Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

Reconfiguring the Music Industry: Platformization and Algorithmic Curation on Spotify

Junhua LiThe University of Melbourne*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

This article examines how Spotify has restructured the contemporary music industry between 2015 and 2025 through the intertwined logics of platformization and algorithmic curation. Rather than treating Spotify as a neutral distribution tool, the research approaches it as a platform intermediary that organises access to audiences, converts listening into behavioural data, and governs visibility through recommendation systems. Methodologically, the article adopts qualitative critical analysis based on platform studies literature and industry documentation: it compares Spotify with pre-streaming forms of music mediation and with other platform models, especially Apple Music's editorially oriented streaming environment and TikTok's short-video, sound-based discovery model. The central argument is that Spotify has not simply digitised earlier music retail, which has reorganised industrial power, altered the distribution of revenue, and transformed music discovery into a personalised, datafied and predictive cultural experience. The analysis shows that platform control over interfaces, metrics and recommendation pathways intensifies inequalities in visibility and remuneration even as distribution appears more open. Thus, it concludes that Spotify should be understood as a governing infrastructure within recorded music, and that debates about transparency, accountability and fair remuneration are therefore inseparable from contemporary platform power.

Keywords: Spotify; platformization; algorithmic curation; music streaming; digital music industry
Published: June 8, 2026
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2026.34196
Volume: CHR Vol.111
pp. 100-107
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