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Launched in late 2010, Songza was a small player in the Internet radio universe, available only in the United States and Canada. However, the trade press celebrated Songza for its novel solution to bringing Internet radio to mainstream and profits back to the music industry: ‘lean back’ listening. In June 2014, Google acquired Songza, incorporating its staff, ethos of expert curation, context-sensitive playlists and staunch ‘anti-snobbery’ into Google Play Music, now available in 62 countries and a major competitor in online music. In this article, I investigate how ‘lean back’ listening helped Songza court a wider audience for Internet radio. To do so, I examine how these efforts were framed in the trade press, arguing that Songza’s mass appeal must be understood in relation to histories of domestic ambient music listening, including how it has been devalued and feminized. I also consider the Canadian context, countering how the US context has been generalized in the far from borderless world of streaming music. Ultimately, I argue, Songza’s ‘solutions’ obscured problems involving what happens when music becomes a service; the relation between domesticity, the public and the media; and the place of gender, labour, pleasure and democratic practices in the discussion.

Background This article is based on a panel discussion at McMaster University in 2019.Analysis Five questions are posed: 1) What is pressing about research on platforms and power right now? 2) What is the most powerful example of a research design that could disrupt or transform platform power? 3) Can platforms and algorithms be liberating? 4) How can researchers and policymakers work together for change? 5) What regulatory futures should researchers attend to, and how can research contribute to platform regulation? Conclusions and implications Panel participants provide insights into the questions posed. Contexte Cet article se base sur une table ronde qui a eu lieu à l’Université McMaster en 2019.Analyse Cinq questions furent posées : 1) Qui a-t-il de plus pressant actuellement dans la recherche sur les plateformes et le pouvoir? 2) Quel est l’exemple le plus puissant d’un plan d’expérience qui pourrait ébranler ou transformer le pouvoir des plateformes? 3) Les plateformes et les algorithmes peuvent-ils être libérateurs? 4) Comment les chercheurs et les décideurs peuvent-ils collaborer pour encourager le changement? 5) Pour quels avenirs réglementaires les chercheurs devraient-ils se préparer, et comment la recherche peut-elle contribuer à améliorer la réglementation des plateformes?Conclusion et implications Les participants à la table ronde proposent diverses réponses aux cinq questions.

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