streambait en · NOUN
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ser-? Proto-Indo-European *srew-der. Proto-Indo-European *srow-mo-s Proto-Germanic *straumaz Proto-West Germanic *straum Old English strēam Middle English strem English stream Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- Proto-Indo-European *-t Proto-Indo-European *bʰéydt Proto-Germanic *bītaną Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Germanic *-janą Proto-Germanic *baitijaną Old Norse beitabor. Middle English bayte English bait English -bait English streambait From stream + -bait. Modeled on clickbait.
Meanings
-
(Internet, uncommon, uncountable) Streaming content, especially music, primarily created for the sake of optimizing user engagement.
The rise of short-form video as a vessel for music discovery brought the logic of streambait to a new extreme. It was no longer about grabbing the listener in the first thirty seconds, but the first three-to-five seconds.
2025, Liz Pelly, Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist, 1st edition, New York: Atria Books, →ISBN: