Heteromasculinity and queer reappropriation in music streaming practices: exploring homonegative curation by ordinary Spotify users

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article critically examines user-curated, public playlists on Spotify tagged with homonegative terminology. We consider these playlists discursive texts that reflect and co-construct discourses about the relations between music, music streaming, gender, and sexual identity. Applying theories from masculinity and queer studies and conducting a critical textual analysis of 21 playlists, this article unpacks how these playlists relate to homophobia, heteromasculinity, and queer reappropriation. The analysis shows that the discursive connections between certain musics and homonegativity are not as straightforward as they might seem at first sight. The tagging practices suggest a network of ambiguities that cannot be interpreted as unilaterally and integrally homophobic, while overly optimistic claims also cannot account for this meticulous discursive identity work. A variety of logics underlies these playlists, including queer reappropriation, heteromasculine homonegativity, and more ambiguous negotiations. The findings support earlier queer and masculinity studies’ claims that homophobic practices are as much a matter of gender as sexuality. Rather than instances of active hatred toward certain sexual identities, the playlists and their discursive tags are attempts to negotiate identities amidst music’s multidimensional gendered connotations. Circulating in the digital space that is Spotify, the playlists articulate a complex variety of heteromasculine and/or queer identities.