Raving It Up at the Warehouse
Zahra Salah Uddin looks at how Gen Z is empowering musicians to revive concert culture.
☰
Let the Music Stream
My earliest tangiblememory of music isrewinding a cassettewith a pencil becauseone of my siblings wanted tolisten to a different tape. Rides toand from school often involvedarguments over which radiostation to listen to, with each oneof us taking turns to maintainpeace. Later, we began playingCDs during car rides and oftenhad singalongs, complete withhilariously incorrect lyrics. EachCD was dedicated to an album, acollection by a favourite artist orband or a movie soundtrack webought from the DVD shop in ourmohallah. Eventually, I learnt howto burn CDs and create mixtapesto share with friends and family.
This era ended abruptly whenthe car’s CD system was stolen – but thankfully the car was leftbehind. Around the same time,some of us began owning MP3players loaded with pirated songs,which we listened to on wiredheadphones – often sharingone earbud with someone else.Gradually, we transitioned toplaying music by connecting ourphones to the car’s AUX input,which sometimes led to thediscovery of new genres or evencultural shocks, like hearing Urdurap before it became mainstream.
Now, when we travel, we listen to our own music on Bluetooth earbuds and streaming apps like Spotify.
Sometimes, we don’trealise when our parents starttalking and naturally, they keepasking us to take out our tootiyan.In summary, Gen Z has seena rapid shift in technology andmusic discovery.
Just as we have moved fromsharing soundscapes to retreatinginto our headphones, there is agrowing sense that music listeninghas shifted from being a sharedexperience to an individual one,largely influenced by algorithms.However, this is not necessarilytrue. Last year I conducted a study*with Pakistani music enthusiasts tounderstand how they listen to anddiscover music. Music discoveryoccurs through various channels:singing competitions, socialmedia, local and international TVshows and movies, personalisedalgorithms on streaming platforms,and, of course, recommendationsfrom friends and family. We alsodiscover local artists throughmultinational platforms like CokeStudio and Nescafé Basement.This diversity highlights the needto contextualise motivations andbarriers beyond platforms likeSpotify and YouTube, especially in Pakistan.
Music discovery remainsinfluenced by culturalexperiences but is now drivenby digital personal relationships.All participants in my studyhighlighted the importance ofrecommendations from friends andfamily, which now account for 40to 70% of their music discovery.In the past, music discovery wasoften passive, shaped by listeningto what cousins or siblings playedduring car rides, the ghazals theirparents enjoyed at home or thesongs heard at weddings andother events. However, it couldalso be an active process, assome participants visited smallneighbourhood vendors to getpirated songs on their USBsand CDs. While buyers typicallyrequested specific songs, vendorssometimes added new or trendingtracks at their discretion. Today, thispractice has evolved into a moredigital and collaborative form, withpeople sharing songs through linkson Instagram and WhatsApp and creating playlists on Spotifyand YouTube.
Kentaro Toyama’s theoryof technology as an amplifiersuggests that technologyenhances human behaviourshaped by social and culturalcontexts. In Pakistan’s communalsociety, where resource sharingis common and privacy is vieweddifferently, families often sharedigital resources like laptops,phones, speakers and streamingaccounts, reflecting the collectivenature of music consumption.
Social media enhances collectivism in music discovery; it also fosters music exhaustion through overexposure and the fleeting nature of viral content.
While all participants discoveredartists through social media,they also noted that many songsare created to achieve virality.However, these songs often fail toleave a lasting impression and canresult in dissatisfaction becausethey are intentionally created tojust sound good for 30 seconds tosuit short-form videos. Additionally,the overexposure of certain artistson social media reduces theirmotivation to explore new musicbecause of the lack of novelty.Nevertheless, too much noveltycan be a bad thing.
Gen Z faces decision fatiguein music discovery due to anoverwhelming abundance of artistsand unlimited access throughdigital platforms. There has been anexponential rise in musicians fromdiverse socioeconomic and culturalbackgrounds, driven in part by theemergence of bedroom producers – self-taught artists who useaffordable digital tools and softwareto create music without the needfor traditional studios. Anyone cannow record a song on their phoneand upload it online, and we haveaccess to all of them through socialmedia and on-demand streamingplatforms. Therefore, we can listento any musician from anywhere at any time.
The shift from limited musicsources to unlimited accesscould explain our increasingreliance on friends and family forrecommendations. We used to belimited to what was available onCDs, cassettes, radio stations andpersonal computers. Now everyoneprimarily uses their mobile phoneswith almost constant internetaccess to listen to songs on theirheadphones. The sheer number ofchoices can be overwhelming andadd cognitive load when we arealready facing information overload.As one participant said, “Ab, I amnot loyal (to an artist), toh mere liyehar kisi ka music dhundna thoramushkil hai. Kaunsa kya chal rahahai?” This could also explain why wecontinue to rely on our community forrecommendations because it is aneasier way to cut through the noise.
Unsurprisingly, music discovery lags behind consumption when there are too many choices.
In my study, there was a median ofjust two new songs discoveredmonthly compared to 120 to 800songs listened to. Additionally,music consumption drops forcertain participants during religiousmonths such as Ramzan andMuharram. It has generally beendocumented that, unlike books,podcasts, or movies, listenersenjoy repeating songs, finding joyin familiarity. A common reason isthe nostalgia that songs evoke. Asone participant said, “ …music is oneof the uniting forces between thatatmosphere and you, because youcannot really go back to that, right?“
The easy access to music meansGen Z listens to music while doingpretty much anything, which makesmusic consumption a passiveactivity. According to my study,listening to music while cooking orcleaning makes each activity moreenjoyable. It helps to stay awakeduring long commutes and thesesongs are also something to lookforward to after work or school.Music acts as background noise,which can fill potentially awkwardsilences during dinner with friends.It helped some of the participantsfocus while studying or working.Similarly, we listen to music duringworkouts. It’s really to the pointwhere music accompanies any selfcare routine, including showering.Unlike analogue methods, whereyou consciously choose and insertcassettes or CDs, we now have anendless bowl of music. Particularlybecause we can loop songs andplaylists. In addition, streamingplatforms recommend similarsongs or artists based on the user’slistening history. Once we add otherAI features, such as Spotify’s SmartShuffle, we achieve semi-activemusic discovery. Therefore, eventhe same person can shift throughpassive, semi-passive, semiactive, and active modes of musicdiscovery depending on their mood.
In summary, while Gen Z hasexperienced a rapid increase inaccess to music, the ways wediscover and consume it remaindeeply influenced by humanrelationships and socioculturalcontexts. Even algorithms rely onexisting data, shaping our listeninghabits based on what we, or peoplesimilar to us, enjoy. Social mediaand streaming platforms play adual role: they can enhance theserelationships by fostering discoveryor undermine them by promotingmonopolies of artists, often thosesigned to major labels. While theabundance of songs and artists canfeel overwhelming, well-designeddigital tools can simplify theselection process and enhance thelistening experience.
*The research for the study wasconducted in conjunction with PurdueUniversity and included interviewswith five participants across severalage groups, direct engagement withmusicians and data extracted fromHamnawa analytics, a proprietarydatabase that tracks 400+ Pakistanimusicians across multiple platformsand has 21k+ data points.
Laila Dodhy writes and curatesplaylists for the Pakistani musicmagazine Hamnawa and works as agraduate research assistant atPurdue University. Instagram: @somewhatmajnoon
Read Comments
Related Stories
Sometimes, we don’trealise when our parents starttalking and naturally, they keepasking us to take out our tootiyan.In summary, Gen Z has seena rapid shift in technology andmusic discovery.
Just as we have moved fromsharing soundscapes to retreatinginto our headphones, there is agrowing sense that music listeninghas shifted from being a sharedexperience to an individual one,largely influenced by algorithms.However, this is not necessarilytrue. Last year I conducted a study*with Pakistani music enthusiasts tounderstand how they listen to anddiscover music. Music discoveryoccurs through various channels:singing competitions, socialmedia, local and international TVshows and movies, personalisedalgorithms on streaming platforms,and, of course, recommendationsfrom friends and family. We alsodiscover local artists throughmultinational platforms like CokeStudio and Nescafé Basement.This diversity highlights the needto contextualise motivations andbarriers beyond platforms likeSpotify and YouTube, especially in Pakistan.
Music discovery remainsinfluenced by culturalexperiences but is now drivenby digital personal relationships.All participants in my studyhighlighted the importance ofrecommendations from friends andfamily, which now account for 40to 70% of their music discovery.In the past, music discovery wasoften passive, shaped by listeningto what cousins or siblings playedduring car rides, the ghazals theirparents enjoyed at home or thesongs heard at weddings andother events. However, it couldalso be an active process, assome participants visited smallneighbourhood vendors to getpirated songs on their USBsand CDs. While buyers typicallyrequested specific songs, vendorssometimes added new or trendingtracks at their discretion. Today, thispractice has evolved into a moredigital and collaborative form, withpeople sharing songs through linkson Instagram and WhatsApp and creating playlists on Spotifyand YouTube.
Kentaro Toyama’s theoryof technology as an amplifiersuggests that technologyenhances human behaviourshaped by social and culturalcontexts. In Pakistan’s communalsociety, where resource sharingis common and privacy is vieweddifferently, families often sharedigital resources like laptops,phones, speakers and streamingaccounts, reflecting the collectivenature of music consumption.
Social media enhances collectivism in music discovery; it also fosters music exhaustion through overexposure and the fleeting nature of viral content.
While all participants discoveredartists through social media,they also noted that many songsare created to achieve virality.However, these songs often fail toleave a lasting impression and canresult in dissatisfaction becausethey are intentionally created tojust sound good for 30 seconds tosuit short-form videos. Additionally,the overexposure of certain artistson social media reduces theirmotivation to explore new musicbecause of the lack of novelty.Nevertheless, too much noveltycan be a bad thing.
Gen Z faces decision fatiguein music discovery due to anoverwhelming abundance of artistsand unlimited access throughdigital platforms. There has been anexponential rise in musicians fromdiverse socioeconomic and culturalbackgrounds, driven in part by theemergence of bedroom producers – self-taught artists who useaffordable digital tools and softwareto create music without the needfor traditional studios. Anyone cannow record a song on their phoneand upload it online, and we haveaccess to all of them through socialmedia and on-demand streamingplatforms. Therefore, we can listento any musician from anywhere at any time.
The shift from limited musicsources to unlimited accesscould explain our increasingreliance on friends and family forrecommendations. We used to belimited to what was available onCDs, cassettes, radio stations andpersonal computers. Now everyoneprimarily uses their mobile phoneswith almost constant internetaccess to listen to songs on theirheadphones. The sheer number ofchoices can be overwhelming andadd cognitive load when we arealready facing information overload.As one participant said, “Ab, I amnot loyal (to an artist), toh mere liyehar kisi ka music dhundna thoramushkil hai. Kaunsa kya chal rahahai?” This could also explain why wecontinue to rely on our community forrecommendations because it is aneasier way to cut through the noise.
Unsurprisingly, music discovery lags behind consumption when there are too many choices.
In my study, there was a median ofjust two new songs discoveredmonthly compared to 120 to 800songs listened to. Additionally,music consumption drops forcertain participants during religiousmonths such as Ramzan andMuharram. It has generally beendocumented that, unlike books,podcasts, or movies, listenersenjoy repeating songs, finding joyin familiarity. A common reason isthe nostalgia that songs evoke. Asone participant said, “ …music is oneof the uniting forces between thatatmosphere and you, because youcannot really go back to that, right?“
The easy access to music meansGen Z listens to music while doingpretty much anything, which makesmusic consumption a passiveactivity. According to my study,listening to music while cooking orcleaning makes each activity moreenjoyable. It helps to stay awakeduring long commutes and thesesongs are also something to lookforward to after work or school.Music acts as background noise,which can fill potentially awkwardsilences during dinner with friends.It helped some of the participantsfocus while studying or working.Similarly, we listen to music duringworkouts. It’s really to the pointwhere music accompanies any selfcare routine, including showering.Unlike analogue methods, whereyou consciously choose and insertcassettes or CDs, we now have anendless bowl of music. Particularlybecause we can loop songs andplaylists. In addition, streamingplatforms recommend similarsongs or artists based on the user’slistening history. Once we add otherAI features, such as Spotify’s SmartShuffle, we achieve semi-activemusic discovery. Therefore, eventhe same person can shift throughpassive, semi-passive, semiactive, and active modes of musicdiscovery depending on their mood.
In summary, while Gen Z hasexperienced a rapid increase inaccess to music, the ways wediscover and consume it remaindeeply influenced by humanrelationships and socioculturalcontexts. Even algorithms rely onexisting data, shaping our listeninghabits based on what we, or peoplesimilar to us, enjoy. Social mediaand streaming platforms play adual role: they can enhance theserelationships by fostering discoveryor undermine them by promotingmonopolies of artists, often thosesigned to major labels. While theabundance of songs and artists canfeel overwhelming, well-designeddigital tools can simplify theselection process and enhance thelistening experience.
*The research for the study wasconducted in conjunction with PurdueUniversity and included interviewswith five participants across severalage groups, direct engagement withmusicians and data extracted fromHamnawa analytics, a proprietarydatabase that tracks 400+ Pakistanimusicians across multiple platformsand has 21k+ data points.
Laila Dodhy writes and curatesplaylists for the Pakistani musicmagazine Hamnawa and works as agraduate research assistant atPurdue University. Instagram: @somewhatmajnoon
Read Comments
Related Stories
While all participants discoveredartists through social media,they also noted that many songsare created to achieve virality.However, these songs often fail toleave a lasting impression and canresult in dissatisfaction becausethey are intentionally created tojust sound good for 30 seconds tosuit short-form videos. Additionally,the overexposure of certain artistson social media reduces theirmotivation to explore new musicbecause of the lack of novelty.Nevertheless, too much noveltycan be a bad thing.
Gen Z faces decision fatiguein music discovery due to anoverwhelming abundance of artistsand unlimited access throughdigital platforms. There has been anexponential rise in musicians fromdiverse socioeconomic and culturalbackgrounds, driven in part by theemergence of bedroom producers – self-taught artists who useaffordable digital tools and softwareto create music without the needfor traditional studios. Anyone cannow record a song on their phoneand upload it online, and we haveaccess to all of them through socialmedia and on-demand streamingplatforms. Therefore, we can listento any musician from anywhere at any time.
The shift from limited musicsources to unlimited accesscould explain our increasingreliance on friends and family forrecommendations. We used to belimited to what was available onCDs, cassettes, radio stations andpersonal computers. Now everyoneprimarily uses their mobile phoneswith almost constant internetaccess to listen to songs on theirheadphones. The sheer number ofchoices can be overwhelming andadd cognitive load when we arealready facing information overload.As one participant said, “Ab, I amnot loyal (to an artist), toh mere liyehar kisi ka music dhundna thoramushkil hai. Kaunsa kya chal rahahai?” This could also explain why wecontinue to rely on our community forrecommendations because it is aneasier way to cut through the noise.
Unsurprisingly, music discovery lags behind consumption when there are too many choices.
In my study, there was a median ofjust two new songs discoveredmonthly compared to 120 to 800songs listened to. Additionally,music consumption drops forcertain participants during religiousmonths such as Ramzan andMuharram. It has generally beendocumented that, unlike books,podcasts, or movies, listenersenjoy repeating songs, finding joyin familiarity. A common reason isthe nostalgia that songs evoke. Asone participant said, “ …music is oneof the uniting forces between thatatmosphere and you, because youcannot really go back to that, right?“
The easy access to music meansGen Z listens to music while doingpretty much anything, which makesmusic consumption a passiveactivity. According to my study,listening to music while cooking orcleaning makes each activity moreenjoyable. It helps to stay awakeduring long commutes and thesesongs are also something to lookforward to after work or school.Music acts as background noise,which can fill potentially awkwardsilences during dinner with friends.It helped some of the participantsfocus while studying or working.Similarly, we listen to music duringworkouts. It’s really to the pointwhere music accompanies any selfcare routine, including showering.Unlike analogue methods, whereyou consciously choose and insertcassettes or CDs, we now have anendless bowl of music. Particularlybecause we can loop songs andplaylists. In addition, streamingplatforms recommend similarsongs or artists based on the user’slistening history. Once we add otherAI features, such as Spotify’s SmartShuffle, we achieve semi-activemusic discovery. Therefore, eventhe same person can shift throughpassive, semi-passive, semiactive, and active modes of musicdiscovery depending on their mood.
In summary, while Gen Z hasexperienced a rapid increase inaccess to music, the ways wediscover and consume it remaindeeply influenced by humanrelationships and socioculturalcontexts. Even algorithms rely onexisting data, shaping our listeninghabits based on what we, or peoplesimilar to us, enjoy. Social mediaand streaming platforms play adual role: they can enhance theserelationships by fostering discoveryor undermine them by promotingmonopolies of artists, often thosesigned to major labels. While theabundance of songs and artists canfeel overwhelming, well-designeddigital tools can simplify theselection process and enhance thelistening experience.
*The research for the study wasconducted in conjunction with PurdueUniversity and included interviewswith five participants across severalage groups, direct engagement withmusicians and data extracted fromHamnawa analytics, a proprietarydatabase that tracks 400+ Pakistanimusicians across multiple platformsand has 21k+ data points.
Laila Dodhy writes and curatesplaylists for the Pakistani musicmagazine Hamnawa and works as agraduate research assistant atPurdue University. Instagram: @somewhatmajnoon
Read Comments
Related Stories
In my study, there was a median ofjust two new songs discoveredmonthly compared to 120 to 800songs listened to. Additionally,music consumption drops forcertain participants during religiousmonths such as Ramzan andMuharram. It has generally beendocumented that, unlike books,podcasts, or movies, listenersenjoy repeating songs, finding joyin familiarity. A common reason isthe nostalgia that songs evoke. Asone participant said, “ …music is oneof the uniting forces between thatatmosphere and you, because youcannot really go back to that, right?“
The easy access to music meansGen Z listens to music while doingpretty much anything, which makesmusic consumption a passiveactivity. According to my study,listening to music while cooking orcleaning makes each activity moreenjoyable. It helps to stay awakeduring long commutes and thesesongs are also something to lookforward to after work or school.Music acts as background noise,which can fill potentially awkwardsilences during dinner with friends.It helped some of the participantsfocus while studying or working.Similarly, we listen to music duringworkouts. It’s really to the pointwhere music accompanies any selfcare routine, including showering.Unlike analogue methods, whereyou consciously choose and insertcassettes or CDs, we now have anendless bowl of music. Particularlybecause we can loop songs andplaylists. In addition, streamingplatforms recommend similarsongs or artists based on the user’slistening history. Once we add otherAI features, such as Spotify’s SmartShuffle, we achieve semi-activemusic discovery. Therefore, eventhe same person can shift throughpassive, semi-passive, semiactive, and active modes of musicdiscovery depending on their mood.
In summary, while Gen Z hasexperienced a rapid increase inaccess to music, the ways wediscover and consume it remaindeeply influenced by humanrelationships and socioculturalcontexts. Even algorithms rely onexisting data, shaping our listeninghabits based on what we, or peoplesimilar to us, enjoy. Social mediaand streaming platforms play adual role: they can enhance theserelationships by fostering discoveryor undermine them by promotingmonopolies of artists, often thosesigned to major labels. While theabundance of songs and artists canfeel overwhelming, well-designeddigital tools can simplify theselection process and enhance thelistening experience.
*The research for the study wasconducted in conjunction with PurdueUniversity and included interviewswith five participants across severalage groups, direct engagement withmusicians and data extracted fromHamnawa analytics, a proprietarydatabase that tracks 400+ Pakistanimusicians across multiple platformsand has 21k+ data points.
Laila Dodhy writes and curatesplaylists for the Pakistani musicmagazine Hamnawa and works as agraduate research assistant atPurdue University. Instagram: @somewhatmajnoon