A Look at the Cloud from Both Sides Now: An Analysis of Cloud Music Service Usage

Despite the increasing popularity of cloud-based music services, few studies have examined how users select and utilize these services, how they manage and access their music collections in the cloud, and the issues or challenges they are facing within these services. In this paper, we present findings from an online survey with 198 responses collected from users of commercial cloud music services, exploring their selection criteria, use patterns, perceived limitations, and future predictions. We also investigate differences in these aspects by age and gender. Our results elucidate previously under-studied changes in music consumption, music listening behaviors, and music technology adoption. The findings also provide insights into how to improve the future design of cloud-based music services, and have broader implications for any cloudbased services designed for managing and accessing personal media collections.