(image from Newsweek)
Using Jose Van Djick’s Actor Network Theory and Poltical Economy Theory; We analyzed Spotify based on his criteria in his book The Culture of Connectivity: A Critical History of Social Media. Using his theories, we can better understand what makes a social platform like Spotify successful and what goes on behind the scenes.
Actor Network Theory:
Technology
Metadata - “Web API endpoints return metadata in JSON format about artists, albums, and tracks directly from the Spotify catalogue.” (Developer.Spotify)
Algorithm - “It’s more focused on algorithmic recommendations. In the past, others often suggesting artists and songs that people already knew and liked. Discover Weekly unearths new cuts from other users’ playlists.” (Bloomberg)
Protocol - “You need to (1) be 18 or older, or be 13 or older and have your parent or guardian’s consent to the Agreements , (2) have the power to enter a binding contract with us and not be barred from doing so under any applicable laws, and (3) be resident in a country where the Service is available. You also promise that any registration information that you submit to Spotify is true, accurate, and complete, and you agree to keep it that way at all times.” (Spotify)
Interface - Available on different devices such as Windows, Mac, iOS, Andriod, and Multi-Room speakers. (Expert Reviews)
(image from Business Insider)
Default Settings - Default settings are primarily based around User’s selection of music style (Spotify)
Users
Human vs Non-Human - The consumers are human. The freemium/smart music selection are non-humans.
How are human actors acting with nonhuman actors? - When people start to choose and create playlists, Spotify learns and builds off of it. The non-human actors are interacting with the human actor’s music choices to create suggested song lists.
How are users empowered? How do they challenge the system? - Users are empowered to create custom playlists and share music with friends. Users gain access to music without having to buy entire physical albums, they can pick and choose songs from multiple artists. Some small ways that users challenge the system is to refuse buying monthly memberships and muting the ads.
User generated content? - For spotify most content comes from professional artists. Users don’t usually create content but only create playlist. However, Spotify does allow independent/unsigned and small label artists to apply to upload their music on the website. You have to contact one of the music-aggregators they work with so that you can collect royalties from plays. You can find that here.
(image from Struggling Muso)
Content
How is content structured? - Through playlists, artists, albums, and songs.
- Spotify pre-fetches the upcoming song so that the next track can play instantly.
- There is less than 1% stutter on streams.
- Music files are encrypted so that network connection is needed to play a track, unless the user has stored it for offline listening.
- Music suggestions also appear based on predictions from the user’s play history.
Political Economy
Ownership
Daniel Ek is the creator and founder of Spotify
- “The music industry has been waiting more than a decade for Elk. Or more specifically, someone-anyone-who could build something (a) more enticing to consumers than privacy while (b) providing a sustainable revenue model” (Forbes).
Investors include 137 Ventures, Accel Partners, and AFSquare are just some of the investors
Governance
Legal Troubles:
- Spotify has run into trouble with the Ministry of Sound:
- Spotify was sued over “patent troll lawsuit”
- Terms of Service:
Business Models
Subscriptions include options of Freemium, Premium, Premium for Family, and Student Discount
Ads: Spotify offers advertisers seven different types of ads, described in their Ad Specs as: Audio Ads, Display Ads, Billboard Ads, Homepage Takeovers, Branded Playlists, Lightboxes and Advertiser Pages. These advertisements vary in size, type and user engagement.[28]
(image from Vanilla Pod)
Through our research, we learned a great deal about how complicated it can be to run and manage a social media platform. As a company grows, the technology, interface, governance and so much more has to grow as well. Companies have to stay up to date and adapt to user’s needs while balancing their trust as legal issues arise and terms of service change. Also, since technology is rapidly propelling forward and more artists are being played on Spotify, they have to revamp their interface every so often. Many competitors have gained popularity over the years but Spotify as a music streaming platform seems to be retaining users’ interests. It will be interesting to follow Spotify through the years and continue to apply Djick’s theories as they grow or decline.
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