Paper long abstract:

Having instantiated a society characterized by the unregulated and uncompensated distribution of intellectual property, the shift from mechanical to digital reproduction has disrupted the idea of ownership. The debut of Napster, the first successful digital music service based on Peer-To-Peer ("P2P") technology, suggested the possibility of an imminent and radical transformation within the music industry.

After fifteen years of trials and errors since Napster, the music industry appears to be entering a new phase in which consumers are attracted more to legitimate digital music services than free, and often illegal, options. The recent growth of the revenue generated from digital music produced a strong optimism in the industry.

However, digital technology requires a more sophisticated and intricate understanding of the relationship between technology and society; the process of technological innovation is imbued with the uncertainty, contingency and complexity, therefore, owes an elaboration on the interplay of the heterogeneous factors who have differing power and interests.

My empirical research based on the interviews with forty music entrepreneurs and in-depth analysis of two case studies, INgrooves and Spotify , investigates changing dynamics and the paradoxes emerging in the music industry.

By investigating the underlying dynamics of the technological development in the music industry, I argue that the dichotomised view of digital technology neglected the crucial aspect of 'learning' that is subject to conflicts and different power struggles, and thus produced a prediction of the industry departed from the actual process of technological innovation.