DATA ANALYSIS & VISUALIZATION (2020)
Methods:
Researching, Data Analysis, Analysing Graph Types, Data Wrangling
Tools:
Microsoft Excel, Adobe Illustrator
The truth behind today’s music
In this digital age, streaming is the most popular form of consuming music. Over the years, digital music streaming has taken over CDs, vinyl and radios – being replaced by services such as Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud and more. This is especially evident in Spotify, boasting the “world’s biggest music streaming platform” with over 170 million global active users in 2018 (Iqbal, 2018). However, recent years have subtle but notable increase in vinyl sales. Although Spotify’s user count continues to rapidly accelerate, data reveals that vinyl records are also increasing in sales. In order to better understand these current trends, Spotify’s growing users around the world were compared with global vinyl sales to analyse the intriguing relationship between digital music streaming and vinyl’s steady revival.
Design Vision
This data visualisation highlights the pivotal role Spotify plays in encouraging vinyl sales – as well as its unexpected influence in bridging the gap between a digital and physical music experience. In order to examine trends in both Spotify and vinyl sales, a stacked bar graph comparing the statistics was illustrated in a vinyl record – to not only provide immediate context but also ensure the best form of comparison. To further strengthen the story, different elements and visualization techniques based on a strict colour scheme was used to ensure that the loud visuals didn’t distract from the data (Healey, 1966). In this case, the chosen colour palette was kept to a minimum of three distinct colours – white for key information and text, green for Spotify statistics and pink for vinyl related data – as a study conducted in Choosing Effective Colours for Data Visualization revealed that users were the least confused identifying data and targets with three- colour schemes (Healey, 1996).
Data Analysis
Ultimately, this visualisation aims to communicate that perhaps the main reason for the abrupt revival of vinyls in the modern age is heavily due to digital music streaming. Coincidentally, as more millennials are exposed to music through a Spotify subscription, more users wish to buy a record. This is especially evident in years 2013 and 2014, where after Spotify integrated social media into their platform and introduced student and family plans to expand their reach, the subsequent spike in subscribers was followed by a jump in vinyl purchases in the following year (“Understanding Spotify: Making Music Through Innovation”, 2018). Notably, approximately 39% of these users are millennials under the age of 30 – leading us to question the unnoticed impact millennials currently have on the music industry (“Understanding Spotify: Making Music Through Innovation”, 2018).
References
Understanding Spotify: Making Music Through Innovation. (2018). Retrieved from: https://www.goodwatercap.com/thesis/understanding-spotify#consumer-trends-and-research
Iqbal, M. (2019). Spotify Usage and Revenue Statistics (2019). Retrieved from: https://www.businessofapps.com/data/spotify-statistics/#1
Healey, C. (1996). Choosing effective colours for data visualization [Journal] (pp. 263-270).
Allington, A. (2018). Vinyl Seeks Eco-Friendly Groove as Album Sales Soar (Corrected). Retrieved from: https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/vinyl-seeks-eco-friendly-groove-as-album-sales-soar-corrected