Seventeenth International Conference on the Inclusive Museum

Abstract

Museums are increasingly attempting to use digital and multisensory tools to engage visitors. The curation of a digital music playlist to accompany an exhibition, often meant for consumption on visitors’ own devices and headphones, is one such practice. This paper charts the current state of implementation of digital music playlists, specifically playlists on the streaming service Spotify, for museum and gallery exhibitions. I take a case study approach: I first collected a variety of examples of exhibition music playlists, then I closely profiled and analyzed a handful of the most interesting ones using an original “profiling framework.” Stemming from this analysis and from a literature review, I identify important dimensions of the current state of the application of digital playlists in museums. I also discuss the status of these playlists as exhibition “add-ons” with reference to the concept of the “post-museum” with an “edutainment” mandate. I conclude by offering concrete suggestions for museums considering implementing digital music playlists for their exhibitions. Ultimately, I argue that digital exhibition playlists on Spotify, though novel, are in fact fairly conventional interpretative and engagement tools; the constraints of Spotify prevent active responses from listeners, and the playlists are not often presented with curator self-reflexivity. Exhibition playlists are a relatively new engagement tool and are being implemented in a variety of ways and to a variety of effects, so they are worth compiling and studying. This project is just one part of my larger, ongoing research work, focusing on sonic add-ons in museum exhibitions.