Platformization and the future of the Internet

with David Hesmondhalgh

17 Oct 2023 | Media and Communication

In this episode, we explore the relationship between two concepts: digital platforms and digital infrastructure. David Hesmondhalgh (University of Leeds) explores how the rise of platformization is having a profound impact on media and culture, and how it is disciplining infrastructures and narrowing the range of voices and perspectives that are heard. The case study? Online music.

Episode based on the article

Digital Platforms and Infrastructure in the Realm of Culture
By David Hesmondhalgh, Raquel Campos Valverde, D. Bondy Valdovinos, and Zhongwei Li

About the Speaker

David Hesmondhalgh (he/him) is professor of media, music, and culture in the School of Media and Communication at the University of Leeds. He is the author of The Cultural Industries (4th ed., 2019) and Why Music Matters (2013) and co-author of Culture, Economy and Politics: The Case of New Labour (2015), Creative Labour: Media Work in Three Cultural Industries (2011), and of the book-length report Music Creators’ Earnings in the Digital Age (2021). He is the principal investigator of the ERC-funded research project Music Culture in the Age of Streaming (MUSICSTREAM, 2021–2026).