The Evolution of Music in Digital Media: From Viral Videos to Streaming Platforms

The emergence and proliferation of social media platforms have profoundly transformed the global music industry, reshaping the ways audiences’ access, consume, and interact with music and artists. Platforms such as Twitter (Matikainen, 2018), YouTube (Hayat et al., 2019), Instagram, and SoundCloud have disrupted traditional music distribution channels, enabling artists to directly engage with listeners and bypass conventional industry gatekeepers (Negus, 2019). This phenomenon is particularly pronounced within the context of Hong Kong’s popular music scene, notably the Cantonese pop (“Cantopop”) genre, which has historically been a significant cultural export and identity marker for the city (Chu, 2017).