Individual Web-based Portfolio

The modern music industry streaming landscape is dominated by platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, with Spotify holding the largest market share at 31-32% (Forde, 2022), fundamentally reshaping how music listeners have access to and engage with music. While platforms have increased accessibility and reach for artists, they continue to attract criticism regarding inequitable remuneration models; unless artists achieve exceptionally high streams, the financial return remains relatively minimal, raising concerns about the longterm sustainability as a primary source of income for musicians.

 In response to these issues, this essay evaluates a proposed AI-informed music streaming platform designed to operate as a more equitable artist-centric and benefitting alternative. The platform aims not only to replicate the personalised user experience offered by existing services but also to introduce enhanced community engagement through integrated live discussions and interactive spaces. These features would enable listeners and artists to engage in community and conversation about music works and releases, fostering deeper connections and participatory fan cultures (Jenkins, 2009). The platform also aims to address emerging challenges associated with AI-generated music by implementing a transparent labelling system and restricting monetisation for fully ai generated content. The development of this business model was supported through the use of generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude.

This essay has a critical approach to evaluating the feasibility, sustainability and competitive potential of the proposed plan. Drawing on theories of entrepreneurship, innovation, marketing and consumer behaviour, it assesses both the opportunities and limitations of attempting to challenge the dominant market shares. 

Theoretical Framework Behind the Proposed Business Plan

Participatory Culture

Participatory culture, as conceptualised by Henry Jenkins, represents a shift from passive media consumption to active audience engagement. It encourages social connection and active participation with work, moving beyond merely absorbing media, where participants are actively engaged (Jenkins, 2009). Jenkins argues that audiences are no longer merely consumers of content but active participants who contribute to the creations ns circulation of meaning. This theoretical framework highlights the increasing importance of user interaction, collaboration, and community within digital environments. Participatory culture is identified by low barriers to engagement, strong support for sharing content and a sense of social connection among users. Such an environment allows users to move beyond passive listening towards active involvement in discussions, interpretations, and content sharing. This shift is reflective of broader changes in a growing digital culture, where loneliness is on the rise(Mintz, 2025), where value is co created btween artists and fans, further cementing the need for social communities. This concept is reflected in the proposed business plan, integration of live comments sections, and interactive discussion places. By allowing users to have real-time conversations about new releases, the platform embodies the principle of participatory culture. Features like artist-to-fan interaction and community-led discussions position users as active contributors rather than passive listeners. In this sense, the proposed platform facilitates the co-creation of meaning as listeners and audiences collaboratively interpret and respond to music releases. For example, listeners are able to share interpretations and thoughts on lyrics, composition, production choices and artistic intent through “artist fan clubs”, “listening rooms” and “discussion threads”(appendix 1), deepening engagement with the music. At the same time artist or creators of the work are given the opportunity to respond directly to fans, with artist participation badges, challenging traditional hierarchies and separation between creator and consumer. Artists are even able to initiate conversation with fans with pinned comments. This points to a significant move from conventional streaming platforms, where interaction between artists and listeners is limited.

One primary strength of this is its potential to create opportunities for stronger fan engagement and promote community. By encouraging active participation, the proposed plan may promote emotional investment and long-term user retention. The participatory features also increase the value of the platform by offering an experience that can extend beyond simple music consumption, implicitly aligning with the principle of experience economy theory (Pine and Gilmore, 2011). However, this model is not without limitations. While participatory culture enhances engagement, it requires a level of user activity that may not be present for every artist or audience group. Participation inequality suggests that a small proportion of users generate the majority of content, while others remain passive observers (Nielsen, 2006). Additionally, the introduction of open discussion spaces raises concerns regarding moderation, including the potential for toxicity, misinformation and conflict. The platform would have to balance between free expression and the enforcement of community standards, ensuring that engagement is allowed without compromising user safety, content integrity or the overall quality of discussion. These challenges highlight the need for strong governance structures to ensure that the community remains inclusive and constructive. 

     While participatory culture provides a strong theoretical foundation for the platform’s community-driven features, its successful implementation is reliant on balancing engagement with effective moderation nd accessibility. This suggests that the platform’s value lies not only in enabling participation but also in managing it well.

Consumer Behaviour

Consumer behaviour theory provides useful knowledge and structure to understand how and why individuals engage with digital music platforms. According to Kotler (2006), consumer decision making is influenced by a combination of psychological, social and cultural factors. Regarding digital media, these factors shape not only what users consume but also how they engage with platforms. This perspective can be further supported through the Uses and Gratifications theory (Vinney, 2024), which suggests that audiences actively select media. Rather than being passive recipients, users are understood to engage with media in ways that fulfil personal motivations like entertainment, identity formation and social interaction, making this theory relevant in the context of music streaming, where they exercise high levels of choice and control. Three motivations support media consumption: identity construction, social connections and entertainment (MDLBEAST, 2025), with music playing an important role in shaping personal identity and emotional expression. In addition, digital platforms can also function as social spaces, enabling users to connect through shared preferences and experiences. The proposed business plan responds to these motivations through its integrated social and interactive features. For example, comment sections and discussion threads address the need for social interaction by allowing users to interact both with artists and peers. Personalised playlists and recommendation systems replicat I e the convenience and tailored experience offered by platforms like Spotify. Also, opportunities for direct artist engagement boost emotional connection, touching on the third rung of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, “love and belonging” (Appendix 2). Also, reinforcing the role of music in the formation of identity. 

    These features may increase user satisfaction and engagement. If we look at this from a behavioural perspective and because the proposed platform is aligned with consumer motivations, the platform is well positioned to create good, meaningful and immersive user experiences, suggesting a strong potential for nurturing user loyalty as well as sustained interaction. However, the application of consumer behaviour theory also reveals some challenges. Despite the ethical differences between the proposed business model and existing models, consumers may simply prefer and prioritise convenience and familiarity over fairness. Platforms such as Spotify benefit from deeply embedded user habits, making a behavioural change difficult to achieve (Katoproducer, 2026). People’s habitual consumption patterns, reinforced by algorithmic personalisation, can reduce users’ willingness to switch to alternative services. In addition, the effort required to switch platforms may outweigh the benefits of improved artist remuneration for many users. Consumer loyalty to established platforms may limit how people embrace the proposed business platform despite its more ethical positioning. This highlights a key tension between ethical innovation and practical consumer behaviour within the digital marketplace. While the platform aligns strongly with user motivations understood in consumer behaviour theory, its success is contingent on its ability to overcome user habits and the effort to switch between models. 

Blue Ocean Strategy

Blue ocean strategy emphasises the creation of an uncontested market space as a means of achieving a competitive advantage (Kim and Mauborgne, 2005). It’s based on the premise that rather than competing within saturated markets, one can prove value innovation through differentiation. This approach seeks to render competition irrelevant by redefining the boundaries of an industry, moving away from the “red ocean” and into the “blue ocean”. The blue ocean strategy involves a shift between the two, a move from intense competition, or “red ocean”, to a market where demand is created rather than fought for, the “blue ocean”, which is achieved through the pursuit of differentiation and value creation. In digital markets thai often involves recreating and imagining user experience and addressing unmet consumer needs.

  The proposed business plan can be interpreted as an attempt to establish a “blue ocean” within the music streaming industry. It differentiates itself from dominant platforms like Spotify through its emphasis on fair artist remuneration, community-driven engagement and transparency surroundi ai generated content. These features reposition the proposed platform away from being merely a streaming platform to an ethically and socially driven music ecosystem. In doing this, the platform aims to move beyond the convenience and the music catalogue size that defines existing competitors.

   A key strength of this is that its approach allows a clear differentiation from already existing industry models. By addressing criticised issues like low artist remuneration and limited interaction, the proposed business platform creates an opportunity for new value creation. Spotify pays. On average, Spotify pays between $0.0003 and $0.0005 per stream on average. (Ditto Music, 2025) The strategic positioning may appeal to ethically conscious music listeners and artists seeking greater control. Despite its differentiated features, the proposed platform operates within an area of the industry that is already dominated and occupied by influential market holders. Platforms like Spotify benefit from already extensive user bases, with 761 million users worldwide, and strong brand loyalty. As a result, creating a truly uncosted market space may be more difficult than the theory suggests. Furthermore, the streaming market may be resistant to disruption. Although the proposed business platform may construct a “blue ocean”, the ease of sticking with existing platforms may pull users back into the “red ocean” of competition, reflecting the limitations of the strategy when applied to industries that have strong platform dominance. Although the proposed business platform demonstrates a clear strategic differentiation, its ability to sustain a “blue ocean” position is uncertain, suggesting that innovation alone may be insufficient without the advantages held by existing competitors.

Financial and monetisation models

Financial sustainability is a central concern in the setup of any digital music platform. Monetisation models within the streaming industry determine not only platform viability but the economic value placed on music. Understanding how revenue is generated and distributed is essential for assessing the effectiveness of the proposed business plan. Streaming platforms typically rely on a combination of revenue streams, including subscription fees, advertising, licensing agreements and streaming royalties (Mulligan, 2025) (Johnston,2025). Subscription models provide a stable and predictable source of income (Gocardless, 2022), while licensing enables the use of music across various media applications. Streaming royalties also form a key revenue stream, through which artists are compensated, usually at relatively low rates. Platforms such as Spotify distribute revenue through a pro rata royalty system, where payments are based on total platform streams rather than individual user consumption (Spotify, 2024). This model is widely criticised for disproportionately benefitting high-streaming artists while marginalising smaller creators (Curve, 2025). Beyond streaming, monetising opportunities also include sync licensing for film, television and gaming, as well as direct-to-consumer revenue streams like subscriptions, merchandise and exclusive content. The proposed business plan aims to address limitations by incorporating a more equitable remuneration structure for artists. Potential revenue streams include subscription models and alternative payment systems that prioritise artist earnings. By changing how value is distributed, the proposed business plan aims to be more sustainable for creators. The proposed approach allows the opportunity to improve financial outcomes for artists, especially those who are underserved severely by existing streaming models. A more transparent and equitable payment structure may also enhance the appeal to ethically conscious users and creators. Additionally, the diversification of revenue streams may contribute to greater financial resilience. However, there are challenges in achieving sustainability. Streaming platforms have high operational costs and can have relatively low profit margins, which can place pressure on revenue distribution models (Colos, 2026; DCF model team, 2026). Music platforms like Spotify pay 70 – 72% of revenue to rights holders, and its core streaming business has only 18- 20% gross margin on subscriptions. (Colos,2026) Despite widespread criticism, the low remuneration model works due to the economic realities of scale and user expectations for low-cost access. This raises concerns about the long term viability of offering higher artist payments without compromising making a profit.

The strain between fair artist remuneration and platform sustainability highlights a challenge within the streaming market. While the proposed monetisation offers a compelling alternative to existing structures, its success is contingent on balancing ethical considerations with practicality economically, suggesting that attaining both fairness and financial sustainability remains a complex and possibly conflicting process, making me wonder if equitable remuneration within streaming is possible: if artists are getting paid more, where does the money come from?

Critical Evaluation of Proposed Business Plan

The Rationale

At the outset of this assignment, I sought to develop a business plan that responds to the challenges facing the music industry as it continues to grow within an increasingly digital landscape. Currently, this industry seems to work less effectively for artists, many who have had experiences of exploitation and low remuneration for musical works (Chien,2025). This is especially true in relation to music streaming, where issues of compensation and value distribution are heavily felt. Platforms like Spotify have become an integral part of the music industry. While these platforms provide accessibility and exposure (Katoproducer, 2026), they have received criticism. Despite the criticism, people continue to use streaming platforms with poor equitable remuneration because of their convenience and accessibility, prioritising the needs of the average listener over those of the artist. Although things like Spotify for artists (Spotify, 2026) attempt to give control back to the artists, they do not resolve the issue of equitable compensation for work. In response to this i explored the potential of using artificial intelligence to generate a business model for a music business platform. That keeps the advantages of existing streaming models, like accessibility and user experience, while addressing their disadvantages in areas like artist remuneration and AI-generated music.

Claude’s plan was more expansive and professional, with its level of detail giving the impression that it was well thought out, though it does not guarantee accuracy, feasibility or originality. The inclusion of data and research can make it seem credible. This plan should be analysed carefully, especially the limitations of ai generated content. ChatGPT’s more concise and bare bones response may offer more flexibility for development and critical refinement, though less impressive on face value. Overall, Claude’s business plan can be considered more effective due to its detailed, structured, and investor-ready presentation.

AI Proposed Business Plans

 

Market context and Competitive landscape

The digital music streaming market is dominated by established platforms like Spotify, which hold the majority market share (Forde, 2022). Streaming services have become a prominent mode of music consumption, with IFPI (2025) describing subscription streaming as the “key driver of growth”, with it experiencing an increase of 9.5%, and combined streaming grew 1.2%. The industry’s move towards streaming has created a competitive landscape that is oligopolistic. The viability of the proposed business plan is restricted by the competitive market. Its success is heavily dependent on its ability to operate effectively and disrupt a market that is largely dominated by pre-existing businesses. The dominance of Spotify is a significant challenge to the proposed business’s ability to attain market share. The plan is led by an ethically driven rationale, and it addresses the competitive advantage that the proposed business plan, Resonance, has over the competition. The business plan includes a section dedicated to competitive analysis, where it looks at the market landscape and leverages the weaknesses of other streaming platforms and compares them to Resonance’s advantages, showing that the business plan considers other competitors and uses them to strengthen and bolster its own plan. This is highly effective in distinguishing Resonance from its competitors; however, the analysis has a risk of appearing one-sided if it focuses heavily on competitors’ weaknesses without making the effort to acknowledge its own. A more balanced analysis would have added to its credibility, showing not only how Resonance can outperform rivals, but also how it plans to address and adapt in a competitive market. Despite the fact that I only referred to Spotify in the promt the proposed business plan considered all potential competitors in the market space, which was effective because it demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of the broader market landscape rather than fix its focus on a single dominant market share holder. By looking beyond Spotify to include other streaming services, the plan shows a level of strategic awareness of other business models, strengthening the credibility of the proposal as it suggests that Resonance is prepared to compete in this environment and can position itself more effectively by identifying gaps and opportunities across the entire market, not just one segment. 

Given the saturation of the streaming market, the proposed platform’s differentiation strategy must be examined. While the proposed platform offers unique features within the streaming market like better artists’ remuneration and community engagement, its is slightly unclear whether these are sufficient enough to distinguish Resonance from other competitors within a crowded marketplace, especially one where convenience and ease of use are often primary drivers of consumer choice. While improved artist remuneration and stronger community engagement, and good and meaningful differentiators, they alone may not be enough to shift user behaviour if the platform can not match the experience, extensive library and personalised features of Spotify and other established competitors. To be truly competitive, Resonance would need to demonstrate how its unique features are incorporated into an equally accessible user experience, ensuring that ethical or community-focused benefits do not come at the expense of convenience: questions are raise aboutwhether the proposed business plan underestimates the impact of unique selling points. 

    The business plan assumes that consumers will prioritise ethical considerations; however, existing user behaviour suggests that convenience and familiarity are more influential. Research identifies an “attitude behaviour gap” in ethical consumption where consumers express concern for ethical issues but fail to act accordingly, often due to factors such as convenience, limited information or knowledge and habitual purchasing behaviour (Hassan et al.,2016; Antonetti and Maklan,2015). Although the platform mimics key features of popular streaming models, it may not offer enough to warrant a switch for users to switch from existing models, indicating a disconnect between the proposed platform’s value proposition and actual mainstream consumer priorities. However, for consumers who care about the ethics behind streaming and want artists to be remunerated correctly for their work, this model is particularly effective as it directly appeals to a niche but engaged audience that values fairness, “transparency” (Appendix 1), and a deeper connection to artists. For these users, the ethical considerations can outweigh the need for convenience. A challenge may be the size and behaviour of this segment. Although passionate, it may not be large enough on its own to sustain long-term growth unless Resonance can either expand this audience or influence more mainstream users to care more about the ethics behind streaming. This could make the proposed model strong as a differentiator, but its success hinges on how effectively it can bridge the gap between value-driven users and the broader market without compromising usability: it must find a differentiating factor that mainstream users benefit from and care about more.

The proposed business plan does not fully address the licensing, infrastructure and catalogue acquisition; it touches on it briefly in the funding requirement section. While the concept of the proposed business plan is strong theoretically, its practical implementation may be limited by the financial and operational requirements of being part of the streaming market, suggesting that the feasibility of this proposed platform may be more limited than initially anticipated, especially without a clearer strategy for securing industry partnerships, technical capabilities and sustaining long-term financial viability in a competitive environment. The proposed plan does have an artist and user acquisition plan, which shows knowledge of the importance of building a two-sided platform; its effectiveness may be limited as it lacks detail about specific execution. Though the inclusion of acquisition plans strengthens the proposal, it poses questions on how the proposed platform will source and attract these “mid-tier artists frustrated with Spotify payouts”. As a result thesis adds to the overall value and viability of the entire plan; it would benefit from further development to strengthen its credibility as well as practicality.

     Overall, while the platform demonstrates a strong level of conceptual innovation, it definitely underestimates the power of pre-existing platforms and seems not to consider the behavioural habits of consumers, highlighting a key limitation of the proposed business plan. Its innovation focus does not fully considerthe barriers that shape market success. The proposed platform’s ability to compete effectively within the streaming market seems unclear. A more detailed evaluation of the platform’s monetisation and pricing strategies is needed to determine whether it can sustain itself within this competitive environment.

Monetisation Model Evaluation

An important component of the proposed business plan is its approach to monetisation and financial viability. The central concern in the evaluation of the monetisation model is whether the platform is profitable with its commitment to fair artist remuneration. The proposed paktform useless a subscription-based model, with a monthly fee of £10.99 for the premium model, which is less than Spotify at £12.99 (Spotify, 2025b) and matches Apple Music, aligning with industry norms. In addition to subscription revenue, users can pay to be part of an artist’s fan club, which is an additional £3-10 a month. In these fan clubs, users have access to “exclusive tracks, merch discounts, private Discord-style chat channels”, and many more features. While this represents a potentially valuable additional revenue stream and a strong tool for enhancing user engagement, it is unclear within the proposed business plan whether the platform itself receives a percentage of the revenue. The lack of clarity limits the ability to fully assess the financial viability of the plan, as the platform’s share of this could strongly influence its overall profitability and sustainability. The proposed business plan does not explicitly state a revenue model beyond subscription-based income, limiting the depth of its financial planning. While subscriptions can provide a stable income and predictable revenue stream, relying solely on this may not be sufficient to sustain long term growth. The lack of a clearly defined additional revenue streams like commissions from a fan club, reduces the overall thoroughness of the model. Also, the lack of detail weakens the financial credibility of the proposed plan and makes it more difficult to evaluate its long term suatainabilty. The ability to generate predictable revenue through the subscription-based model is a primary strength; however, an over-reliance on this single income stream could limit financial resilience in a market where user retention can be uncertain, and pricing pressures are high. Without diversification to additional costs or adaptation to changes in consumer behaviour, it could constrain its long term sustainability and the potential for growth.

Personal Reflection

In reflection, a lot of time and research were spent creating an appropriate, coherent prompt. It was important to ensure a high level of specificity while working with AI. I had a clear understanding of the intended outcome and the task I wanted the AI to perform; however, this process highlights the importance of precise wording when working with AI. From previous use of generative AI  i have learned that it cannot be expected to account for all relevant variables unless they are explicitly stated within the prompt. Through this process i learnt more about business planning. In particular, I developed a greater understanding of multiple revenue streams within the music streaming industry. My initial impression of the proposed business plan was positive, but further analysis and evaluation showed many gaps and weaknesses, especially in areas like monetisation.

   To improve the quality of the output, I would encourage the AI to engage in more in-depth consideration of competitors and develop a more detailed and robust monetisation model. Additionally, I would provide more specific research and data within the prompt to support the creation of the business proposal. Overall, the experience of using AI to generate a business plan was insightful. It introduced ideas and perspectives that I may not have independently considered and demonstrated a breadth of understanding across different aspects of business strategy. Despite its limitations, the proposed business plan was effective in providing a strong foundational concept.

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Appendicies

Appendix 1-  Claude AI business plan (Claude)

Appendix 2 – Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs ( Wikipedia)

Appendix 3 – ChatGPT Proposed Business Plan (ChatGPT)