Music streaming services: understanding the drivers of customer purchase and intention to recommend

Abstract

The music industry has undergone tremendous changes in relation to its production, distribution, and consumption habits due to the exponential development of new technologies, namely streaming platforms. The fact that sales of physical copies continue to decline significantly made it mandatory for this industry to reinvent itself by introducing music streaming services as a key part of its business development. This study aims to understand the factors that influence music consumption through streaming platforms, particularly studying the intention to adopt premium (paid) versions of a music streaming service and recommend them. An extension of the UTAUT2 model (version of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, applied to the consumer side) was created. Based on data collected from 324 music streaming services users, the framework of this study was tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). Research also included in-depth semi-structured interviews in order to generate a more profound knowledge about the profile, behaviours and motivations of the new music consumer. Our findings confirm that habit, performance expectancy and price value play the most important role in influencing the intention to use a paid music streaming service. Simultaneously, new dimensions such as personalisation, attitude towards piracy and perceived freemium-premium fit arise as having an additional relevant role in adopting this type of service. The research contributes insights into music streaming services consumer behaviour, providing several theoretical and practical implications to music streaming services providers.

Spotify WOM by Millennial Generation

“…Takano et al (2017) menambahkan, para pendengar memilih lagu berdasarkan mood mereka saat itu, sesuai dengan kondisi waktu seperti weekdays atau weekend, maupun siang atau malam. Selain itu, pada penelitian yang dilakukan oleh Barata & Coelho (2021) ditemukan bahwa kebiasaan, ekspektasi terhadap performa aplikasi music streaming, harga, personalisasi, anti-pembajakan, dan freemium-premium oleh berperan penting dalam pemilihan aplikasi music streaming tertentu oleh para pengguna, sehingga ketika mereka telah memilih dan merasa nyaman dengan aplikasi music streaming tersebut, maka mereka juga akan berniat merekomendasikannya kepada relasinya yang lain. Secara tidak langsung, industri musik ini telah menciptakan pola perilaku bagi para konsumennya agar aplikasi streaming yang ia buat bisa menjadi populer dan semakin banyak orang yang menggunakannya.…”

Production and Consumption Model of a Modern Music Product

“…The consumer does not buy a media carrier but a subscription to use the platform and listen to tracks at a convenient time without advertising and even without an Internet connection. Streaming services offer a personalized approach to the user, because the algorithms of these services offer tracks to the listener, constantly studying the musical preferences of such consumers (Barata & Coelho, 2021;Towse, 2020).…”

“…Scott (2008) on the history of the formation and development of the music industry and media such as radio and television were studied. The functioning of modern streaming services, in particular Spotify, was studied according to the articles by modern scientists M. L. Barata and P. S. Coelho (2021), R. Towse (2020), P. Vonderau (2019). The specificity of the music product and its main manufacturers were determined based on studies of D. J.…”

The effect of quality of service experience on consumers' loyalty to music streaming services: Time pressure as a moderator

“…For the consumption of music streaming, some existing studies analyzed the factors influencing subscriptions based on the theories of psychology (such as consumers) and others analyzed it based on subscription price and platform design (Danckwerts and Kenning, 2019;Kinnally and Bolduc, 2020;Barata and Coelho, 2021;Chang et al, 2021). It was found that attitudes, social interactions, and injunctive norms are indicative predictors of people's willingness to subscribe to music streaming services (Bolduc and Kinnally, 2018;Kinnally and Bolduc, 2020;Chang et al, 2021).…”

“…It was found that attitudes, social interactions, and injunctive norms are indicative predictors of people's willingness to subscribe to music streaming services (Bolduc and Kinnally, 2018;Kinnally and Bolduc, 2020;Chang et al, 2021). In addition, price value, habit, and performance expectancy play a dominant role in shaping the willingness to pay for music streaming services (Barata and Coelho, 2021;Lüders, 2021). Furthermore, even music-based psychological ownership is closely associated with consumers' willingness to choose paid services (Danckwerts and Kenning, 2019).…”