The Evolving Communicative Value of Popular Music: Music Is Interpersonal Communication in the Age of Digital Media

The current research sought to examine how consuming music on streaming platforms, such as Spotify, and other digital media acts as a form of interpersonal communication. This survey research, which is based on a sample (n = 401) recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) human intelligence marketplace, revealed that once consumption rates surpass casual listening (more than 2 hours per day), popular music offers remarkably comparable communicative value for listeners. Results clarified that regardless of music genre preferences, relatively frequent listeners consistently call upon music for parasocial interaction, to inform their identity, and as a means of sharing with others.