Playlists and genre: the role of music genre in Spotify’s playlists

Abstract

Purpose

Genre is a valuable access point for popular music collections; however, the blurring of genre boundaries combined with changing listening habits and new forms of classification have brought genre’s importance into question. The playlist is now a common means of classification on music streaming platforms. Recent commentary suggests that context is now a preferred access point. This exploratory study offers an examination of genres’ role in playlists.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed-methods study investigates, using Spotify, whether genre retains relevance amidst the rise in popularity of playlist-based music classification. Sample size is noted as a limitation of the study.

Findings

Qualitative coding of user and editorial playlist names revealed less than 20% of codes applied were genre-based. However, when non-genre themes were differentiated, genre themes ranked as one of the most prevalent. Context-based themes were most common, though genre was readily combined with other descriptive themes, highlighting its utility. Quantitative analysis of genre tags showed playlists with context-based themes demonstrated higher genre homogeneity than those using generic themes, indicating playlists were named on a genre-by-proxy basis.

Originality/value

The study suggests that genre continues to play an integral role in a field where an eclectic variety of descriptive themes has emerged, although its role may have changed. Context-based themes are central to the way users organise music, though such terms can often serve as containers for music collections sharing distinct generic and musicological similarities.

Citation

McDonald, C., Foster, A.E. and Rafferty, P. (2024), "Playlists and genre: the role of music genre in Spotify’s playlists", Journal of Documentation, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-08-2023-0152