The platformization of music production

How digital audio workstations are turned into platforms of labor market relations

Dados Bibliográficos

ID7515191
AutoresYngvar Kjus (0000-0002-7864-3335, University of Oslo, autor correspondente)
Ano2026
Volume28
Fascículo3
Páginas1063-1080
Data de publicação2026-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoNew Media & Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1461-4448 • E-ISSN: 1461-7315
EditoraSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14614448241304660
OpenAlexW4405256541
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas22

Recent decades have seen the proliferation of digital music production technologies, led by digital audio workstations (DAWs) such as Pro Tools and Live . The companies behind them, including Avid and Ableton, resemble music distributors in their ongoing process of platformization —that is, in making themselves the foundation of an increasing range of interactions and transactions. The article discusses economic, social, and cultural aspects of platformization before zooming in on key DAW enterprises and the ways in which they have extended their presence across adjacent markets, including record production, live performance, audiovisual media, instrument manufacturing, sample sales, and music education. These companies have gone beyond selling tools to reorganizing the music industry and rearticulating what is needed to prevail in it, thereby intervening in labor market relations in ways that should not remain hidden “backstage

Audio signal · Business · Digital audio · Economics · Key (lock · Music education · Music industry · Production (economics · Sociology · Telecommunications · Workstation · Computer Science · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · ICT Impact and Policies