New technological advancements have resulted in a shift of medium. Music interaction has moved from physical media such as CDs and MP3-players to digital music services on the Internet. Vast catalogues of music is today available from any device with Internet access for either a monthly cost or even in some cases for free. Even though many users subscribe for the music they consume the music industry still experience an uncertain economy. New interaction opportunities and new design principles have derived from the new medium. According to users some functions are more important than others, some functions are even missing. Which are these? Are the users’ needs equivalent to the web development and the current supply of function the services offer? With vast consumption and immense establishment together with the tie in economic factors and technological development music streaming services is a given media technological phenomenon. This study’s purpose is to analyze three important components in the case of music streaming services: the supply, the user’s perspective and the position according to the web development. In order to increase the understanding of these parts this study has completed an inventory of current supply of functions in seven music streaming services and a questionnaire to conclude the user’s perspective. The study uses the theory of Web 1.0, Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 to examine current position of the services in web development. Possibly in this way the study might discover strengths and weaknesses in the supply of the music streaming services and thereupon contribute to suggestion of improvement and functions. Functions which might help the development of music streaming services and increase more paying consumers. This study show that the current supply of functions music streaming services offer is in general equivalent to the users’ need. However, the users don’t value social functions as an important part in music streaming services. They value a great catalogue of songs and great accessibility with commercial free use. The supply of functions doesn’t differ a lot from service to service. Spotify is the leading services both in quantity of functions and in number of users. Regarding the position of functions most functions is placed within Web 2.0. Thus, the user show an indication of the importance of accessibility which suit the vision of the ubiquitous and pervasive webb of Web 3.0. Even though the theory of Web 2.0 was coined 15 years ago the interactive music web service is mostly a product of Web 2.0. Despite of the satisfaction in supply, in terms of sustainability, it might always be a value to continue to examine the user’s need, the industry’s demands and the technological development to reach the highest form of contentment from all parts.

Parallel to new technological advancements, including the development of interactive recommender systems, digital music services on the Internet, such as Spotify, have in a short time span gradually replaced former physical media such as CDs and MP3-players and become pioneers on a market with an otherwise uncertain future. By subscribing to the service, users have access to a vast library of music and from any device with Internet access. In order to provide a satisfactory and useful musical experience, different ways of coping with the vastness is required - which is precisely what recommender systems are for. Improved filtering techniques and use of devices built in sensors, make way for new opportunities of more precise and contextually tailored suggestions for track selection, which in turn leads to potential privacy issues when using interactive music services. But where do we stand today? By compiling, exemplifying and discussing three different perspectives with relating to the development of interactive music recommender systems, the objective for this paper is to provide a for science, industry and user, objectively nuanced account of current potentials and expectations. A conducted survey among Swedish-speaking Spotify users as well as a performed asynchronous interview with an industry expert at Spotify, make up the foundation for an analysis based on dimensions and qualities of satisfaction related to the evaluation process of recommender systems. The study shows that users' are somewhat cautious toward future technological implementations, which may potentially infringe on their privacy, yet still accepting, due to the potential of a more personalized music experience. From an industry perspective, the possibility of offering contextualized recommendations is considered potentially valuable. Thus, conditions for realizing a more accomplished recommender system exists, but with some reservations - primarily requests for increased transparency regarding what information recommendations are based upon, and the ability for users to self-regulate what information is made available to the service - which in turn the recommendations shall be based on. / Parallellt med nya tekniska förutsättningar, däribland utvecklingen av interaktiva rekommendationssystem, har digitala musiktjänster på Internet, som Spotify, successivt ersatt den tidigare fysiska CD-skivan och MP3-spelaren och blivit världsledande aktörer på en marknad med annars oviss framtid. Genom prenumerationer erbjuds användare tillgång till ett oändligt bibliotek av musik och från flertalet olika enheter. För att tillgodose en användbar musikupplevelse, förutsätts möjligheten, både för bransch och som användare, att på olika sätt hantera denna oändliga mängd musik – vilket just är rekommendationssystemens uppgift. I takt med förbättrade filtrerings-tekniker och nyttjandet av enheters olika sensoriska data, finns möjligheter för mer precisa och kontextuellt anpassade förslag på musikspår, vilket föranleder potentiella integritetsaspekter i anslutning till användning av interaktiva musiktjänster. Men var står utvecklingen idag? Genom att sammanställa, exemplifiera och diskutera tre olika perspektiv på utvecklingen, är målsättningen att bidra till en för vetenskapen, bransch och användare gemensam, objektivt nyanserad redogörelse att förhålla sig till gällande utvecklingen av framtidens rekommendationssystem för interaktiva musiktjänster. Mot basis av aktuell forskning på området genomfördes en attitydundersökning bland svensktalande spotify-användare och en asynkron intervju med branschinsatt på Spotify, vilka analyserats utifrån dimensioner och kvaliteter av tillfredsställelse kopplade till utvärderingsprocessen av rekommendationssystem. Av studien framgår att användares inställning till framtida tekniska implementeringar, som potentiellt kan inkräkta på den egna integriteten, är något avvaktande men ändå accepterande då en mer personaliserad musikupplevelse ses som positiv. Branschen anser möjligheten att i tjänsteutbudet kunna erbjuda kontextualiserade rekommendationer som potentiellt värdefullt. Förutsättningar finns därmed för utveckling av ett mer fulländat rekommendationssystem, men med visst förbehåll – primärt önskas ökad transparens där det framgår vilken information som rekommendationer baseras på och att man som användare har möjlighet att själv reglera vilken information som görs tillgänglig för tjänsten – tillika rekommendationer ska baseras på.