Exploring the (un)changing nature of cultural intermediaries in digitalised markets: insights from independent music

Abstract

This study explores the evolution of the music industry in the digital age by focusing on market intermediation. Drawing on Karpik’s (2010) economics of singularities, it aims to understand how digital technologies have transformed cultural intermediaries in the context of the independent music market. More-than-human (n)ethnography supported by depth interviews and secondary data analysis is used to provide new insights into the persistent function of judgement devices in digitalised markets. The findings highlight the material and axiological affordances of judgement devices and show how they provide opportunities for consumers whose intentions affect the actions of judgement devices. Although digitalisation has enhanced consumer empowerment, our study also reveals how actors of the indie music market experience the persistence of power relations in the music industry and the paradoxes of digitalisation. By focusing on the complex nature of technocultural changes, this paper offers a nuanced understanding of the (un)changing role of cultural intermediaries in digitalised markets.

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