ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the underpinning trends that have developed in the distribution of recorded and live music since the start of the 21st century, and more precisely, in relation to the festivalisation of culture and of the platformisation of cultural production. In reviewing techno-cultural changes in the distribution of music, it argues that content is curated with the specific intent to redefine the spatial materialities within which music is diffused. This chapter thus draws on the concept of curation to discuss how music is further entrenched within logics of commercialisation, which associate it with brands and products, and which ultimately define the spatial experiences of music in relation to them. In focusing on the curation of listening practices, the chapter helps readers understand the context of music, mediatised experience, and the way in which the COVID pandemic is both a radical shock and a continuation of established patterns of music commodification.
