Abstract

Keywords

۱٫ Introduction

۲٫ Theoretical background

۳٫ Research model and hypotheses

۴٫ Research methodology

۵٫ Results

۶٫ Discussion

۷٫ Limitations and further research

۸٫ Conclusions and implications

Declarations

Appendix A. Supplementary data

References

Abstract

The music industry has undergone tremendous changes in relation to its production, distribution, and consumption habits due to the exponential development of new technologies, namely streaming platforms. The fact that sales of physical copies continue to decline significantly made it mandatory for this industry to reinvent itself by introducing music streaming services as a key part of its business development. This study aims to understand the factors that influence music consumption through streaming platforms, particularly studying the intention to adopt premium (paid) versions of a music streaming service and recommend them. An extension of the UTAUT2 model (version of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, applied to the consumer side) was created. Based on data collected from 324 music streaming services users, the framework of this study was tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). Research also included in-depth semi-structured interviews in order to generate a more profound knowledge about the profile, behaviours and motivations of the new music consumer. Our findings confirm that habit, performance expectancy and price value play the most important role in influencing the intention to use a paid music streaming service. Simultaneously, new dimensions such as personalisation, attitude towards piracy and perceived freemium-premium fit arise as having an additional relevant role in adopting this type of service. The research contributes insights into music streaming services consumer behaviour, providing several theoretical and practical implications to music streaming services providers.

۱٫ Introduction

Since the beginning of the oldest societies, music has played a fundamental role in the life of human beings, being undeniably a form of universal expression that unites old and future generations culturally and emotionally (Larsen et al., 2009, Larsen et al., 2010; Naveed et al., 2017). The importance of music in our society has led to creating an industry that includes all the concepts inherent to this thematic, such as its organisation, distribution, and profitability. This industry, made up mostly of countless record labels, has experienced golden times through sales of physical copies, thus monopolising the production and consumption of music. However, from 2001 onwards, it began to suffer the impact of the appearance of new technologies, thus initiating a digital age where the consumer has a greater capacity for decision (Arditi, 2014).

In the light of this event, the space for this industry as we knew it has become limited, and a reinvention of it was mandatory (Warr and Goode, 2011). The decrease in the volume of revenues, mainly due to the lower number of sales of physical copies (Sinclair and Tinson, 2017), led the main record labels to modernise. In particular, the growth of streaming services has revolutionised consuming music, as the number of users of these services keeps increasing (IFPI, 2021). It is known that since 2010, the number of users of the Spotify streaming platform has increased from 15 to 100 million worldwide (Aguiar and Waldfogel, 2018).