Optimisation of Musical Distribution in Streaming Services: Third-Party Playlist Promotion and Algorithmic Logics of Distribution

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter discusses the reaction of musicians and recording industry professionals to specific novel affordances of music streaming services which are directly linked to their digital platform nature: third-party playlist promotion and automated recommendation systems. In semi-structured interviews with Australian musicians and industry workers conducted in 2017 and 2018, specific practices in distribution which were adapted to these platform features were avoided, derided or not well understood by the research participants. The chapter will briefly discuss the finding that participants in the Australian music industries were disinterested in these platform affordances, followed by two recent examples of strategies that embrace these platform affordances. This chapter seeks to clarify distinct strategic activities for seeking access to different kinds of playlists. It discusses the (dis)interest in approaching different playlists and clarifies some misconceptions surrounding the concept of playola. The perceived legitimacy of different approaches to promoting music on playlists can be linked to the entrenched European concept of the autonomous artist; negative reactions to these new affordances are framed as a defence of legacy logics of preselection, where workers and intermediaries seek to maintain control over a system which constructs hits and stars, and views valuable music as fundamentally rare.