‘Press play for pride’: The cultural logics of LGBTQ-themed playlists on Spotify

Abstract

This article explores the cultural practice of creating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ)-themed playlists on music streaming services. It aims to understand how LGBTQ identities and cultures are represented and negotiated through the use of, and shaped by, digital media platforms. Through the textual analysis of 37 LGBTQ-themed Spotify playlists, we identified four cultural logics that structure the practice of playlist curation, each of which demonstrates the significance of music consumption to individual identity work and collective belonging. We conclude that the practice of playlist curation engages with LGBTQ culture in three productive ways: first, the curators contribute to a library of libraries by sharing their diverse perspectives on what constitutes LGBTQ music culture; second, the Spotify platform engages in community-building through enabling the sharing of tastes, pleasures, and experiences; and third, the curation of playlists brings diverse identity politics to the table, resulting in playlists that are politically queer, heteronormative, or ideologically ambiguous.

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