail: Also mentioned by some authors as “heavy tail” or “power-law tail”. It describes a series of products that usually do not make part of the well-known or best-selling categories, being instead part of a niche market.
Mediators: A series of actors sometimes referred to as middlemen. They function as sellers or connectors between the customer and the producer of a good or product.
P2P: Abbreviation for “peer-to-peer”. This term describes a range of social networks in which users can share content without requiring any mediators.
Brick-and-Mortar: A term used to describe physical stores that sell a range of products, such as CDs and music merchandise.
Dematerialisation: A term used to describe the process of transposing an object to an equivalent digital counterpart. One such example is digital music files or photos, being equivalent to existing physical objects. These can be stored, processed, and retrieved through various technological gadgets.