Digital Subscriptions: The Unending Consumption of Music in the Digital Era

• In Event: 579 - Section on Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 07. Social Life of Information

Abstract

When Apple purchased Beats Music in 2014, it signified a major moment in the transformation of the recoded music commodity. This is the second time in the digital era that Apple catalyzed a transformation of the recorded commodity after first disrupting the recording industry by creating the iTunes store. Now, the recording industry is changing from a business model dependent on the sale of commodities to a model based on subscriptions and streaming. I call this model unending consumption because it traps music listeners in a cycle where they must continually subscribe to have access to music. By giving subscribers unlimited access to music in exchange for $10 per month, the recording industry aims to increase the amount that the average consumer spends per year on music by 200 percent.

Author

• David Michael Arditi, University of Texas at Arlington