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Nothing personal: algorithmic individuation on music streaming platforms
1University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Media, Culture, and Society
|October 2, 2018
Summary
Online music platforms create individuals through specific viewpoints, influenced by advertisers. This algorithmic individuation shapes user experience and commercial strategies in digital media.
Area of Science:
- Digital Media Studies
- Sociology of Technology
- Media and Communication
Background:
- The concept of 'masses' versus 'individuals' is re-examined in the context of personalized online media.
- Contemporary digital platforms, particularly music streaming services, present a unique case for understanding how individuals are constructed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore how online music streaming platforms construct the concept of the individual music listener.
- To analyze the influence of consumer categories and commercial imperatives on this construction, drawing on Simondon's theory of individuation.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of two leading music streaming platforms' conceptualization of listeners.
- Application of Gilbert Simondon's theory of individuation to understand platform-driven user enactment.
- Examination of the role of advertisers and commercial interests in shaping user categorization.
Main Results:
- Leading music streaming platforms employ distinct 'ways of seeing' to define and enact individual users.
- Advertiser-defined consumer categories significantly influence these 'ways of seeing' and algorithmic individuation.
- Commercial imperatives are central to how platforms shape and present the individual listener.
Conclusions:
- Online platforms do not merely reflect individuals but actively construct them through specific modes of perception and categorization.
- Algorithmic individuation on music streaming services is deeply intertwined with commercial interests and advertising demands.
- The study highlights the performative nature of individuality in the digital age, shaped by platform design and economic forces.
Keywords:
Gilbert SimondonPandora Internet RadioRaymond WilliamsSpotifyalgorithmalgorithmic individuationmusic streamingpersonalizationMore Related Videos
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