Social Networks and Information Cascades on DJs and New Music
Most people have favorite genres of music, songs, and artists. But how can we explain sudden changes in opinions of new music? I think network effects, such as information cascades, can be to blame. For example, if a popular artist (Nicki Minaj, for example) comes out with a new song and right away some people disprove of the song, many people thereafter will also claim to not like it, even if they secretly enjoy the music. The information cascade takes over to the point where we are not exactly sure what music everyone really enjoys. We are just going with the flow at this point.
The paper linked below shows how a similar phenomenon happens with EDM music. A DJ’s work and popularity are affected by the strength of his network. This inherently affects the types of EDM songs brought into the mainstream, as some hidden gems exist with artists that have smaller networks. As many songs will not reach the threshold to be heard and liked by as many people, they will never be as popular as some DJs that have large networks, even if those popular DJs are not nearly as good. In these examples, we can see how the information cascades and network effects can work against artists with new content.
The paper titled “The Effect of DJs’ Social Network on Music Popularity” can be found as the second link on this google search page: