In today’s music industry, playlists are king, yet the individuals who curate them remain largely unrecognized and uncompensated. While our favourite artists, DJs, and producers heavily influence our listening preferences, they often do so without receiving direct financial recognition. It’s a strange paradox: we celebrate those with the best taste, but we don’t compensate them.

Unlike the music industry, other creative sectors, such as fashion and visual arts, value their editors and curators highly, compensating them for their expertise. These professionals are essential; they curate content, provide much-needed context, and facilitate audience discovery of outstanding works. Is it time for the music industry to wake up to these values and acknowledge the critical importance of personal taste in the overall value of music?

The Limits of the Streaming Economy

The rise of streaming services has revolutionised the music landscape, but it has often come at the expense of genuine human discovery. Playlists have overtaken traditional charts, and algorithms have eclipsed editorial voices. Discovery has become passive, dominated by mood-driven, data-led selections that prioritise quantity over culture.

Discovery has become passive, dominated by mood-driven, data-led selections that prioritise quantity over culture.

What’s more, DJs still put a loving touch to the creation of a set and are usually the first to announce to the world the discovery of an underground genre or an emerging artist. But unlike influencers or playlist editors at DSPs, for that influence, DJs usually receive no direct compensation, especially when it comes to discovery and playlisting, rather than performance or production.

Curation as Artistic Work

Curation has always been part of the DNA of electronic music. The people who spend hours digging through promos, old records, obscure Bandcamp pages, or hidden gems on download stores, they’re not just sharing tracks, they’re shaping what gets heard and remembered. It’s about knowing what moves a dancefloor, what resonates in headphones, and what deserves more light.

Some of the most important shifts in music didn’t come from a studio, they came from someone putting the right tracks in the right order at the right time. That takes taste, time, and commitment. And yet, while we’ve figured out how to reward producers, artists and DJs, the people behind the discovery are still often doing this work for free.

If we want a healthier music ecosystem, isn’t it time to start valuing the people who connect the dots, and not just the ones who make them?

The Infrastructure Gap

Is there a missing layer in the way digital platforms are built? Right now, most DSPs are set up to reward volume, more streams, more uploads, and more content. But what about the people who shape what gets played? Sure, there are affiliate programs out there, but they’re clunky, awkward to use, and disconnected from how DJs, curators, and artists work.

Sure, there are affiliate programs out there, but they’re clunky, awkward to use, and disconnected from how DJs, curators, and artists work.

There’s no simple or fair way for selectors to earn anything back when their influence helps others discover and buy music. We’ve got tools for creation and tools for distribution, but very little that properly supports the people who guide discovery. That’s the gap.

A New Model: Monetising DJ Charts

Thankfully there are platforms out there which are trying to change this, Volumo, for example, is one platform trying to close that gap. It’s a curated, download-focused store made for DJs and independent electronic labels. Based in Europe, it offers an alternative to legacy platforms like Beatport, with a few key differences.

Where most platforms overlook the role of curators, Volumo builds them into the system. DJs and artists can create public, shoppable charts, and when someone buys a track from one of those charts, the curator earns 5% of the sale price. It’s a simple, direct way to reward the people driving discovery.

This isn’t the only way they are looking to improve the industry. Volumo also lets artists and labels claim their profiles, upload bios, add images, and share links, turning faceless catalogue listings into something more personal and engaging. It’s about more than just access to files; it’s about building context, connection, and credit into the digital music experience.

Why It Matters

When we reward expertise in selection, we support the people who keep underground scenes alive. DJs can earn beyond gigs and production, and discovery becomes a two-way exchange: influence rewarded by impact.

DJs can earn beyond gigs and production, and discovery becomes a two-way exchange: influence rewarded by impact.

In that sense, Volumo’s model doesn’t just reimagine downloads, it reframes them as part of a broader creative ecosystem.

Looking Ahead

Could this model expand to streaming? To sync? What if those who influence discovery earned from the playlists they built or the trends they sparked? If we want a sustainable future for music, we need to compensate the connectors, not just the content creators.

In a music world obsessed with scale, recognising the value of taste is a radical move, and maybe it’s exactly what the industry needs.