The Music Audio Radio & Sound Working Group will host a webinar to discuss how global music streaming platforms are reshaping music production, distribution, and consumption across different contexts.
When: Monday 26 January at 17:00 UTC / 09h00 Los Angeles / 12h00 New York / 17h00 London / 18h00 Paris / 20h00 Nairobi / 22h30 Kolkata. The event will last 1 hour.
Pre-registration is required by 23 January. Register here.
Description
In this webinar, Prof. David Hesmondhalgh (University of Leeds) is joined by two contributors to his new edited book, Music Streaming Around the World: Dr Emilia Barna (Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary) and Dr Shuwen (Stella) Qu (Jinan University, China), to discuss how audio platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music and QQ Music in China are reshaping music production, distribution and consumption in a variety of locations.
Over the last decade, audio platforms (on which music accounts for most of the content) have shifted the power to shape music consumption away from the consumer electronics companies and entertainment corporations that were dominant in earlier periods, to the information technology sector. Drawing on a European Research Council-funded project that is led by Prof. Hesmondhalgh (MUSICSTREAM), the webinar addresses changes and continuities in music culture, challenging universalizing claims of musical decline and illuminating the wide variety of dynamics apparent when a wider set of cases is considered beyond the traditional Anglo-American core.
The webinar will feature three short talks by Prof. Hesmondhalgh, Dr Barna (Budapest University of Technology and Economics) and Dr Qu (Jinan University), followed by a conversation and a short Q&A session for the whole panel. Key issues include the relation of specific case studies to developments in capitalism, and to evolving debates about cultural imperialism and digital colonialism. The speakers will address the global reach of audio/music streaming platforms, and discuss the methodological and normative challenges involved in researching the platformisation of major cultural forms such as music.
Sponsored by: IAMCR's Music Audio Radio & Sound Working Group
Moderator: Gustavo Ferreira (Faculty of Information, University of Toronto, Canada)
Speakers
David Hesmondhalgh
Professor of Media, Music and Culture, University of Leeds
David Hesmondhalgh is author of The Cultural Industries (5th edition, 2026), Why Music Matters (2013) and Creative Labour (2010, with Sarah Baker), and his edited collections include Music Streaming Around the World (2025).
Emilia Barna
Associate Professor, Budapest University of Technology and Economics
Emília Barna is a sociologist/popular music scholar, author of Working in Music on the Semiperiphery: Local Cultural Production and Global Capitalism (CEU Press, 2025).
Shuwen Qu
Associate Professor at Jinan University and Co-Investigator on MUSICSTREAM.
Shuwen Qu’s work focuses on music industries and popular music culture in China.
Introductory remarks by Karen Arriaza Ibarra
Karen Arriaza Ibarra is IAMCR's Vice President and Professor in Audiovisual Communication at the Faculty of Communication of Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Spain.
Registration
Pre-registration is required by 23 January. Register here.
Location: The meeting will take place on Zoom. Pre-registered participants will receive personal invitations 24 hours before the webinar begins.
Who can participate: The webinar is open to all IAMCR members but space is restricted. Members must register directly through the IAMCR website at https://iamcr.org/webinars/register-music-streaming to secure a guaranteed spot. A limited number of guest invitations for non-members may be available. Non-members can fill out this form to request being added to the guest list, but this does not guarantee a spot as space is limited.
Not sure if you're a member? Check the membership directory.
If you are not a member of IAMCR, you can join here.
About the series
The IAMCR Webinar Series aims to open-up channels for engagement and participation in addition to the annual conference, while echoing the great work that is done by Sections, Working Groups and IAMCR members. The series includes presentations, debates, book and project launches. The format is flexible, the connection is what matters. Join us!