Spotify is powerful. Is it biased?

Research published successful the International Journal of Industrial Organization recovered that independent-label euphony and pistillate artists benefited astir from an quality connected Spotify's New Music Friday playlist, which is simply a curated ranked database and is not based connected watercourse counts. Overall, much than 5,700 songs assigned to much than 14,500 apical 20 slots connected the play New Music Friday playlist successful 2017 were examined.

Researchers recovered that by comparing ranks to eventual streaming performances of songs:

• About fractional of the narration betwixt curator ranking and eventual streaming is caused by the song's fertile connected the playlist;
• Independent labels fertile amended than they performed streaming-wise, receiving an mean boost of 2 ranks connected the playlist; and
• To a lesser extent, euphony by women received amended ranks than their eventual on-platform streaming performances seemed to warrant, receiving a boost of 1.4 ranks.

"Despite challenges that independent-label artists and women look successful the music industry, Spotify's New Music curation appears to favour them," said Carlson School Professor and co-author Joel Waldfogel. "After accounting for the curators' playlist ranks, songs by autarkic statement artists watercourse less, indicating bias against major-label music."

Researchers authorities these findings lone use to Spotify's New Music Friday database and not to different existing lists. Further, they caution this bias successful favour of autarkic statement artists and women successful New Music Friday playlists does not code the challenges these groups face. For instance, streams for euphony by women relationship for astir a 4th of full streams, a stock that is debased compared to the fig of women listening, among musicians and successful the colonisation arsenic a whole. Instead, the takeaway is New Music Friday does not compound the challenges these groups look successful the euphony industry.

Additionally, successful a forthcoming insubstantial successful the Journal of Industrial Economics, Waldfogel and Luis Aguiar examined streams and playlist additions to large playlists astatine Spotify during 2017. What they recovered is that erstwhile euphony is added to oregon dropped from playlists similar Today's Top Hits oregon Viva Latino, streams of these songs leap up oregon down substantially. 

"Given the clip that songs walk connected these lists and the payments artists and their labels person per stream, the interaction of making these lists tin beryllium worthy $100,000 successful payments from Spotify alone," said Waldfogel. "About a 4th of the full streams of songs making the biggest playlists is driven straight by having made the lists."

Further, the most-followed playlists thin to beforehand euphony by already-established artists. Waldfogel and Aguiar determined that "about fractional of the narration betwixt curator ranking and eventual streaming is caused by the ranking." So, being ranked #1 connected the U.S. New Music Friday database adds streams worthy $77,000.

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More information: Luis Aguiar et al, Playlisting favorites: Measuring level bias successful the euphony industry, International Journal of Industrial Organization (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.ijindorg.2021.102765