In an age where music streaming platforms have become the primary media for music listening, the experiences of musically competent users are often overlooked. Employing a mix of research methods (semi-structured interviews, reflective diaries, and analysis of on-platform-activity metadata provided by Spotify’s APIs), this contribution aims to explore the viewpoints of musically competent users from Italy, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands regarding music streaming platforms. Through critical analysis, the study investigates both the subjective and objective aspects of their listening experience, as well as their interpretation of algorithmic mediation and platform affordances. The findings illustrate that competent users perceive the usage patterns afforded by streaming services to be insufficient in meeting their needs and the platforms to have been progressively diluting the quality of their listening experiences. Despite this, the study shows that streaming platforms lack alternatives to such an extent that even knowledgeable subjects prefer making do with this condition—they consider appropriate to their current lifestyle—rather than striving to enhance their consumption experiences. Furthermore, hypotheses are posited, suggesting that adopting a “platform criticism” stance may be a distinction marker of competence status.

中文翻译：

---

凑合听：音乐流媒体平台上的能力、区别和屈服

在音乐流媒体平台已成为音乐聆听主要媒体的时代，具有音乐能力的用户的体验常常被忽视。本贡献采用多种研究方法（半结构化访谈、反思日记以及对 Spotify API 提供的平台上活动元数据的分析），旨在探讨来自意大利、英国和其他国家的具有音乐能力的用户的观点。荷兰关于音乐流媒体平台。通过批判性分析，该研究调查了他们聆听体验的主观和客观方面，以及他们对算法中介和平台可供性的解释。调查结果表明，有能力的用户认为流媒体服务提供的使用模式不足以满足他们的需求，并且平台逐渐削弱了他们的聆听体验的质量。尽管如此，研究表明，流媒体平台缺乏替代品，以至于即使是知识渊博的受试者也更愿意凑合着这种情况——他们认为适合他们当前的生活方式——而不是努力增强他们的消费体验。此外，还提出了假设，表明采取“平台批评”立场可能是能力状态的区别标志。