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Platforms, Power, and Promotion: Evidence from Spotify Playlists

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  • Luis Aguiar
  • Joel Waldfogel

Abstract

Many online markets are dominated by a handful of platforms, raising concerns about the exercise of market power in the digital age. Spotify has emerged as the leading interactive music streaming platform, and we assess its power by measuring the impact of its promotion decisions – via platform‐operated playlists – on the success of songs and artists. We employ discontinuity and instrumental variables identification approaches and find large and significant effects of playlist inclusion on success. Our results provide direct evidence of a prominent platform's power and suggest a need for continued scrutiny of how platforms exercise their power.

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  • Luis Aguiar & Joel Waldfogel, 2021. "Platforms, Power, and Promotion: Evidence from Spotify Playlists," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(3), pages 653-691, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jindec:v:69:y:2021:i:3:p:653-691
    DOI: 10.1111/joie.12263
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    Cited by:

    1. Nils Wlömert & Dominik Papies & Michel Clement & Martin Spann, 2024. "Frontiers: The Interplay of User-Generated Content, Content Industry Revenues, and Platform Regulation: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from YouTube," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 43(1), pages 1-12, January.
    2. Gustavo Berganti~nos & Juan D. Moreno-Ternero, 2023. "Revenue sharing at music streaming platforms," Papers 2310.11861, arXiv.org.
    3. Janek Meyn & Michael Kandziora & Sönke Albers & Michel Clement, 2023. "Consequences of platforms' remuneration models for digital content: initial evidence and a research agenda for streaming services," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 114-131, January.
    4. Lukas Jurgensmeier & Bernd Skiera, 2023. "Measuring Self-Preferencing on Digital Platforms," Papers 2303.14947, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2024.
    5. Martin Peitz, 2023. "Governance and Regulation of Platforms," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2023_480, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    6. Gambato, Jacopo & Sandrini, Luca, 2024. "Not as good as it used to be: Do streaming platforms penalize quality?," ZEW Discussion Papers 24-045, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    7. Yanhui Wu & Feng Zhu, 2022. "Competition, Contracts, and Creativity: Evidence from Novel Writing in a Platform Market," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(12), pages 8613-8634, December.
    8. Amelia Fletcher & Peter L Ormosi & Rahul Savani, 2023. "Recommender Systems and Supplier Competition on Platforms," Journal of Competition Law and Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(3), pages 397-426.
    9. Gambato, Jacopo & Sandrini, Luca, 2023. "Not as good as it used to be: Do streaming platforms penalize quality?," ZEW Discussion Papers 23-032, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    10. Gaétan de Rassenfosse & Adam B. Jaffe & Joel Waldfogel, 2024. "Intellectual Property and Creative Machines," NBER Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy and the Economy, volume 4, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Shiva Agarwal & Cameron D. Miller & Martin Ganco, 2023. "Growing platforms within platforms: How platforms manage the adoption of complementor products in the presence of network effects?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(8), pages 1879-1910, August.
    12. Alagöz, Nazli, 2024. "Promotion and technological change in the music industry," Other publications TiSEM 511ceba0-62a0-4c60-a76c-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    13. Daniel Winkler & Christian Hotz-Behofsits & Nils Wlomert & Dominik Papies & Jura Liaukonyte, 2024. "The Impact of Social Media on Music Demand: Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment," Papers 2405.14999, arXiv.org.
    14. Johannes Loh, 2022. "Selection, Consumption, and New Music Exploration in an Online Social Network: A Dyadic Approach," CESifo Working Paper Series 10120, CESifo.
    15. Yujun Park & Seongcheol Kim, 2024. "Do artists perceive blockchain as a new revenue opportunity? A social representation study of the Korean music industry," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.

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