Listening to Digital Media: Analysis of Music Consumption Pattern on the Example of Russian Social Networking Site VKontakte : A user-focused research based on in-depth interviews

Sammanfattning: The present paper represents an overview of the most popular Russian social networking site VKontakte and its role in the formation of modern music consumption pattern in post-Soviet countries. Until spring 2017, it was known as the biggest platform for free music consumption in the region. The main distinctive feature of VKontakte was that it was providing free music content for its members and, as a result, was known for problems with international copyright law.However, in 2017 drastic changes occurred in copyright policies of the network, which affected music content distribution in it. As a result, VKontakte users were experiencing new routines and rapid evolution of their daily consumption habits. This research provides extensive analysis of digital music listening practices, based on the in-depth interviews with the members of the network.