Emerging Audio-based Platforms and Participant Communities (2020)

Curator: Elizabeth Gerace | University of Florida | September 2020
Collection Editor: Isabel Pedersen
Aquisitions Editor: Laura Gonzales
Collection Archivist: Sharon Caldwell

Is platform-based audio consumption becoming more democratic? Platforms supporting audio-based content like music, podcasts, and audiobooks are leading the next wave of technologies that individuals are using to access, consume, create, and share content. Along with their content, platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music have online communities that invite interaction and support. Spotify is leading the technological curve. For example, it connects directly to the podcast creation app Anchor, which provides an easy template for users to record, publish, and distribute their own content across many different podcast apps.

Consumers are also demanding higher quality products for the consumption of audio materials. From premium audio headphones to smartwatches, new technologies are constantly being offered to the public promoting fuller sensory immersion, what IRIS calls "Active Listening". Hearables such as Here One also allow wearers to control and customize their audio environment.

This collection will catalogue audio-based platforms and related technologies with a focus on wearables and carryables, as well as the communities that develop behind them. It also offers cultural commentaries on the history of this trend, featuring the opinions of journalists from several media outlets.