Music has long been understood as performing a dual role: an active agent (De Nora, 1999) capable of eliciting physiological and psychological transformations and, simultaneously, a resource that can be used to signal distinction (Bourdieu, 1984). In this sense, this paper asks: How do contemporary users of social media and streaming platforms employ music and the affordances of music platforms to transform themselves? To answer this question, we introduce the concept of aspirational self-labour to examine how contemporary music listeners engage with online music platforms as part of their self-transformation efforts. Drawing from an interdisciplinary body of literature, we explore how users navigate the dual nature of music as both agent and resource in their everyday lives. By integrating concepts from social reproduction theory (Drott, 2023), self-expansion models (Aron & Aron, 1986), and aspirational labour (Duffy, 2016), we propose a nuanced framework for understanding the labour involved in curating, discovering, and sharing music in digital environments. Through semi-structured walk-through interviews with 25 young music listeners in Porto Alegre, Brazil, we analyse how these individuals strategically engage with music as a tool for motivation, self-improvement, and social positioning. Music specifically produced for such uses and engaged in through this listening mode is typically dismissed as ‘functional’. We argue that scholars need to move beyond this simplistic portrayal of what is, in fact, a complex dual (agent-resource) mode of using music. Instead, we propose a richer conceptual vocabulary to understand one approach to listening through online platforms.

The rise of digital streaming platforms and social media has transformed the music industry, shifting not only production and consumption but also the role of music critics. Traditionally, critics functioned as cultural intermediaries, guiding audiences through aesthetic hierarchies and defining cultural value. However, the increasing prominence of algorithmic recommendations, fan-driven promotion, and social media has decentralized the role of the critic. This study explores how professional music critics navigate this evolving landscape, examining the impact of audience-driven, data-centric media consumption on their evaluative frameworks.

Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital, Becker’s Art Worlds, and literature on expertise from other cultural fields, this research situates the critic within a broader music ecosystem shaped by streaming and fan communities. Streaming services and social media platforms have shifted the focus from sales-based economies to data-driven models, where viral trends and audience engagement play a central role in shaping success. As a result, critics no longer function as the sole arbiters of taste; their reviews coexist with social media discourse and algorithmic curation. Preliminary results from interviews with music critics suggest that their evaluations now consider not only the sonic quality of music but also its potential for virality and social media engagement. This shift aligns the role of critics with that of influencers, where reviews themselves can drive trends and contribute to an artist’s success. This research contributes to the fields of communication, media studies, and cultural industries by examining the changing role of criticism in an era of participatory media cultures.

This paper offers a critical technography of ‘audio-first’ digital platform Spotify, scrutinizing the ways in which the company’s institutional discourse and promotional materials frame the practices of datafication and personalization. Engaging with the growing literature on platform studies, critical algorithm studies, and everyday data cultures, I argue that the case of Spotify represents a paradigmatic example of a broader discursive shift in which data practices are justified by platforms based on their capacity to evoke ‘delight’. On Spotify, I identify that this phenomenon is manifested through the mobilization of a contradictory ‘computational mojo’ that combines the science of numbers with miraculous, magical powers, as well as a focus on the timeliness and beauty of its algorithmic-driven contextual harmony. In so doing, Spotify’s designed experiences attempt to convince users that they should revel in acts of ‘data indulgence’ – the craving, appetite for, and enjoyment of data-driven experiences. Rather than accepting that these data-craving and advertising-friendly modalities of subjectivity are naturally or automatically occurring, I argue that the phenomenon illustrates the complex dynamics of ‘staging power’. Dialoguing with recent debates on the role of affect, emotion, and desire in mediating datafication, I aim to contribute to, and expand on, existing theorizations on the symbolic and aesthetic power of digital platforms.

Internet studies has rightly shown great interest in the question of how communities might be evolving as digital platforms become an increasingly important way in which collectivities are shaped and maintained. This paper addresses changing dynamics of individualization, community and collectivity in the domain of music, using a diary-and-interview study conducted in China (and complemented by some reference to a project we and others conducted in the UK, mirroring the Chinese project) on people’s everyday musical lives – bringing together both online and offline experiences. In examining the musical lives of people in China over a three-week period, we explore what mix of individualised and collective musical experiences we find there. How do digital platforms reshape personalization and collectivity? In what ways do they enhance or weaken musical community? By exploring these dynamics, we aim to unpack the tensions between individualized digital practices and the enduring role of offline connections in fostering shared musical experiences.