Exploring the Subconscious Effects of Audio Quality on Overall User Experience for Music Streaming Services

Digital audio is a key part of music streaming services, used by many people. The quality of audio varies from service to service where some streaming services (e.g., Tidal, Apple Music) have a clear goal of having higher quality with higher bit-rates. This thesis examines, through user studies, if this truly has an effect on the user experience. The report will look into what the association between the impact of higher quality audio is on the overall user satisfaction of a streaming service and (in the case of a positive impact) if the impact keeps increasing with higher levels of bit-rate. To find the answer to this a double blind study is employed, with a sample size of fifteen test subjects who do 3 tests each on a streaming service with 3 different ranges of bit rates (145–185, 320, 700–1411 kbit/s). The results do not point to any significant association between the two. If anything, the results slightly point in the direction of lower bit-rates leading to a higher user satisfaction, though this is likely explained by other factors. The findings suggest that streaming services that charge more for high quality audio may not be as valuable for the customer as believed.