Work

Investigating Musical Taxonomy in the era of Streaming Platforms: Insights from Rap music through actual consumption data

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This paper examines the musical boundaries that emerge from the distinct consumption patterns of rap audiences. Using the actual listening histories of around 1000 French users of the music streaming platform Deezer, we apply dimensionality reduction and clustering methods to explore the musical boundaries that emerge from distinctive audience consumption patterns, with a particular focus on rap music. We show that these boundaries exhibit salient thematic distinctions, and each region of the map holds its own combination of themes. Focusing on six demographic groups based on age and gender, we find that each exhibits a unique pattern of music preference across the highlighted boundaries. Our findings deepen and renew our understanding of the dynamics in which music boundaries are formed, and highlight the importance of studying and comprehending these dynamics, showcasing one way to shed light on that matter.

Source: Poetics

DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2025.102006

Authors: Myriam Boualami, Camille Roth

Institutions: Centre Marc Bloch, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre d'Analyse et de Mathématique Sociales, École des hautes études en sciences sociales

Language: English

Topic: Music History and Culture

Subfield: Music

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,390

Funder: Agence Nationale de la Recherche