The Stream of Consciousness

In the current disrupted ecosystem, capitalism-driven market pressures imposed by the intermediaries have irreversibly transformed the music industry, fostering an exploitative regime rooted in power asymmetries and systemic platform dependence. The promised payoff of cultural democratization and optimization has, in contrast, led to the devaluation of creative content into a contingent commodity. By exercising an unequal gatekeeping function, these powerful middlemen exploit and manipulate artists while extracting a new source of profit through users' datafication driven by algorithmic infrastructure and digital surveillance-driven mechanisms. Considering these deeply embedded inequalities, this thesis aims to address the following research question: How can a hybrid music streaming platform be rethought to balance the needs of artists and users through innovative, ethical, and community-driven approaches? While previous research has typically addressed this displacement through limited methodological approaches considering the multiple affected agents, this study intentionally combines Participatory Action Research (PAR) with a Constructivist Grounded Theory approach. By applying the lens of this robust methodology to an in-depth case study, it aims to challenge and dismantle the current exploitative, entrenched structures. More specifically, the researcher's choice draws upon the urgency to co-design both practical and sustainable solutions for the industry by placing the human factor and the creative content at its core. By empowering practitioners involved in the development of sustainable streaming alternatives as co-researchers, the discussion generated through the conceptual mapping of findings serves to further validate the patterns that emerged from expert interviews. This technique anchors the conceptual framework in their lived experiences, enhancing its significance through the field-based insights of individuals directly involved in the ecosystem. Therefore, the main scope moves beyond a mere descriptive analysis toward the collaborative construction of theoretical and actionable frameworks, a tangible future transformation. Ultimately, this methodological blend is uniquely suited to the aim of this thesis: to conceptualize the conditions and values necessary for ethical, artist-centered music platform design, while contributing to tangible innovations capable of challenging the extractive capitalist dynamics that currently shape the industry. Through the thematic analysis of primary and secondary data, a clear picture of the inequalities affecting the digital music industry is created, the foundation for systemic and structural restoration. Autonomy, agency, and creative ownership result as mandatory principles to diminish the unequal authority held by the platform monopoly and its algorithmic governance. Core themes to drive the creation of a future hybrid music streaming platform, one that is both artist-centered and community-driven, were identified through the research, including value co-creation, editorial and narrative framing to enrich music consumption, co-ownership models, ethical values shaping user engagement, user-centric revenue distribution, and transparency aimed at re-empowering curators. Together, these counter-capitalist movements reflect diverse yet interconnected dimensions of a shared vision: to reorient the music industry and its power structures around its two irreplaceable pillars: the artists who create and the listeners who give meaning to music.