This study examines the under-theorised practice of user playlist curation on music streaming platforms through the lens of social practice theory. This framework helps to understand the meanings, competence and materials involved in this practice. Moreover, by understanding the everyday musical contexts, habits, and needs of youth, it aims to identify their curatorial practices and how they navigate the influence of peer networks and the curatorial dimension of music streaming platforms.
A qualitative, multi-method study with 12 young heavy users of Spotify in Spain was conducted. Through media diaries and participant-elicited semi-structured interviews, habits in participants’ playlist curation practices and the meanings behind them were identified.
The reflexive thematic analysis suggests that playlist curation among participants is a functional but emotional practice contributing to musical and personal expansion by fulfilling their everyday life needs and transitional life-stage contexts.
The opportunity for participants in this study to talk and revisit their playlists led them to appreciate, embrace, and continue taking care of these musical artefacts they have proudly curated. This highlights the importance of taking youth media practices seriously, avoiding assumptions about media use, and talking with them about their individual practices.
This master’s thesis contributes to expanding the existing but limited research on user-manual playlist curation, continuing to acknowledge media users and youth as active agents of meaning-making with their streaming practices. It also sheds light on how playlist curation matters for youth, who use music and curate playlists to represent who they are. Thus, recommendations for future research emphasise considering playlist curation as a safe space practice for identity exploration, well-being attainment, and learning how young users navigate the influence of digital platforms and their social structures.