How fair is music streaming? Fair MusE’s Data Workshop

On 17 January 2025, Fair MusE will host a high-level Data Workshop in Paris to address the question: How can we evaluate the fairness of music streaming platforms? Held at the Centre Internet et Société – CNRS from 09:00 to 15:30 (Central European Time), the event will gather industry professionals, policymakers, researchers, and enthusiasts to discuss fairness indicators and how they can be implemented to foster equity and diversity in the digital music ecosystem.

The workshop marks a milestone in Fair MusE’s ongoing efforts to study Music Consumers and Music Diversity (Work Package 4). Over the past two years, researchers in this work package have focused on how digital platforms shape the consumption and accessibility of music, with a particular emphasis on fairness within the ecosystem.

A day of insights and collaboration

The workshop agenda includes keynote discussions, presentations, and interactive working sessions designed to facilitate collaboration and innovation. Highlights of the program include:

• Keynote Presentation: Delivered by Manuel Moussallam, researcher and Head of R&D at Deezer, the keynote, titled Articulating Fairness with Goals and Constraints of Industrial Recommender Systems, will explore the challenges and opportunities of implementing fairness within the operational constraints of music recommendation systems.
• Research Presentations: Fair MusE researchers will showcase key findings from their work on Music Consumers and Music Diversity, highlighting achievements from the first two years of the project.
• Interactive Working Sessions: Facilitated by the Fair MusE Music Consumers and Music Diversity team, these sessions will engage participants in discussions about fairness indicators and their implementation using two innovative methods, Speed-Boat and Remember the Future. The working sessions will be actively led by Jannick Kirk Sørensen, Rose Holm, and Saulo Arias Hernández from Aalborg Universitet, as well as Daniel Bedoya and Antoine Henry from Université de Lille.

Working sessions at a glance

The first working session will focus on Fairness Indicators, using the Speed-Boat method to examine metrics for evaluating fairness, key enablers, potential obstacles, and associated risks. The Speed-Boat exercise, part of the Innovation Games® designed in 2006 by Luke Hohmann, uses the metaphor of a boat to help participants identify what could hold back progress or propel a project forward. More than just a game, it leverages collective intelligence to tackle challenges collaboratively.

In the second session, participants will engage in a forward-looking exercise, Remember the Future, imagining the music streaming ecosystem two years after Fair MusE concludes. Remember the Future is another Innovation Game® by Luke Hohmann, which encourages participants to envision what success might look like at specific points in the future. By imagining these results, participants are prompted to define clear goals and explore how they can be achieved. This session will focus on implementing fairness indicators, anticipating challenges, and identifying key milestones on the road to greater equity.

Who Should Attend

This event is tailored for music industry professionals, policymakers, researchers, students, and anyone passionate about the future of fairness in the music ecosystem. With its combination of cutting-edge research, practical tools, and collaborative discussions, the workshop promises to offer valuable insights for all attendees.

To participate, interested attendees can register here.