Ryan Blakeley: You can’t afford to overlook local markets and cultures

"At a time when it feels like anybody can stream anything, any time, anywhere, it can be easy to neglect the importance of location. But with global streaming experiencing tremendous year-over-year growth, local markets are becoming increasingly viable and offer important opportunities – and challenges – for anyone working in the music industries" - Ryan Blakeley, a Ph.D. in Musicology candidate, writes in his MBW op/ed. "Whether you’re an artist, running a record label, or working at a music streaming service, you can’t afford to overlook local markets and cultures. Locality shapes what we listen to, how we listen to it, and even who we are. It may seem paradoxical, but regionality is just as important – if not more important – in the current age of global streaming".