New players in the music industry: lifeboats or killer whales? the role of streaming platforms

From an historical viewpoint the production, distribution, circulation and consumption of music went through numerous changes and displayed multiple interactions between artists, instruments and consumers. Music and the music experience are not only universally shared (Sève, 2013; Wolff, 2015) but relies on evolving patterns of consumption, on various forms of production and patronage, as well as on the on-going creation of instruments, around 12,000 (out of which 10,000 non-European) according to the Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments (Sadie, 1985).

Music, like books, has had a very sophisticated network of players and a broad division of...