New Study by Petr Szczepanik and Miloš Hroch on Algorithmic Inequality in Spotify Playlists Released

Although Spotify claims to offer equal access, the reality is different. Editorial playlists recreate the old center–periphery hierarchy: they prioritize Anglo-American content and marginalize artists from less central regions. Researchers from the project Opportunities and Barriers of Cross-Border Distribution of Czech Music Production reveal in their article for New Media & Society how the algorithmic logic of Spotify’s streaming platform affects the visibility and distribution of Czech music and how, in a broader context, it reinforces geographical inequalities in the global music market.

Countries such as Czechia or Poland are perceived by Spotify more as markets for music consumption than as sources of exportable content. Playlist strategies and market segmentation reflect and further entrench this peripheral role. Although Czech artists, digital distributors, and workers in local labels strive for greater “visibility” of Czech music within playlists and to bring their content closer to audiences, their influence is limited by their distance from Spotify’s algorithmic and corporate center. The article identifies four types of actors: platform-adapting creators; traditional gatekeepers adapting to the logic of the new digital music market; distributors aligned with platform logic; and gatekeepers within the platform itself. Each group plays a specific role in how it can leverage the platform’s algorithmic power. These actors form their own ideas about how the platform works, often subconsciously adopting its spatial logic. Their perception of distance from cultural and technological centers influences how they present music and what strategies they create – often unintentionally reinforcing the very hierarchies they seek to overcome.

 

The study Playlisting the Periphery: Platform Intermediaries and East-Central European Music Visibility in Spotify’s Geography was published in open access in the Journal New Media & Society.