The rise of TikTok has revolutionised our interaction with music on social media, altering how we discover and share songs. Artists recognise TikTok's potential as a launchpad for their careers, while music streaming platforms have embraced user-generated content and introduced features for incorporating music into online sharing. Based on a user centred mixed-methods approach of content analysis and semi-structured interviews with established TikTok creators, this thesis investigates the motivations and mindsets behind sharing music-related content on the platform. Overall, 285 videos were analysed in the first research pillar and 16 user-interviews were conducted in the second pillar. The interviewed participants were all located in the US, under the age of 30 and required to have posted music-related content in the past 30 days. The data of both research pillars was analysed based on an inductive affinity mapping process. The study identified four distinct creator mindsets: reach-oriented, music-oriented, artist-oriented, and self-oriented mindsets. Each mindset represents a unique approach to music sharing, shaped by specific creator motivations and content themes. The study recommends features that enhance personalisation, facilitate music sharing and authentic self-expression, and offer customisation options for visual aesthetics. Additionally this research recommends exploring AI-generated sounds to create a framework for sharing music in a set context, following trending audio ideas on TikTok. The concept of personalisable sharing templates is explored, highlighting the different nuances to be considered when designing them for creators with different mindsets and offering customisation options to express themselves. By considering the unique motivations and characteristics of each mindset and content theme, these design implications aim to enrich the creator experience, foster engagement within the TikTok community and meaningful connections between creators and their audience. In conclusion, this thesis highlights the importance of considering distinct creator mindsets and content types when exploring motivations and user needs in music sharing on TikTok, providing a foundational guideline for platform designers and music industry professionals to tailor their strategies to meet the specific needs and preferences of creators. Future research should evaluate the discovered mindsets based on a quantitative approach and investigate the applicability of these mindsets to other areas of content creation, further extending our understanding of user needs and motivations across various domains when sharing content online. / TikToks frammarsch har revolutionerat vår interaktion med musik på sociala medier och förändrat hur vi upptäcker och delar låtar. Artister förstår TikToks potential som en möjlig språngbräda för deras karriärer, medan musikstreamingtjänster har välkomnat användargenererat innehåll och infört funktioner för att inkludera musik i online-delning. Baserat på en användarcentrerad mixad metod bestående av innehållsanalys och semistrukturerade intervjuer med etablerade TikTok-kreatörer, undersöker denna avhandling motivationen och tankesättet bakom att dela musikrelaterat innehåll på plattformen. 285 tiktok videor analyserades, följt av 16 användarintervjuer. Samtliga intervjuade var under 30 år, befann sig i USA, samt hade publicerat musikrelaterat innehåll under de senaste 30 dagarna. Data från båda delarna av arbetet analyserades baserat på en induktiv affinitetskartläggning. Studien identifierar fyra distinkta tankesätt hos kreatörer: räckvidds-orienterade, musikorienterade, artist-orienterade och själv-orienterade tankesätt. Varje tankesätt representerar en unik inställning till musikdelning, formad av specifika motivationskällor och innehållsteman. Studien rekommenderar funktioner som förbättrar personaliseringen, underlättar musikdelning och autentiskt självuttryck samt erbjuder anpassningsalternativ för visuell estetik. Dessutom rekommenderar denna forskning att utforska AI-genererade ljud för att skapa ett ramverk för att dela in musik i konkreta sammanhang, utefter ljudrelaterade idétrender på TikTok. Ett koncept med anpassningsbara mallar för delning undersöks och belyser de olika nyanser som bör beaktas vid utformandet av dem för kreatörer med olika tankesätt samt erbjuder anpassningsalternativ. Genom att ta hänsyn till de unika motivationskällorna, egenskaperna för varje tankesätt och innehållsteman ämnar dessa designförslag att berika kreatörs-upplevelsen, främja engagemang inom TikTok-communityn och etablera meningsfulla kontakter mellan kreatörer och deras publik. Sammanfattningsvis belyser den här avhandlingen vikten av att ta hänsyn till kreatörernas olika tankesätt och innehållstyper vid undersökning av motiv och användarbehov vid musikdelning på TikTok, vilket ger en grundläggande riktlinje för plattforms-designers och yrkesmän inom musikindustrin att skräddarsy sina strategier för att möta kreatörernas specifika behov och preferenser. Framtida forskning bör utvärdera de upptäckta tankesätten baserat på en kvantitativ metod och undersöka tillämpligheten av dessa tankesätt på andra områden för innehållsskapande, vilket ytterligare ökar vår förståelse för användarnas behov och motiv inom olika domäner när de delar innehåll online.

In the age of social networking and music streaming, playlists are a common tool for organizing,sharing or exchanging music in the digital realm. Most research, however, emphasizes mainlypolitical, legal, and ethical constraints of music sharing practices yet, neglects their social impact.Thus, this paper investigates the social-psychological foundation of the playlist and analyses itsfunctionality in establishing social relations and communication. Following the theories of Cooley,Mead, Simmel and Solomon, I conducted and analysed interviews with young Swedish men andwomen, in which they talked about their experiences and attitudes towards playlists. Moreover, allparticipants compiled their own personal playlist, based on certain personality traits, which wereaimed to be recognized by the others during the focus group discussion. The analysis of the datayields the following conclusions: The playlist is a social object, facilitating new forms ofcommunication. The social nature of the playlist is based on the transformation from objective- intosubjective culture. By internalizing new technologies, such as the playlist, objects gain social value,thus mere musical content becomes a social form. It is through sharing and exchanging musicalcompilations that the playlist, as a social form, serves as a vehicle or medium, facilitating newforms of sociation and communication. The communicative function of the playlist is due to itsconstruction through emotions as uniquely subjective judgements, based on the “I” as an emotionalself-feeling. Thus, musical compilations take part in the self-construction process, and can serve asa tool for the symbolic expression of the self.Moreover, the analysis points out that there are differences in how well certain parts of the self canbe communicated by a playlist. Emotional expressions of the self are translated into particularuniversal music patterns most successfully. Furthermore, the analysis shows that some people liketo browse through the playlists of others and judge them thereupon, which results in some type ofmusical voyeurism, termed “playlistism.” In conclusion, I argue that the musical playlist is both,socially implicated and socially implicating, and facilitates communication not only betweenSwedish youth but across cultural boarders.

This thesis explores new mobile media sharing applications by building, deploying, and studying their use. While we share media in many different ways both on the web and on mobile phones, there are few ways of sharing media with people physically near us. Studied were three designed and built systems: Push!Music, Columbus, and Portrait Catalog, as well as a fourth commercially available system – Foursquare. This thesis offers four contributions: First, it explores the design space of co-present media sharing of four test systems. Second, through user studies of these systems it reports on how these come to be used. Third, it explores new ways of conducting trials as the technical mobile landscape has changed. Last, we look at how the technical solutions demonstrate different lines of thinking from how similar solutions might look today. Through a Human-Computer Interaction methodology of design, build, and study, we look at systems through the eyes of embodied interaction and examine how the systems come to be in use. Using Goffman’s understanding of social order, we see how these mobile media sharing systems allow people to actively present themselves through these media. In turn, using McLuhan’s way of understanding media, we reflect on how these new systems enable a new type of medium distinct from the web centric media, and how this relates directly to mobility. While media sharing is something that takes place everywhere in western society, it is still tied to the way media is shared through computers. Although often mobile, they do not consider the mobile settings. The systems in this thesis treat mobility as an opportunity for design. It is still left to see how this mobile media sharing will come to present itself in people’s everyday life, and when it does, how we will come to understand it and how it will transform society as a medium distinct from those before. This thesis gives a glimpse at what this future will look like. / <p>At the  time of doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Submitted.</p> / Mobile Life Centre