Streaming Culture

'From music to TV to video games, streaming has altered the way that we consume and experience popular culture and goods. In this engaging, highly readable account, David Arditi explains how streaming came to disrupt so many industries and ways of life, exploring its capitalist roots, tendencies, and impacts. Loaded with examples that will speak to every audience,  Arditi has produced a text that is astonishing in its depth and breadth and is essential for understanding a modern digital society.' -- Mary Chayko, Interdisciplinary Professor, School of Communication and Information, Rutgers University
'David Arditi’s new book offers a compelling, accessible take on the rise of streaming culture. Spanning multiple media, including movies, TV, music, and games, Arditi shows how streaming carries us, willingly or not, into a world of unending consumption, in which media users themselves become the product.' -- Chuck Tryon, Professor of English, Fayetteville State University.
'Streaming services led by Netflix, Disney+, Spotify, Amazon Prime, Apple Music and YouTube now dominate the audiovisual world. How did we get here and why does it matter? Combining a rich understanding of political economy and the cultural theory of Raymond Williams, Arditi provides a much-needed critical guide to this not-so-brave new world and its wider significance for understanding the shifting dynamics of global capitalism.' -- Vincent Mosco, Author of The Smart City in a Digital World
'With Streaming Culture, David Arditi provides an engaging blueprint for understanding the expansive impact of streaming services. Theoretically rich, historically grounded, and full of examples from a range of media forms, Arditi offers fresh insights into how streaming platforms are reshaping media culture.' -- Alisa Perren, Associate Professor, Department of Radio-Television-Film, University of Texas at Austin

'Balanced on the cusp of technology and culture, Arditi’s book deconstructs the relationship between media and society in the age of streaming. This is an enriching analytical text which academics and practitioners studying new media markets and audience research must certainly engage with to develop a nuanced appreciation of streaming platform cultures.'

-- - Mudita Mishra and Ruchi Kher Jaggi in Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research, 2022

'Streaming Culture is a quick and concise read that reviews the history of four key cultural industries and outlines how they have all used the Internet to create not just a new distribution channel for media through streaming, but how the companies involved have capitalized on the shift to streaming. […] Streaming Culture is an excellent resource in its totality, or as separate chapters for specific pedagogical needs.'

-- Franklin Bridges, Rutgers University