How can we understand and profile the musical preferences of consumers of online music providers? Do they tend to stick to a single genre, or do they explore beyond genre boundaries? How can we develop well-tailored recommendations based on existing knowledge of listeners?

To answer these questions, we utilize a dataset from Last.fm, which contains variables on social networking, tagging, and music artist listening information from its users. We construct a network of music artists by defining a tie between artists based on a threshold of shared listeners. Community detection methods are then applied to this network, revealing a strong similarity between the detected communities and musical genres. Our analyses reveal that users rarely confine themselves to a single genre. Therefore, we also identify key artists that act as bridges between genres.

Next, we incorporate supplementary internal artist-related data, such as user-generated tags, alongside external covariates—including genre, nationality, and years active—obtained via web scraping. Using this enriched dataset, we develop more nuanced and sophisticated user profiles. Based on these profiles, we propose a novel personalized recommendation list approach.

Our approach generates two types of recommendation lists: short lists that provide concise selections of artists for immediate exploration or purchase; and long lists that function as dynamic playlists, adapting to real-time user inputs. This structured, data-driven method enhances music recommendation systems, offering a more personalized and engaging listening experience.

he music industries increasingly matter to local economies, placemaking, and creative industries economic development (Hesmondhalgh, 2013; Rana & Campbell, 2019, 2020). However, the Canadian music industry maintains systemic barriers that reproduce inequality and discrimination, especially with regards to Black, racialized, newcomer, and immigrant musicians. Within the specific context of Canada, there remains a false tendency to believe these issues do not permeate its industries because of a storied history of so-called multiculturalism and acceptance (D’Amico-Cuthbert, 2021). Meanwhile, community music programs have been documented to foster inclusive opportunities for participants to engage in music making, alongside providing platforms and supports to develop music industry careers (Campbell, 2021; Marsh, 2012; Rimmer, 2012, 2018).

This paper presents findings from our collaborative “Mapping the Music Industries” research project, highlighting how our cultural mapping methodology (Duxbury, Garrett-Petts & MacLennan, 2015) expands what and who “counts” as a musician in the Toronto context. We forward cultural mapping as a method to make visible music networks that are otherwise poorly documented. We will present process findings from our methods to convene and co-create with our research participants, including four community conversation sessions, River of Experience drawings, follow-up semi-structured interviews, participation observation with community programs, and a Music Summit event with one of our research partners, AfroWave TO. We highlight tensions between the presence of vibrant diasporic music networks in Toronto and established funding and support models in Canada that often do not see or serve these diasporic networks. Alongside these tensions, we highlight the role of community music programs in providing 1)inclusive models for learning 2) music business knowledge and 3)spaces for relational exchange and networking alongside 4) raising the visibility of Black, racialized, and newcomer music. We explore the effects of these programs with a nuanced understanding of the anthropological Eurocentric origins of cultural and musical heritage work (Pryer, 2019), aiming to avoid reproducing essentialist discourse regarding diverse musicians with our alternative network mapping methods.

Using the Electronic Music Open Mic movement (EMOM) as a case study, we explore how networks are the basis of community building and movement-making. Since 2017 EMOM has been responding to inaccessible or even hostile open mic spaces for electronic and soundscape producers and performers. Situated within a long tradition of improvised electronic music it represents an emerging grassroots movement that expands internationally to include groups in Mexico, Australia, Germany, Canada and beyond, where technologies bridge the gap between audience and performer, adopting hybrid roles and collective experiences. This paper examines how social networks propel the movement beyond geographical or technological borders. New micro-electronic performance instruments—including the Korg Volca, Roland AIRA Compact, and Teenage Engineering’s Pocket Operator series, streaming platforms and virtual instruments—democratise music production and performance, enabling participatory leisure practices and music mobilities.

A concurrent mixed methods framework uses participant observations, organiser interviews (UK), EMOM community surveys and a digital ethnography of event-facilitating platforms and event streaming (UK and International). Using social network theories and modes of analysis we explore the fluid roles of organiser, performer and audience member at EMOM events highlighting how digital and material mobilities shape networked transnational music cultures. This research advances critical discussions on how we can use social network analysis to understand real-time music world-building. Technology plays a central role in democratising leisure; challenging homogenisation narratives, with the paper offering insights into the co-creation of digital and material leisure spaces. The study positions EMOM as an exemplar of how networked electronic sound worlds, portable technologies and digital platforms combine to reshape community, identity and creative expression within contemporary grassroots leisure environments.

This study addresses the research question: How do networks facilitate innovation and influence the success of artists and songs? Focusing on the analysis of the entire GroundUP Music Label, our investigation integrates network theory with empirical analysis to examine how collaborative structures drive creative breakthroughs and build social infrastructures for reach. Initially grounded in the forbidden triads hypothesis – which posits that artists bridging disconnected groups foster innovation (Vedres 2017) – we uncovered two recurring configurations at play. A select group of artists occupies forbidden triads, acting as brokers who connect diverse creative circles, while most artists operate within highly transitive networks that underscore the role of trust transfer in building careers.

Employing a mixed-methods approach, we combine quantitative analysis of Spotify collaboration data with qualitative interviews with key label artists, further enriched by complementary performance indicators such as social media reach and sales metrics. Our findings suggest that both expansive bridging and localized cohesion are crucial for innovation, as each configuration contributes uniquely to artistic influence and success.

Ultimately, this case study advances theoretical insights into bottom-up open innovation models through dual dynamics of network structures. It also highlights the broader paradigm in which 21st-century musicians leverage both social networks and digital technologies to serve their music, expand their reach, and enhance their artistic impact.

Keywords: Social Network Analysis, Innovation Mechanisms, Music Ecosystems, Trust Dynamics, Creative Networks

Introduction & Background

Musical keyboard instruments have undergone substantial transformation, from early acoustic pianos to the digital innovations seen in contemporary synthesizers. This evolution reflects both technological advancements and shifts in musical trends. The study aims to understand the key innovations that have shaped these instruments, with a particular focus on the interplay between technological development and musical creativity. In such rapid IT development generation, we standing on the technological view to explore how technological progress interact with the music industry. This study aims to explore three main questions. First, how does the technological evolutionary path of keyboard instruments develop in the past decades? Secondly, what significant technology milestones bring changes and impact on music industry? And finally we further explore the existence of emerging trends in the industry.

Methodology & Data

To analyze the technological evolution of musical keyboards, this study employs a quantitative approach using Main Path Analysis(MPA). MPA is a bibliometric method used to trace the most significant developmental trajectories in a citation network, offering insights into the flow of knowledge through scientific fields. Introduced by Hummon and Doreian in 1989, it works by assigning significance indices to citation links, representing the importance of these links in the diffusion of knowledge from earlier works to later ones. The main path is identified as the most critical sequence of citations that connects key publications in a network, highlighting the dominant ideas that have shaped the field (Liu & Lu, 2012). We apply this method to explore the knowledge trajectory path of keyboard development.

The research collects a dataset of 2,749 U.S. patents, sourced from the Derwent patent database, covering a period from 1920 to 2024. By analyzing technological network and main knowledge trajectory, the study identifies critical technological milestones and influential innovators, shedding light on the major stages of keyboard development and the flow of knowledge within the industry. We also integrate edge-betweenenss cluster method to identify the existence of emerging technological advancement applied the keyboard development.

Conclusion & Implications

To explore the knowledge trajectory, we learn from Main Path Analysis (MPA) which reveals three distinct stages in the evolution of musical keyboard instruments: the initial phase focused on acoustic improvements, followed by the integration of electronic components, and culminating in the current era of advanced digital innovations. Notably, key knowledge flows have been observed from the U.S. to Japan, with Yamaha playing a central role in driving innovation. Based on the results, we also find a reciprocal relationship between music and technology. Technological breakthroughs create new musical possibilities, while evolving musical genres inspire further innovation. These technological development stages also explain the emergence of different musical styles. This dynamic suggests that both music and technology continuously influence and propel each other forward, indicating ongoing potential for innovation in the field. Standing at technological view, the research explains the dynamic interactions between technology and music. We also how the importance of these technological developments for future advancements in musical instrument design and production.