Music intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is usually discussed in platform metrics: how many people saw it, how far it travelled. What it does to a listener afterward is another question, and the research on it is thinner. This study proposes that music ICH transmits digitally only when the encounter is culturally mediated: perceived usefulness must pass through emotional resonance and identification before it becomes participation. Drawing on a case study of the Yi yueqin across four institutions in Liangshan and 412 questionnaire responses joined with 26 interviews, the study extends the technology acceptance model (TAM) by treating cultural appeal, emotional resonance and cultural identity as antecedents and mediators while retaining perceived usefulness and ease of use. The results support the model: cultural identity partially mediates the link between usefulness and actual participation, and emotional resonance and cultural identity moderate the transmission chain. Checked against UNESCO’s safeguarding indicators, the findings give a testable meaning to the policy slogan “technical standards plus cultural connotation.”