ETD

JUST PRESS PLAY: THE ROLE OF PLAYLISTS IN DIGITAL AGE MUSIC CONSUMPTION AND DISTRIBUTION

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60 pages

Title
  • JUST PRESS PLAY: THE ROLE OF PLAYLISTS IN DIGITAL AGE MUSIC CONSUMPTION AND DISTRIBUTION
Date modified
  • 08/21/2025
Creator
Abstract
  • Within the last decade, music streaming services such as Spotify, Youtube, Pandora, Apple Music, and Tidal have profoundly impacted distribution networks for music media. The behavioral changes of producers, consumers, and distributors of music media as a result of streaming music platforms are indicative of largescale behavioral changes in the way digital age societies consume art and media. Using prior research on streaming services as a point of departure, this thesis will provide an in-depth examination of a particularly dynamic aspect of music distribution networks: the Spotify playlist. Spotify curates a number of both human and algorithm generated playlists, which are quickly becoming the preferred method of music consumption amongst streaming music listeners. Due to the unique characteristics of the Spotify playlist in the changing media distribution landscape of the digital age, this thesis considers the Spotify playlist as the latest development in a lineage of recorded music formats and examines its roll in both changing and preserving economic and aesthetic relationships to music. These relationships are considered in light of shifting behavior patterns in the digital age.
Administrative Note
Date created
Identifier
Keyword
Language
Resource type
Degree discipline
  • Music
Degree grantor
  • University of Pittsburgh
Degree level
  • Masters
Degree name
  • Master of Arts
Rights statement

MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Epstein, Aidan. Just Press Play: The Role Of Playlists In Digital Age Music Consumption And Distribution. . 2018. d-scholarship.pitt.edu/concern/etds/ea943206-75f9-45f9-8fac-b4fe705b0e03.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

E. Aidan. (2018). JUST PRESS PLAY: THE ROLE OF PLAYLISTS IN DIGITAL AGE MUSIC CONSUMPTION AND DISTRIBUTION. https://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/concern/etds/ea943206-75f9-45f9-8fac-b4fe705b0e03

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Epstein, Aidan. Just Press Play: The Role Of Playlists In Digital Age Music Consumption And Distribution. 2018. https://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/concern/etds/ea943206-75f9-45f9-8fac-b4fe705b0e03.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

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