Music streaming can alter what was once a private activity into something more seemingly public.

Around 2016, streaming became the dominant way people engaged with recordings of music. Users engage in a constant process of renting music, by perpetually paying to use these services or by providing access to user data. Streaming services operate simultaneously in two types of markets: the circulation of music for users; and the exploitation of users' data and attention.

With this sharing, music streaming has altered the social experience of listening to music. Now, anyone with an account could potentially be listening in and seeing what music we choose to spend our time with.

So how does "Spotify snooping" and streaming music more generally change the way we listen to music?

The ubiquity of music

To understand the changing nature of music listening, I interviewed 49 users of streaming services about how they listen to music.

One key finding is these services render music more ubiquitous across everyday life.

As one interviewee explains, streaming "has made it easier for me to have it as a part of a soundtrack to my life, a part of what I do. Because it's just so integrated. With technology it just allows things to be so simplified for us that we can just access music at a click of the finger. I think that therefore music is much easier for me to have it kind of flowing through."

Music streaming technologies seek to shape how users engage with music through algorithmic features, such as platform-curated playlists. Users are required to navigate features that decide, filter and select what to expose listeners to.

As one participant's describes: "I almost feel like stuck in a rut… I'm like, "I actually do really want to find something new." And I'll go out and find that. But even though it's not Spotify's fault, I kind of feel a little [trapped] in the world that I've set up for myself by listening to certain types of things. I guess the algorithm promotes what you've already been listening to and only gives you often slight variations on what that is because it doesn't want to freak you out. And I guess that's its job. It can be a little limiting sometimes."

Who's listening in?

Because streaming services also act as social media platforms, your listening habits can potentially be viewed by outsiders, the users I spoke to talked of a need to navigate music streaming carefully.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.