Terje Colbjørnsen is Associate professor in creative industries management in the Department of communication and culture. He is a member of BI Centre for Creative Industries.
Colbjørnsen is a scholar of media industries, culture industries and the creative sector with a special emphasis on the impact of technology and the role of cultural policy. He teaches courses in Entertainment industries and Digitalization in creative industry. Colbjørnsen holds a PhD in media and communication from the University of Oslo (2015) and has previously worked as an associate professor in library and information science at Oslo Metropolitan University.
His research mainly revolves around issues regarding digitalisation of the media and cultural industries, in particular the book industry. A project on streaming services combined perspectives across music, film, tv and books. A recent project examines the dynamics of cultural policy, looking specifically at how new media technologies challenge established policies and institutionalized practices.
Publications
Colbjørnsen, Terje; Larsen, Håkon, Tallerås, Kim & Liguzinski, Maciej (2024)
Extending the media welfare state: The role of libraries in the Nordic countries
Jakobsson, Peter; Lindell, Johan & Stiernstedt, Fredrik (red.). The Future of the Nordic Media Model: A digital media welfare state?
Colbjørnsen, Terje; Tallerås, Kim & Steiner, Ann (2023)
Talking About Audio: Analysing Book Industry Trade Talk on Audiobooks and Streaming in Sweden and Norway
Hvenegaard Rasmussen, Casper; Rydbeck, Kerstin & Larsen, Håkon (red.). Libraries, Archives, and Museums in Transition: Changes, Challenges, and Convergence in a Scandinavian Perspective
Colbjørnsen, Terje; Brenna, Brita & Edquist, Samuel (2022)
Curating collections in LAMs
Hvenegaard Rasmussen, Casper; Rydbeck, Kerstin & Larsen, Håkon (red.). Libraries, Archives, and Museums in Transition: Changes, Challenges, and Convergence in a Scandinavian Perspective
Larsen, Håkon; Colbjørnsen, Terje & Tallerås, Kim (2022)
En norsk bokbransje i endring og interesseorganisasjonenes politiske påvirkningsarbeid
Nordisk kulturpolitisk tidsskrift, 25(1), s. 43- 60. Doi: 10.18261/nkt.25.1.4
Den norske bokbransjen er støttet og regulert gjennom en rekke litteraturpolitiske virkemidler. Disse settes nå under press grunnet endringer relatert til den digitale litteraturens utbredelse, nye aktørers inntog i markedet og omseggripende endringer i tilstøtende politikkområder og i samfunnet forøvrig. Det er langvarige og gode ordninger for bransjen til å påvirke politikken gjennom den korporative påvirkningskanalen. Samtidig vil de pågående endringene også kreve påvirkningsarbeid fra interesseorganisasjonene gjennom lobbyvirksomhet, for å sikre at de litteraturpolitiske virkemidlene oppdateres i takt med samfunns- og bransjeutviklingen. Denne studien handler om hvordan bransjeorganisasjonene søker å påvirke politikken gjennom den korporative kanalen og gjennom lobbyvirksomhet. Nærmere bestemt har vi studert hvordan lederne i bokbransjens mest sentrale organisasjoner snakker om deres erfaringer med bruk av disse to kanalene for påvirkningsarbeid og hvordan dette eventuelt endres som en konsekvens av endringer relatert til nye aktører, digitalisering og andre endringer i bokbransjens omland.
Colbjørnsen, Terje; Hui, Alan & Solstad, Benedikte (2021)
What do you pay for all you can eat? Pricing practices and strategies in streaming media services
This article explores streaming across the cultural industries, drawing on 39 interviews with CEO/top-level industry executives working in the Norwegian music, film, television, and book industries. We examine two broad questions: What do key industry players see as the main opportunities and challenges of streaming? To what extent do industry players compare with and learn from other industries when making sense of, and seeking solutions to, the main challenges? Drawing on theories of media industry logics and industry lore, the article identifies a collective understanding of turmoil and uncertainty. While informants across industries form similar notions about the impact of streaming and emphasise the need to learn from other industries, solutions to challenges are typically sought within industryspecific frames. Our findings suggest that even if streaming is a cross-industrial trend, strategies are based on industry-specific logics and notions.
The streaming network: Conceptualizing distribution economy, technology, and power in streaming media services
Convergence. The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies Doi: 10.1177/1354856520966911
Despite there being more than a decade since the introductions of Netflix’ and Spotify’s online services, few attempts have been made to thoroughly examine and conceptualize streaming and streaming services across culture and media industries. The argument proposed here is that streaming constitutes a distinct form of digital media distribution network, what I refer to as the streaming network. The article asks what constitutes the parts or nodes of such a streaming network, and further what the power relationships between the various parts are. The analysis uses Spotify, Apple Music, Netflix, and Kindle Unlimited as examples, building on a wide array of primary and secondary document sources. The analysis contains a stepwise discussion and visualization of how human and nonhuman actors in this streaming network are connected by way of flows of content, data, and money, as well as by relationships of control, access, and exposure. The argument draws on theories of network power, platform power, and algorithmic power. The analysis highlights the asymmetrical relationships between, on the one hand, users and content providers, and on the other, streaming providers and device and software makers. No single actor in the network is able to exercise full control, but users and content originators are seen as particularly vulnerable. Streaming providers and device and software makers are able to maneuver the network to strengthen their relative position.
Cultural Policies, Social Missions, Algorithms and Discretion: What Should Public Service Institutions Recommend?
Sundqvist, Anneli; Berget, Gerd, Nolin, Jan & Skjerdingstad, Kjell Ivar (red.). Sustainable Digital Communities. 15th International Conference, iConference 2020, Boras, Sweden, March 23–26, 2020, Proceedings
Spilker, Hendrik Storstein & Colbjørnsen, Terje (2020)
The dimensions of streaming: toward a typology of an evolving concept
My Algorithm: User Perceptions of Algorithmic Recommendations in Cultural Contexts
Guzman, Andrea (red.). Human-Machine Communication: Rethinking Communication, Technology, and Ourselves
Colbjørnsen, Terje (2018)
Algoritmens ansikt: Brukeropplevelser av kvalitet og relevans i algoritmiske anbefalinger på kulturfeltet
Prytz, Øyvind & Hovden, Jan Fredrik (red.). Kvalitetsforhandlinger
Colbjørnsen, Terje (2017)
Åpenhet i det digitale bibliotek: Om politiske føringer og gnisninger mellom kommersiell bokbransje og bibliotek i en digital tid
Anderson, Astrid; Fagerlid, Cicilie, Larsen, Håkon & Straume, Ingerid (red.). Det åpne bibliotek: Forskningsbibliotek i endring
Colbjørnsen, Terje (2017)
Debating freedom of expression in Norwegian media: Critical moments, positions and arguments
Midtbøen, Arnfinn Haagensen; Steen-Johnsen, Kari & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (red.). Boundary Struggles : Contestations of Free Speech in the Norwegian Public Sphere
Colbjørnsen, Terje (2016)
Kritiske øyeblikk i norsk ytringsfrihetsdebatt : en analyse av forekomster av omtaler av ytringsfrihet og pressefrihet i norske aviser 1993-015