Streaming and Genre

so the move towards streaming in the 2010 had a

further effect upon changes in classifications practices within the music

industry's so very quickly.

In terms of digitization, there's an ongoing change in classifications

practices. Significantly streaming service is utilized software analysis, which which

deconstruct music in a variety of different ways, both socially

constructed ways of thinking about genre on around the material

properties of the recordings themselves.

And I think that's kind of interesting, because it suits

the purposes of those platforms.

But actually it changes the way in which in which

classifications takes place to a certain extent.

As Virna notes in a NW article that's in In

in the Learning Resources section, which is specifically about genre

streaming, Um, she says that streaming service is a central

players in what she calls algorithmic culture, whereby cultural value

is determined by processes partly human on partly machine.

So it's a kind of a new assemblage of human

on dhe on technological assessment about music, so algorithmic recommendation

works according to ah, mixed set of criteria.

So on the one hand, based around broad generic classifications

which I've kind of always existed in in terms of

the music industry, but obviously also nuanced, nuanced according to

metadata, around what other people are listening to according to

your own listening patterns.

So they compare your listening patterns to other people's on

make recommendations on the back of that.

But it also utilizes software, which analyzes the sonic and

formal qualities of music itself.

So things like tempo, the fullness of the frequency, range,

harmonic and melodic progression things like that, so that that

the intrinsic qualities of music are actually analyzed through through

through computer programs.

I think that's significant.

The streaming service is put a lot of effort into

research and development in which classifications is at the heart

of their business practices.

So, for example, Echo Nest, which is the research arm

of Spotify, uses data aggregated from Web crawling eso.

It pulls out information written by others, so it's getting

human information about particular types of music.

So essentially the social context and framing of music is

drawn from that kind of Web crawling a technology data

mining. So seeing where music is played on who by

on dhe digital signal processing techniques which identify and group

the sonic and formal elements of the track together on

place them in a cluster with other similar types of

music. So the digital processing, essentially lynx, tracks to each

other in playlists recommendations, according to the sonic alarmed sonic

and musical lightness A ZX well as those socially agreed

classifications of genre on, this gives a much more nuanced

information with regard to the overarching classifications system within screaming

streaming service Is I social use?

Um, so the sonic similarities identified by that type of

technology a really good at constructing playlists that are appropriate

for particular moods, etcetera, etcetera, very similar types of music

next to each other.

So there's a kind of smooth flow between them.

Um, so really, those classifications are working on time on

the lines of genre, but also at the heart social

use. So Sillas at all, which is again in the

research in the learning resources, argue that affect or emotional

or physical regulation becomes the overriding system of organizing music

within streaming platforms, and they call playlists and that type

of grouping according to affect emotion, physicality, mood, etcetera, effective

genres. So they're saying the Mawr important type of classification

material is according to that social use, so They argue

that playlist begin with an effective exit gents.

In other words, users turned to playlist playlist to produce

capture on, explore moods and emotions, associate with a variety

of events and experiences in their life.

They're drawing it into into a personal listening experience on

dhe wanting to get a very particular type off experience.

Out of that, um, for that study is very significant,

actually. The saying that that emotional on dhe physical on

dhe mood regulation are really at the heart of the

way in which organization takes place and what uses one

out of the end experience.

And that's not to say that streaming service's aren't concerned

with genre in its socio socio cultural sense.

So, for example, echo Nest doing lots of research, trying

to link together genres in clusters t generate smooth cross

genre playlists.

So in the next section here, you'll find a link

to the every noise at once website, which is really

interesting. It's It's a result of its a interactive website,

which is a result of Echo Nest research into John

reclassification. So I want you thio, explore this a website

genre cloud and think about how genres are being grouped

together. What criteria are being used in what linked one

genre to another, so each each each metal genres got

a story?

Each sub genre has got a little a piece of

music you can place you can easily compare.

On contrast, how music is being grouped?

Yeah, so on the one hand, streaming service's are using

a kind of overarching way of classifying playing music, depending

on kind of use value.

On the other hand, there there trying to group together

those socio cultural elements of genre according to that principle,

use value.

Um so significance.

I think the headline of these developments is that we

can think about the effect of streaming as shifting classifications

strategies away from the corporate organization that characterized genre organization

in the age of major label domination, um, towards being

led by the platforms themselves on their expectations, the perceived

user within that experience.

So it's a shift in terms of who's defining what's

important about classifications here.

I think this constitutes something of a shift in power

relationships, so leaning towards big data on platform capitalism rather

than the large music companies.

So for a company like Spotify, essentially music is content

towards providing an end service for its subscribers on this

is clearly often based around these new dominant systems off

classifications. So next week, when we talk about creativity will

be touching on how Spotify are investing in a I

artificial intelligence technologies to provide music music according to Mood,

which they main contract remain maintain control over if they

can make artificial intelligence generated music.

They don't have to pay anything to everybody, anybody else.

So in terms of revenue that they're drawing in everything

right? So they're really, really concentrating on the on the

arm of Research on This is already starting to happen,

not necessarily with a I, but there's a multitude of

ghost artists artists that don't actually exist, which appear in

prominent Spotify playlist such as relax ation, piano, etcetera, etcetera.

When people have done research into people who are making

those tracks, they don't seem to have any other artistic

profile right so that its content, which is maintained and

controlled by by Spotify eso both of these developments perhaps

suggest a changing relationship to genre.

Ah, on might be fundamental to the way we organize

listening in the future, U M So perhaps we're starting

Thio sie social use, taking presidents over the socio cultural,

and that's something we'll talk a little bit about next

week as well.

Streaming and Genre

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