Streaming across industries: Streaming logics and streaming lore across the music, film, television, and book industries

Abstract

This article explores streaming across the cultural industries, drawing on 39 interviews with CEO/top-level industry executives working in the Norwegian music, film, television, and book industries. We examine two broad questions: What do key industry players see as the main opportunities and challenges of streaming? To what extent do industry players compare with and learn from other industries when making sense of, and seeking solutions to, the main challenges? Drawing on theories of media industry logics and industry lore, the article identifi es a collective understanding of turmoil and uncertainty. While informants across industries form similar notions about the impact of streaming and emphasise the need to learn from other industries, solutions to challenges are typically sought within industryspecific frames. Our findings suggest that even if streaming is a cross-industrial trend, strategies are based on industry-specific logics and notions.