A 20-year evolution study of digital music communication (2004-2024): Knowledge mapping and bibliometric analysis based on SCI/SSCI/A&HCI

Abstract

Artificial intelligence has exerted a profound impact on the music industry, with digital music communication emerging as its representative core topic. To fill the research gap in comprehensive bibliometric reviews of this field, this study searched for SCI/SSCI/A&HCI-indexed articles on the theme of “digital music communication” from early 2004 to late 2024, screened literature following PRISMA standards, and finally obtained 173 sample articles. Using bibliometric tools VOSviewer and CiteSpace, this study conducted a comprehensive knowledge mapping analysis based on publication quantity, journal distribution, core authors, and hot topics. The visualized bibliometric analysis and review results aim to provide references for researchers and practitioners in related fields. The results show that research in this field has entered a mature stage, with fluctuating growth in the number of publications. The United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia are the main research forces, but a stable author collaboration network and journal system have not yet been formed. Research hotspots focus on three clusters: the sociocultural impact of digital music technology, educational applications of digital media, and information communication literacy. The development context has gone through a three-stage evolution from basic exploration of information literacy to technical education applications, and then to multi-field integration of socioculture.