Abstract

The aim of the project was to explore the meaning and function of streaming media as a facilitator of Bildung, using Spotify as a case, and we formulated the following questions:

• What ideologies govern Spotify as a streaming media distribution company?
• What technical, educational, legal, economical, art related, and ethical challenges arise from the interaction between a streaming media as Spotify, art, and human beings?
• How are art expressions influenced by and communicated through Spotify’s media distribution platform? To whom and on what grounds? • What aspects of Bildung does the user experience in the specific contexts that Spotify provide?
• To what extent is the user, as an active producer of content, involved in her own Bildung via the algorithms that make up the digital participation?
• What constitutes Bildung in the Spotify-art-human being interaction?

To answer the research questions, combinations of methods were required. Access to Spotify users’ activities and experiences of streaming media interactions seemed to be crucial to the project. We draw heavily on qualitative netnographical observations, shadowing and interviews, together with sound quality tests, and philosophical studies.