SPOTIFY AND NETFLIX AS INNOVATIONS: STREAMING MEDIA HISTORY IN THE LIGHT OF INNOVATION THEORY

Abstract

Streaming services such as Spotify and Netflix have taken over large portions of the market for music and audiovisual entertainment worldwide. Some have described our current time as the “age of streaming», but the events that led us here has not yet been charted. Most writers who have studied streaming services have included some parts of their history, but the different industries have not yet been compared.This paper is a study of the history of streaming media services under the lens of innovation theory. In this ongoing study, we collect and systematize the findings of earlier published histories of streaming technology. These are contextualised with other genral histories of computer development. We find that streaming media is not one innovation, but a collection of many. Two of the most important events are Steve Jobs' ability to negotiate with all major record companies, and the introduction of "pirate" networks such as Napster, Gnutella and Pirate Bay. Counter to many popular characterisations, streaming services are not examples of disruptions in Christensen's terms, but long awaited systemic changes involving technology, economy, rights management and user patterns, including piracy practices.