Implicit Shaping: Mediated Tastes of Chinese Youth on Music Streaming Platforms

As the primary users of music streaming platforms in China, younger users have become the main audience for contemporary streaming music. Drawing on the app walkthrough method, ethnography, and semi-structured interviews, this article argues that although Chinese music streaming platforms have enhanced the fluidity of musical resources, the interplay between technological capital and the state implicitly reshape the taste of young listeners and reinforces the illusion of cultural democracy. Specifically, by introducing the concept of composite of cultural capital, the article employs it as a central analytical unit to examine how music streaming platforms mediate younger users’ tastes, as well as the dynamic mechanisms through which tastes are shaped. This is incorporated with broader discussions of technology and cultural critique through an analysis of the relationship between mediated music and younger Chinese users.