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Musicians on Twitch: Creativity, Struggles, and the Reality Behind Live Streaming offers the first large scale study of music and musicians on the live streaming platform Twitch. Drawing on interviews with ‘musician-streamers’, extensive online observation and longitudinal data gathered between 2020 and 2026, the book argues that Twitch has produced a new kind of practitioner whose work combines technical, relational and artistic competencies in ways that older categories of musical labour cannot fully capture. It examines what musicians on Twitch actually do, how they are remunerated for it, how they seek to remain visible in a crowded attention economy, and what those efforts cost them. Neither celebratory nor dismissive, the book offers a grounded empirical account of musical work under contemporary conditions of platformisation. It is essential reading for academics, students and anyone interested in the intersections of music, technology and creative labour in the digital age.
“Ehlinger’s short book fills a significant gap in the understanding of how the new music eco-system based on digital platforms is (re)shaping musician’s experiences by analysing the fascinating dynamics of musical community on the live streaming service Twitch. It’s insightful and intelligent, and the clarity and conciseness of its writing are exemplary.” - David Hesmondhalgh, Professor of Media, Music and Culture, University of Leeds, England
“This important study charts the evolving intersection of live music and digital platforms, exploring the profound tension between community building, artistic freedom, and the exhausting demands of the live-streaming economy. Deconstructing the myth of effortless digital success, Musicians on Twitch lays bare the precarious structural realities of creative labour – making it an excellent text for media researchers, artists, and industry professionals alike.” - Hyojung Sun, Lecturer in the Business of Creative and Cultural Industries, University of York, UK
“What a gift of an insightful read, offering a multifaceted understanding of the socio-cultural conditions, platform structures, and personal motivations of being a music livestreamer on Twitch. Drawing on methodologies that are at once personal and pragmatic, the book brings illumination to the intersection of platform studies and creator studies.” - Crystal Abidin, digital anthropologist, author of TikTok and Youth Cultures, Curtin University, Australia
Arthur Ehlinger is a postdoctoral researcher at CREATE, University of Glasgow, whose work investigates how digitalisation affects the creative industries.
Acknowledgements; Introduction; Note on Terminology; Note on Positionality; Note on Methods; A Platform Not Built for Music; Becoming a Musician-Streamer; Making Money as a Musician-Streamer; Standing Out, Staying On; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.