ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis, based on a discourse analysis of recent scholarship in the fields of popular music
studies, international legal theory, and economic-political theory, analyses the political economy
of online music streaming, focussing on Spotify’s playlist-oriented business approach. By tracing
the shift in the digital music industry from ‘scarcity’ to ‘abundance’, I argue – following the
work of Eric Drott (2019) – for a revised understanding of music’s commodification in the digital
streaming era. The analysis proceeds along two lines. The first asks how, from a Marxist
perspective, Spotify’s practices of rentiership, its positioning within the ‘gig’ economy and its
relationship to the so-called ‘Big Three’ record companies may be situated within the circuit of
capital, while the second, which draws on the work of Robin James (2021), Friedlind Riedel (2020)
and William Mazzarella (2017), considers the affective dimensions of Spotify’s streaming business
strategy – particularly its curation of ‘vibes’. Additionally, the thesis offers a historical
overview of the hierarchical structure of music copyright law that continues to privilege record
companies, showing how music copyright is rooted in Mussollini’s Fascist politics. The study
concludes that Spotify harnesses what Martin Scherzinger (2016) has termed music’s ‘experiential
liveness’ to
produce ‘mana’ moments by engaging users in activity-oriented listening.
Rasmus Fleischer
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