Whether coffee or chocolate, pizza or pencils, connoisseurship has become a pastime for the masses. But if anyone can become a connoisseur of anything, will the concept lose its mystique?

People are retreating into digital bubbles, spending less time interacting with the world around them. Hoping to capture their attention through their devices, brands like Billboard are sounding out the rules of engagement in this personal space.

Drip.fm lets music fans subscribe to their favourite indie labels for a monthly fee, in return for which they receive the latest tracks as high-quality MP3s, as well as access to labels’ back catalogues.

Young people have always looked to music, filtered through radio DJs, for identity. For generations growing up with every song at their fingertips and algorithms replacing DJs, how is the medium being redefined, and what new roles can it fulfil?