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Abeiku Santana lacks intellectual acuity, hence his innuendos against streaming apps/platforms

Abeiku Santana21.png Ghanaian media personality, Abeiku Santana

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 Source: Prof. Dinkum

I was left rattled and numb, when the humbug and the histrionic man, Abeiku Santana libelled the significance of streaming apps through his buffaloing demeanor. If one had shadowed Abeiku Santana, he/she wouldn't have twigged that, his gormlessness at that point wasn't foreign, since he's been suffering from catatonic schizophrenia for ages. As a supposed entertainment expounder, it was a stark indictment on his fouled entertainment pedigree to have posited such a tangential and precipitate sketch. I do fancy that, Abeiku Santana has got the fetish to spoof the syndrome of John Mahama as ape ! Let me touch off the narcotic mind of Abeiku Santana with andragogy about streaming apps/platforms

Digitization is supplanting industrialization as the growth engine of Western economies, pioneering to the formation of online marketplaces and digital multinational enterprises (UNCTAD, 2017). As capitalism mutates, so do its most emblematic firms. The vertically integrated modern industrial enterprise, Alfred Chandler expostulated, was the linchpin of Western economies as they industrialized in the late 19th century and 20th century. Conglomerates like General Electric or Bayer hegemonized their respective sectors as they dilated their organizational capabilities and market reach in search of economies of scale and scope (Chandler, 1990).

In the same way, the Chandlerian firm expanded on the back of new technologies that reformed multiple industrial processes (Chandler, 1993), the growth of internet connectivity has spurred a new type of organization: the digital platform (Gawer, 2022).

Platforms are the hallmark of the digital economy and have become ubiquitous, because they are ‘are particularly well-adapted to the novel ways in which value can be created and captured under the new technological circumstances’ (Gawer, 2022: 110). Airbnb, eBay, Amazon Marketplace and Uber metamorphose the route goods are traded and consumed in entire sectors. Their new-found pre-eminence is reflected in idioms such as ‘platform capitalism’, ‘platform economy’ or ‘platform revolution’ (Kenney and Zysman, 2016; Parker et al., 2016; Srnicek, 2017; Steinberg, 2019). The firms that operate them (e.g., Alibaba, Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft) are the most valuable in the world (Jacobides et al., 2019: 8; Kenney and Zysman, 2020: 57).

In the pre - streaming era, new releases had a contrasting lifecycle. An artist would drop a new single, which would climb the charts but often fade into obscurity within days or weeks, amounting to vigorous chart fracases. Today, streaming services like Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music have hauled this dynamic eloquently. Instead of waiting for singles, listeners binge overall albums, giving autonomous artists and those signed with major labels like Warner Music Group continuous visibility. For instance, Taylor Swift's album "Midnights" saw multitudinous tracks dominate the streaming charts all at the same time. This trend galvanizes digital revenues for record labels and offers an anchored income stream for artists through streaming royalties. Streaming platforms have made it possible for tracks to remain relevant longer, impacting how music revenues are generated and distributed in the digital music market.

Streaming music has revolutionized how musicians consume music. Platforms like Apple Music, Spotify and Amazon Music have made it cinch than ever to access millions of songs bereft of purchasing physical records or downloading files. Institution like the Atlanta Institute of Music and Media advances aspiring musicians the education and skills required to navigate the modern music industry, from digital distribution to maximizing streaming revenues. Streaming platforms provide bands with a wealth of data that can be invaluable for decision-making and fan engagement. Artists can track how many people are listening to their music, where their listeners are located, which songs are performing best, and more. This data-driven approach greenlights bands to fine-tune their marketing strategies, target specific demographics, and design tours based on their fanbase’s geographical distribution.

Furthermore, streaming platforms like Spotify propounds insights into listener demographics and behaviours. Artists can learn about the age, gender, and listening habits of their fanbase. Armed with this schooling, they can tailor their music and promotional efforts to trump resonate with their audience, ultimately inflaming their bond with fans. Streaming platforms have remoulded music discovery. In the past, fans pinned their hopes on radio, TV, and physical record stores to comb for new music. Now, algorithms and personalized playlists have become the limelight.

Platforms like Spotify’s Discover Weekly and Apple Music’s personalized playlists use data and user behaviour to recommend music customized to individual appetites. For bands, this denotes that, their music can reach potential fans who might never have stumbled upon it through traditional means. If a listener has a penchant for a particular genre or sound, streaming platforms will propose parallel artists, giving emerging bands a prospect to glitter alongside more established acts. This enhanced discoverability has the aptitude to amplify a band’s fanbase exponentially. According to the RIAA, 75% of the recorded music industry's revenue in 2018 came from music streaming.

Consumers can now tap on a song and listen to it at a stroke, instead of being restricted to only listening to the album they just invested in. This is a phenomenon, that illustrious music writer Kendall Deflin commented on - drawing from research by Buzz Angle Music, he reported " because of the ease that streaming services provide, over 28 million unique songs were played, compared to the seven million songs that were purchased [ in 2016 ] ".

Streaming platforms have engendered about a paradigm shift in the music industry, giving bands more control, accessibility, and data-driven penetrations than ever before. These platforms have democratised music distributions, opened up new revenue streams, and transformed fan engagements. For bands, the edges are conspicuous : more creative freedom, facilitated discoverability, and direct dialogues with their fanbase. As streaming pursues to evolve, the camaraderie between artists and their fans will only stretch punchier, framing a more coruscating and high - octane music ecosystem for everybody's participation.

To Abeiku Santana, it is about high time, he cudgeled his brain, before he submits himself into obloquy.

Columnist: Prof. Dinkum