Fair MusE: Minority reports: gender, music genre, and language bias in the streaming era

In its second podcast episode, Fair MusE explores how music streaming platforms use recommendation algorithms to shape our listening habits, influencing music creators and consumers alike.

The second episode of the Fair MusE podcast, “Minority Reports: Gender, Music Genre, and Language Bias in the Streaming Era,” is now available, diving deep into how streaming platforms are shaping—and sometimes limiting—the musical landscape.

In this thought-provoking episode, listeners will discover how streaming platforms impact minority content and explore the unique challenges faced by underrepresented groups, including artists marginalised due to their gender, music genre, or even the language they sing in.

The episode features insightful conversations with experts who are at the forefront of addressing inequalities in digital music:

Lukas Krohn-Grimberghe, former founder and CEO of Grammofy, a niche streaming service dedicated to classical music, shares his experiences and the obstacles encountered when attempting to create space for underrepresented genres in the digital market dominated by major labels and streaming giants.

Isaac Muñoz, a researcher in computer science, discusses the linguistic biases prevalent in streaming, presenting key findings from his master’s thesis “Linguistic Colonialism in the Spotify Era”. Muñoz reveals how despite a decline in English-language dominance on Spotify, other languages, except Spanish, have not seen significant growth, indicating continuing biases in language representation.

The issue of gender disparity on streaming platforms is highlighted by Thais Ruiz de Alda, founder of Digital Fems, a non-profit advocating for increased gender representation in tech. Ruiz de Alda explains how current music recommendation algorithms perpetuate a gender gap, disproportionately favouring male artists, and calls for the inclusion of gender metadata to correct biases and offer listeners more accurate recommendations.

Throughout the episode, the guests underline that addressing these biases is essential not just for fairness but also for fostering cultural diversity and a truly democratic music ecosystem.

To explore these crucial topics further, listen to Episode 2 of the Fair MusE podcast below, and stay tuned for upcoming episodes where we delve deeper into how streaming platforms are reshaping the economics and cultural dynamics of music.