Changes in Popular Music Consumption Patterns and User Needs in the Digital Age: A Multi-Dimensional Analysis Based on Grounded Theory and AHP Method

In the digital age, technological advancements and evolving user behavior have significantly reshaped popular music consumption patterns.However, existing studies primarily focus on technological innovations or user behavior trends, lacking a systematic exploration of how these factors interact to shape user needs and industry strategies.This study combines grounded theory and the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to identify and quantify key factors influencing music consumption to fill this gap.Grounded Theory offers qualitative insights into digital music consumption, while AHP quantitatively evaluates the identified factors, achieving a complementary balance between theoretical depth and decision-making data.The study first conducted semistructured interviews with 10 users, applying open, axial, and selective coding to extract four core categories: intelligent recommendations, social interaction, fragmented consumption, and the fan economy.Subsequently, a questionnaire survey was administered to 7 field experts, and the AHP method was used to determine the relative importance of each category based on user preferences and expert evaluations.Results indicate that intelligent recommendations hold the highest weight (46.6%), underscoring the pivotal role of AI-driven user preference analysis.Social interaction ranks second (27.7%), highlighting its significant influence on user engagement.Although fragmented consumption and the fan economy carry lower weights, they reflect the growing demand for instant music experiences and the importance of fan-driven ecosystems in user retention.This study bridges the gap between user behavior analysis and platform strategy development, contributing to both theoretical understanding and practical application.The findings offer actionable recommendations for optimizing music streaming services, enhancing recommendation algorithms, and strengthening interactive features, providing valuable guidance for industry stakeholders to improve user satisfaction and maintain competitiveness in the rapidly evolving digital music market.