Weekend Wrap-up #02 - Thank you for the music...

So the last week saw the World Music Day on Monday, June 21. I felt that would make an interesting topic for my Weekend Wrap. Now when choosing what to focus my article on, I thought it only right to focus on something that is at an all-time high in India.

Yes I am referring to audio streaming, the demand for which is at its peak in India according to a survey conducted in March 2021 by the social streaming networking platform FLYX.

So let's look at some interesting actions and trends in audio streaming and I will attempt to explain them through concepts in behavioural economics.

1. Piracy and The Effort Heuristic

According to a recent article in The Mint, streaming apps in India have a base of approximately 200 million active monthly users, but the paid subscriber base is still around 2 million. Piracy continues to be the biggest challenge plaguing the music ecosystem, dealing a 67% blow to revenues.

The Effort Heuristic explains this significantly damaging impact on the industry. The Effort Heuristic  is a mental rule of thumb in which the quality or worth of an object is determined from the perceived amount of effort that went into producing that object.

People therefore don't feel bad about downloading illegal music for free because they reason that all the effort for producing it took place in the past, and a download does not create any additional effort or cost on the producer's part.

2. Catalogue Content and The Nostalgia Effect

In the music industry the term catalogue is generally used to distinguish the latest releases from everything that went before. A JioSaavn spokesperson said in The Mint, that there’s been a spike in music listenership with users tuning into catalogue content from Arijit Singh to S. P. Balasubrahmanyam.

The Nostalgia Effect can easily explain this as it is a cognitive bias where people tend to recall the past more fondly than the present, often remembering things better than they actually were.

In the absence of new Bollywood music this bias is serving audio streaming apps well. 

3. K-Pop and In-group Bias

Quoting the above article in the Mint, according to a company’s spokesperson, listeners have continued discovering new music on Spotify in the second lockdown, predominantly pop and K-Pop music. As per a recent report in Firstpost.com, Gaana too saw a 350 percent rise in K-pop streams.

In-group Bias (also known as in-group favoritism) is the tendency for people to give preferential treatment to others who belong to the same group that they do.

This phenomenon is often on display in groups of fans. K-Pop music fans, in particular, show an impressive array of tribal psychology. Hyperactive tribes, aka fandoms, are pushing KPop to new heights as is visible in the stats above.

4. Discover Weekly and The Paradox of Choice

The paradox of choice is an observation that having too many options to choose from, rather than making people happy and ensuring they get what they want, can cause them stress and problematise decision-making.

Spotify knew its selection was overwhelming for users looking to discover new music, which is why in July 2015 they introduced Discover Weekly. Every week, Discover Weekly delivers a 30-song playlist catered to unique music palates. The songs tend to be a mix of things users have either never heard or have long since forgotten, from artists they either know and love, have been meaning to check out or have never heard of before.

5. Trending Tracks and Social Proof

Social proof is the idea that consumers will adapt their behaviour according to what other people are doing. The above issue of a choice overload is also addressed through streaming apps providing Social Proof for what to listen to.

Trending Tracks and Popular Playlists is an attempt to help listeners zero in on what to listen to in a situation of confusion.

Would love to hear your feedback on how you like this series... It's a wrap... till next Sunday...

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I am sharing my posting schedule herewith... do look out for topics that might interest you:

Tuesday: Regular posts under Intriguing Insights and Inexplicable Influences

Thursday: To BE or not to BE - Behavioural Economic (BE) terms and their popular explanations or definitions.

Sunday: Weekend Wrap-up where I select an event or incident from the week that was and analyse some aspect of it.

Last Saturday of every month: My monthly post in the Intellectual Imprints section