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The mutation of cultural values, popularity, and aesthetic tastes in the age of convergence culture
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Text
TitleInfo
Title
The mutation of cultural values, popularity, and aesthetic tastes in the age of convergence culture
SubTitle
social networking practices of musicians
Identifier
ETD_2309
Identifier
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http://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.2/rucore10001600001.ETD.000052270
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doi:10.7282/T3251JBX
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English
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theses
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Topic
Communication, Information and Library Studies
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Mass media and technology
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Digital media
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Music and technology
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Music trade
Abstract
(type = abstract)
This dissertation examines cultural production in an age of digital media and convergence. It focuses on how musicians, by exerting immaterial and affective labor, use social media websites to gain popularity and increase their music’s value. Within the larger context of convergence culture, in which old and new media collide, this dissertation focuses on four websites as case studies (myspace.com, youtube.com, secondlife.com, and indabamusic.com), analyzing them via four key terms ("social protocols," "cultural intermediaries," "labor," and "self-promotion").
Broadly speaking, this dissertation analyzes various binary tensions that are symptomatic of a convergence culture context, such as commerce vs. creativity, competition vs. collaboration and empowerment vs. exploitation. These tensions exist unequally, creating an oscillating relationship. This dissertation, by assessing the resulting paradoxes, highlights the different dynamics of power at play on the social networking sites. Thus, this study introduces and assesses the emerging protocols on the social networking sites, the expanded role of cultural intermediaries in the social network, and the manner in which musicians engage in self-promotion.
After introductory and literature review chapters, chapter three investigates Myspace users' attempts to gain popularity. The chapter examines various protocols both in online interactions as well as in the consumption of "how-to-succeed" manuals. Chapter Four analyzes the laboring practices and music competitions on Youtube, and conceptualizes the website’s emerging norms of popularity and their impact on signed and unsigned musicians. The fifth chapter, devoted to Secondlife, sheds light on the role played by live performances, a dimension not typically a part of other social networking sites. The sixth chapter on Indabamusic explores the manner in which collaborative and competitive activities reconstitutes the complex relationship between mainstream and grassroots convergence forces. As a whole, this dissertation examines new developments in the formulation of cultural values, and evaluates a landscape in which the commodification of the self and the notion of popularity complicate the purportedly democratic nature of convergence culture and social media sites.
Broadly speaking, this dissertation analyzes various binary tensions that are symptomatic of a convergence culture context, such as commerce vs. creativity, competition vs. collaboration and empowerment vs. exploitation. These tensions exist unequally, creating an oscillating relationship. This dissertation, by assessing the resulting paradoxes, highlights the different dynamics of power at play on the social networking sites. Thus, this study introduces and assesses the emerging protocols on the social networking sites, the expanded role of cultural intermediaries in the social network, and the manner in which musicians engage in self-promotion.
After introductory and literature review chapters, chapter three investigates Myspace users' attempts to gain popularity. The chapter examines various protocols both in online interactions as well as in the consumption of "how-to-succeed" manuals. Chapter Four analyzes the laboring practices and music competitions on Youtube, and conceptualizes the website’s emerging norms of popularity and their impact on signed and unsigned musicians. The fifth chapter, devoted to Secondlife, sheds light on the role played by live performances, a dimension not typically a part of other social networking sites. The sixth chapter on Indabamusic explores the manner in which collaborative and competitive activities reconstitutes the complex relationship between mainstream and grassroots convergence forces. As a whole, this dissertation examines new developments in the formulation of cultural values, and evaluates a landscape in which the commodification of the self and the notion of popularity complicate the purportedly democratic nature of convergence culture and social media sites.
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viii, 253 p. : ill.
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Ph.D.
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Includes bibliographical references (p. 232-251)
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by Hiesun Cecilia Suhr
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Suhr
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Hiesun Cecilia
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1979-
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Hiesun Cecilia Suhr
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Bratich
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Jack
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Jack Z Bratich
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Susan
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Susan Keith
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John
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David
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David Hesmondhalgh
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Rutgers University
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Graduate School - New Brunswick
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xx
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Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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ETD doctoral
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Rights
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The author owns the copyright to this work.
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Open
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Suhr
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Hiesun
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2009-12-16 15:20:08
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I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
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2013-10-15
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2015-10-31
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Access to this PDF has been restricted at the author's request. It will be publicly available after October 31, 2015.
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