Keep it Local: Music Streaming & Local Music Communities
The Napster revolution at the turn of 21st century toppled recorded music revenue streams as peer-to-peer file-sharing and piracy tore listeners away from music retailers and left a power vacuum at the center of the music industry. From 2008-2016, streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube emerged as the de facto leaders in the free culture of recorded music. This paper examines the impact of streaming services on local musicians and explores possible design interventions to improve financial returns of streaming for local acts. Streaming revenues accounted for 51% of recorded music revenue in 2016, but local artists, without the financial resources of major record labels, are not enjoying the financial revival. Favoring regional talent in streaming algorithms and incorporating existing plugins or widgets into the user interface of streaming platforms can funnel more revenue toward local artists.
Full Thesis Document
OhioLINK Acces
xdMFA Candidates must disseminate their research online in the Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK) Electronic Theses and Dissertations repository. This thesis may be accessed at http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1512137210213619
