This master thesis is written as a part of The Media Technology program at Linköping University in collaboration with the streaming music company Spotify. The thesis investigates how a software company in the modern age effectively and organically can stay innovative through times. The thesis maps out strategies, models and methods currently known, analyses Spotify’s innovative efforts over the past year and suggests a framework tailored to the needs of the company.

Purpose - The purpose of this research is to explore if there is a viable way for a newly brand to speed up the process of creating and acquiring the brand equity. Since branding is a very broad area, we narrow the research down to brand alliance for startups. With this research, we aim to deep into the subject to understand how this has been done and could be done.   Research Question - How can a start-up make brand associations with other well-known brands, in order to leverage their equity and acquire its own?   Methodology - Qualitative research method is applied through an interview to the case study company. This research is conducted in inductive reasoning which conforms to the qualitative paradigm. In addition, the research approach is an interpretive that has a view of subjectivism ontology. By looking into our case company, the description of each of the co-branding partnerships performed with its partners is examined. The information is gathered via an interview to the case company as well as secondary sources.   Findings - This research indicates that the case company has greatly benefited from the large number of co-branding partnerships with other well-known brands. It has benefited both in terms of gaining brand awareness and brand image, as well as accessing the customer base of its partners. It is an indication that a new start-up can speed up the process of branding and customers acquisition by engaging in co-branding partnerships.

Is Czech Spotify gender-biased? Alžběta Křížková Abstract This thesis analyses the gender inequality of music streaming platform Spotify. It focuses on Czech Spotify, ergo, on the Czech music industry between May 2020 and March 2021. The interdisciplinary study covers crucial theoretical concepts from the theory of platforms, popular music, and gender studies. It verifies whether the theory built on Anglo-Saxon tradition can be applied to the local setting. The dataset comprises of songs placed in the "TOP 200" chart and select editorial playlists. The chart illustrates song popularity based on listeners (organic listening), and chosen editorial playlists indicate the platform's promotion of songs (suggested listening). The gender gap analysis is based on a comparison of three gender ratios of songs entering the platform in total, in the playlists, and songs that make it to the chart. The empirical research utilises fundamental statistics and presents various song aspects (genre, record label, band formation, and others) in relation to artists' gender on Spotify, but also in the Czech music industry. The results show a low representation of female artists in the whole industry, while the platform actively promotes female artists via suggested listening. Organic listening endorses gender stereotypes and...

Studien behandlar digitaliseringens påverkan på musiklandskapet i Sverige. Syftet med studienär att förstå om och hur musikdistributionen i ett förändrat musiklandskap, Spotifys spellistekulturoch spellistan Hits idag påverkar P3s musikval. Studien är en empirisk studie som har samlat datagenom en kvantitativ innehållsanalys som jämför spellistor, strukturerade intervjuer med tvåbranschverksamma och en fokusgrupp som diskuterat ämnet. Studien underbyggs av forskninginom medieutveckling, public service och spellistekulturen vilket lägger en grund för enjämförelse med resultatet som visar hur P3 distribuerar musik, hur spellistorna förhåller sig tillvarandra och musikbranschens syn på ämnet.I studiens slutsats framgår det att den digitala utvecklingen har lett till ökad konkurrens för P3vilket kan leda till att de lägger fokus på att öka sina lyssnarsiffror snarare än att bidra med denspetskompetens och kvalitet som ligger i deras uppdrag. Studien påvisar, trots att P3 ska hålla enoberoende ställning mot aktörer med ekonomiska intressen, att P3 har påverkats av Spotifysspellistor. Om Spotifys egna spellistor skapade av musikredaktörer eller algoritmer blir denfrämsta plattformen för musikkonsumtion, riskerar kulturen att bli fattigare, vilket stärker behovetav en samhällsaktör som arbetar i motsatt riktning. Det har också identifierats ett samband mellanmusikbolagen, Spotify och Sveriges Radio där dessa aktörer har en inverkan på varandra,konsumenterna, samhället och på musikutvecklingen. / This study discusses the effect of digitalization on the music landscape within Sweden. The aimwith the study is to understand if and how the public service radio channel P3 is influenced bythe music distribution in a modified musical landscape, Spotify's playlist culture and the playlistHits idag. This paper is an empirical study and the data is collected through a quantitative contentanalysis which compare playlists, structured interviews with two people working within the musicindustry and a focus group who discussed the subject. The theory is reinforced by research fromscientists within media development, public service and the playlist culture. This forms a groundfor discussion of the result that shows how P3 distribute music, how the playlists relate to eachother and what the music industry thinks about the subject.The conclusion shows that the effect of digitalization is a growing competition of P3's consumerswhich could lead to a great focus on increasing the number of listeners instead of producingquality and expertise, which the public service commission tells them to do. The study shows thateven if P3 should be independent from companies with financial interests P3 is affected bySpotify's playlists. If Spotify's own playlists, produced by editors or algorithms, becomes theultimate platform for music consumption there is a risk that the culture becomes inadequate whichstrengthen the need of an independent part who works in the opposite direction. The study hasalso identified a relation between the major music labels, Spotify and Swedish Radio where themajor players affects each other, the consumers, the society, and development of music.

Streaming av musik har blivit ett vanligt sätt att konsumera musik på i Sverige. Vidare är Spotify en av de största leverantörerna av musikstreaming i Sverige men också globalt. Att utföra livscykelanalyser (LCA) av IKT-tjänster är ett nytt område där riktlinjerna fortfarande utformas. Spotify har ändrat sättet människor lyssnar på musik men det är oklart vilken påverkan denna förändring har på klimatet. Därför undersöker denna studie hur Spotifys musikstreamingtjänst kan undersökas ur ett hållbarhetsperspektiv. Frågeställningen för denna studie är hur 1) funktionell enhet, 2) avgränsningar, 3) direkta effekter och 4) indirekta- och strukturella effekter ska väljas för en LCA av Spotifys streamingtjänst. En litteraturstudie utfördes för att undersöka problematiken kring dessa områden men även hitta lösningar för hur de ska väljas. Resultatet gav ett antal riktlinjer som bör följas i framtida studier. För det första krävs det flera funktionella enheter för att mäta koldioxid, energi och miljögifter. Som nämnare till den funktionella enheten bör mätenheten minut eller datamängd skickad och mottagen väljas. När det kommer till avgränsningar ska enheten som användaren använder och indirekta- och strukturella effekter ska tas med i en LCA av Spotifys streamingtjänst. Huruvida andra processer som inte är direkt kopplade till streaming ska tas med beror på studiens frågeställning. Dessutom bör personas användas för att kunna jämföra hur olika lyssningsmönster ger olika avtryck. Direkta effekter som bör tas med i en LCA av Spotifys streamingtjänst är tillverkning, drift och avfallshantering av hårdvara och elmix som används samt användarens lyssningsmönster. När det kommer till indirekta och strukturella effekter bör dematerialiseringen av musik, att Spotify samlar mycket data om sina användare samt att Spotify påverkar sättet människor lyssnar på musik idag tas med i en LCA. Om en LCA ska utföras av Spotifys streamingtjänst bör den göras inifrån Spotify för att få tillgång till primärdata på de processer som sker när musik streamas. Nästa steg för vidare forskning är att utföra en LCA av Spotifys streamingtjänst. / Stream ic is a common way of consuming music in Sweden today. Spotify is one of the biggest companies delivering music via streaming in Sweden as well as globally. To perform Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of ICT-services is a recent concept where the guidelines are still being developed. Spotify changes the way people listen to music but it is not clear what impact this change has on the environment. Therefore this study investigates how Spotify’s music streaming service can be examined from a sustainability perspective. The main question for this study is how 1) a functional unit, 2) scope, 3) direct effects and 4) indirect- and structural effects should be chosen when performing a LCA of Spotify’s streaming service. A literature study was conducted to examine the key problems around these four areas and to find the answer to our question. The result points towards a few guidelines which should be followed in future studies. Several functional units are necessary to measure carbon dioxide, energy and environmental toxins. The denominator to the functional unit should be minute or data transferred and received. Furthermore should the scope of a LCA include the users unit, indirect- and structural effects. The direct effects that should be included is the manufacturing, operation and waste disposal of hardware. Also the electricity mix used for operating the hardware and the users listening pattern should be included. The indirect and structural effects that should be included are the dematerialization of music, the fact that Spotify collects data about their user and the way Spotify affect how people listen to music today. A LCA should be conducted from within Spotify to get access to primary data on the processes that Spotify uses. The next step in further research is to conduct a LCA of Spotify’s streaming service.

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Följande studie undersöker musikkonsumenternas behov i relation till streamingtjänsterna, med utgångspunkt i det krig som pågår mellan streamingtjänsterna, samt i de tre aktuellastreamingtjänsterna Spotify, Deezer och Apple Music. Studien undersöker musikkonsumentens (tolv till 35 år gamla) omedvetna behov som musikstreamingtjänsten ska uppfylla, samt hur förhållandet ser ut mellan de här behoven och musikkonsumentens val av streamingtjänst. Studien har genom en kvalitativ metod, där fokusgrupper och en semistrukturerad intervju legat till grund för empiriinsamlingen, kommit fram till slutsatsen att musikkonsumenten har två övergripande omedvetna behov: personifiering och igenkänning i tjänsten, samt behovet av att streamingtjänsten ska göra det möjligt för musikkonsumenten att leva i streamingen, i flow med den streamade musiken. Förhållandet mellan de omedvetna behoven och valet av streamingtjänst innebär övergripande att musikkonsumenten använder den streamingtjänst som tillfredsställer de omedvetna behoven, men inte byter tjänst med utgångspunkt i sina omedvetna behov, eftersom konsumenten inte själv känner till behoven. / The following study examines the needs music consumers have in relation to the streamingservices, based on the war going on on the streaming market, as well as in the three currentstreaming services Spotify, Deezer and Apple Music. The study examines the music consumers (twelve to 35 years old) unconscious needs that the music streaming service must meet, and how the relationship is shaped between these needs and the music consumer's choice of streaming service. The study has through a qualitative approach, where focus groups and one semi-structured interview formed the basis of empirical data collection, come to the conclusion that the music consumer has two unconscious needs: personalisation and self-recognition in the streaming service, as well as the need for the streaming service to allow the music consumers to live in the stream, in flow with the stream of music. The relationship between these unconscious needs and the choice of streaming service, shows that the music consumer is using the streaming service that satisfies their unconscious needs, but does not replace the service on the basis of their unconscious needs since the consumer do not know these needs themselves.

The digital growth of the 21st century has led to the development and establishment of recommendation systems for digital services. This is to allow users to find relevant content in the vast amount of data that exists. Past research shows that recommendation systems have been explored to a large extent, but that there is considerable knowledge missing regarding its impact on users. With this, we have chosen to examine its filtering and prioritization from the users perspective in order to see how recommendations are perceived and what implications it can bring for the future. The collection of data has been made through qualitative interviews and observations where Spotify’s recommendation systems have been used as foundation. When analysing this data, categorizations have shown results within five overall themes that have contributed to several conclusions. It has been shown that there are differences regarding the perception of integrity and trust between different kinds of recommendations and that there is an extensive obliviousness regarding the different recommendation systems. There is also no common view on the differences in value concerning the various ways to explore in Spotify and all of the participants have expressed dissatisfaction as well as four out of five showing mistrust towards recommendation systems.

Although the rapid growth of the music streaming industry has led to record levels of global music consumption, many leaders in the music streaming industry have not developed a financially sustainable business model for music streaming. This descriptive single case study focused on strategies that some global music streaming service leaders used to generate sustainable profits through their business models. Christensen's theory of disruptive innovation served as the conceptual framework for this study. Semistructured interviews with the chief executive officer and 4 senior managers of a leading music streaming service in southeastern Asia were analyzed to identify themes. Secondary data collected for this research included practitioner reports, government reports, company documentation, and peer-reviewed journal articles. During data analysis, I used method triangulation to generate insights regarding the key themes identified in the literature review. Analysis of the data revealed strategies that global music streaming leaders used to generate profits: (a) optimization of the firm's dynamic capabilities, (b) optimization of the subscription and freemium business models, and (c) a deliberate focus on the niche of local music. The findings of this study could be useful to music streaming service leaders who need to generate sustainable revenues and lack the strategies to do so on their own as well as to music streaming leaders who want their service to implement a disruptive innovation strategy. Additionally, the findings of this study might promote social change by generating awareness of proven strategies leading to sustainable profits for music streaming services and job security for artists who contribute to sustaining or increasing local economies cash flows and taxable incomes.

Music streaming services are increasing, compact discs (CDs) and digital download sales are declining, and many music artists are becoming affected by this positive shift in music technology. Music streaming revenue does not compensate for the decrease in revenue from CDs and paid downloads. Based on organizational configuration theory (OCT), the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the technology and marketing strategies that small business music artists used to generate sales revenue from the Internet. Six small business music artists who were 18 years or older with different music revenue streams participated in semistructured interviews. These small business music artists provided detailed information on the technology and marketing strategies they used to generate sales revenue from the Internet. The data collection process for this study included semistructured interview data and participant observations. The data analysis process included methodological triangulation of the interview data and participant observation data to identify themes for the study. Seven themes identified were having a marketing budget, social media, recording studio sessions, digital distribution, SoundExchange, music licensing, and corporate sponsorships. These data may contribute to positive social change by helping small business music artists sustain operations in the music industry.