Music Streaming: The Synergy Between Research and Business

Good news for all music streaming fans out there! A groundbreaking collaboration has been launched between Deezer, the CNRS, l’EHESS, l’Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, and l’Université Paris Cité. Together, they have established the Mixtapes associated research laboratory, aiming to shed light on the circulation of musical works in both France and internationally.

Over the next four years, this LabCom will delve into the impact of music streaming services on the distribution and consumption of music. With the support of the French National Research Agency, this joint research project has received funding of up to €363,000 for 54 months. The teams involved will analyze the social and spatial diversity of listening habits and tastes of users on these music streaming platforms.

The Mixtapes associated research laboratory, known as Mixed methods and data for music streaming analysis and listening practices, will leverage a wealth of data to better understand how users interact with music and podcasts on streaming platforms. By combining big data collected by Deezer with survey data from questionnaires and interviews, the researchers will study long-term changes in user preferences, the influence of streaming algorithms, and the transmission of musical tastes within families.

This collaboration builds on an existing partnership between Deezer and the Géographie-Cités Laboratory, which began back in 2017. The research protocols established in 2019 aim to ensure compliance with data protection regulations and the anonymization of surveys. The ultimate goal is to produce open and reproducible data that can benefit the wider scientific community and contribute to ongoing research in the field of music streaming.

This unprecedented access to individual and anonymized data for cultural consumption is a significant step forward for public research in France. By joining forces, Deezer and CNRS are paving the way for innovative research that will enhance our understanding of contemporary cultural practices. This collaboration promises to bring about valuable insights that can improve products and services for music streaming users, ultimately benefiting music lovers worldwide.