Podcast: How Spotify and Apple Music Are Giving Music Labels More Power Over Artists

Remember the times when you would buy a CD by your favourite artist, put it in your discman and play the whole thing over and over again until you got sick of it? Now, with the music industry's shift from physical to digital, it's more likely that you're binge listening to your favourite playlist on Spotify instead.

But streaming changed more than just the way we listen to music. Last weeks If Then – a podcast show presented by Slate and Future Tense, a collaboration among Arizona State University, New America and Slate – discussed how it also altered the way music is made. The show's hosts April Glaser and Will Oremus were joined by music and technology writer David Turner, who gave the music streaming business a brilliant once-over.

Starting at roughly the 13-minute mark of the episode, the 20-minute interview tackles all the different ways digital platforms disrupted the music industry, influencing its production, marketing and economics. For example, you'll find out why some songs have gotten shorter, while albums themselves have gotten longer and how artists can fight back against the streaming giants and record labels, drawing on the example of U.S. musicians' strike in the 1940s.

With almost half a year since Spotify made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange, If Then illuminates a timely topic that will continue to shape and alter music for both listeners and artists in the years to come. Given the fact that for the first time in history streaming became the single largest revenue source in the global music industry last year, it's safe to assume that online music services are here to stay.