On demand music streaming caused a major paradigm shift in the music industry and its monetization. The Nordic countries have since the beginning been at the forefront of this technological trend and has been a testing ground over the past ten years with services like Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal. In 2023, the third year of Covid, the US recorded music industry generated USD $15.9 billions. Streaming music made up 84% of total American record industry’s revenue to a record high $13,3 billions. All major formats of music grew versus the prior year with the exception of digital downloads. On a global scale the digital music market has continuously expanded since 2008. And new market places develops fast. The average time spent listening to music each week has grown from 20.1 hours per fan in 2022 to 20.7 hours in 2023. 32% of that listening is on audio streaming services and 31% on video streaming services. The list of the most streamed artist in the world 2023 was led by superstar Taylor Swift followed by Drake. The world is streaming and the future looks both interesting and bright. We love music! It is still quite a young technology and for the users and creators a new experience. There is still little dedicated research and that gives way to a lot of strong opinions and views. Through this course we will closely follow the discourse that goes on outside academia and tap into ongoing research and exiting developments. Over the years streaming has been a hot topic in the music and mainstream media with high profiled artists such as Taylor Swift, Thom Yorke, The Black Keys, David Byrne and many others speaking out against the payout of streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Pandora and Tidal. And with new ways to distribute money from the DSPs its looks like 2024 will be anything but boring. Through this course you will be guided through the history of streaming and the technology that made it possible. You will be introduced to the storefronts of online music made possible by this technology, and we will investigate how the digital marketplace can streamline both sales and marketing. Beyond exploring the effects of the technology on music and media startups, we will explore how artist development and career growth has been effected. Streaming offers exciting new opportunities and challenges when marketing and promoting music online, and you will learn specific techniques and tools to maximize your visibility, help you connect with fans and increase the chances to be discovered. You will master the techniques of the online streaming marketplace and working technology through “launching” your own release through The Orchard. This course will give you the wider historical context of the streaming economy and give you a broader understanding of this rapidly changing landscape. During this course, the students will meet guests with great knowledge and up-to-date insight on different topics.

Recorded Music (Undergraduate)
2 credits – 8 Weeks