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The effect of streaming services on the concentration of digital music consumption

Hyunsuk Im (Mobile Communication Business, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, Suwon, The Republic of Korea)
Haeyeop Song (Department of Media and Culture, Kunsan National University, Gunsan, The Republic of Korea)
Jaemin Jung (Graduate School of Information and Media Management, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, The Republic of Korea)

Information Technology & People

ISSN: 0959-3845

Article publication date: 18 June 2019

Issue publication date: 14 January 2020

3334

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to articulate whether consumers’ use of music via streaming service benefits niche products and diversified consumption of music. It examines does winner take all or is long tail achieved in the digital music market.

Design/methodology/approach

To investigate the degree of concentration in the digital music sales, this study measures multiple concentration metrics using the top 100 songs for 245 weeks listed on the Korean music ranking chart.

Findings

Conflicting results are found between the analyses based on short-run and long-run data. When sales distributions are compared weekly or monthly, the results show that streaming services have a less concentrated sales distribution than download services. However, the result becomes the opposite in the long-run analysis (i.e. one year).

Originality/value

This study proposes that the non-technological drivers such as the beneficial addiction of music consumption can be a crucial driver affecting the usage concentration in music industry, coupled with the royalty policy of access-based services.

Keywords

Citation

Im, H., Song, H. and Jung, J. (2020), "The effect of streaming services on the concentration of digital music consumption", Information Technology & People, Vol. 33 No. 1, pp. 160-179. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-12-2017-0420

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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