After researching and reading...

So, I have spent the last couple weeks researching articles and books trying to find as much information as I can about the way the Internet has aided and assisted the formation and continuation of online communities that support the dance music scene, and how technology and the Internet has become the leading contributor to the dissemination of music online. With all of this in mind, I have decided to write my final research paper on the following:

Research Question/Statement: Dance Music Culture & The Internet: How Online Culture Facilitates a Dance Subculture.

So, with this as my starting point, I needed to find websites that involve online music community activities such as forums, blogs, discussion groups and file sharing, academic journal articles that discuss the online subcultural communities within the realm of online music appreciation, and any literature written since the year 1995, as anything before, I believe, would not sufficiently address or understand the current state of the now ubiquitous online community and it’s subcultural involvement, and the changes that have occurred since the online boom during the mid 90s.

The first blog of real interest I came across in my research was found at the following address/link: http://www.styleovercontent.com/blog/2006/07/authentic-youth-cultural-capit.html

Entitled “Authentic Youth: Cultural Capital and Credibility in Digital Youth Culture” and written by Jordan on July 23, 2006, this blog talks about the connections youth make with the online world by readily involving themselves in social networking sites, and “how digital media offers youth a valuable site for cultural engagement”. She talks about the ways in which the youth of today in this outwardly mobile and technologically driven society “produce and disseminate cultural practices through the lens of youth subcultures, which revolve around distinctive aesthetic tastes”. Jordan discusses how these ‘online involved’ youth rely on the digital realm and technology for access to the online social communities, to meet, share, discuss and exchange ideas, create and sustain their own cultural and social identities which they have created themselves through active involvement and participation within these ‘online arenas’. Much as with social networking sites like Facebook, these youth actively choose their counterparts, their friends, their favourite groups, and are able to actively comment, discuss and even dislike elements of their friends activities and interactions. The youth of today who have grown up surrounded with computers, technology and the digital world are acclimatized to daily social interaction online, and have grown up without the physical boundaries that do not apply in the online world, or ‘cyberspace’ as it is often affectionately called. The ability to connect and interact with youth on a global scale has allowed for a participant (or anyone, in fact) to ‘cast a wider net’, and become actively involved in social networks that would normally have been unattainable through the physical distance inherent, and yet still feel like an active member of a collective based solely on their online participation. This also allows for the ‘wearing of many hats’, and being apart of numerous groups, where they can participate across a wider variety of interests than previously thought possible before the ubiquitous nature of the Internet allowed such interactions.

In his article “Subculture or Neo-tribes? Rethinking the Relationship Between Youth, Style and Musical Taste”, Andy Bennett argues that the “musical and stylistic sensibilities exhibited by the young people involved in the dance music scene are clear examples of a form of late modern ‘sociality’ rather than a fixed subcultural group” (par.1), which I interpret as him saying that the youth are expressing themselves through a huge variety of social interactions and are not limiting themselves to one particular genre or type. The youth are displaying through their actions that they are able to participate in a wide cross section of musical tastes and interests, and that their participation is that of a social nature and not of a fixed subcultural grouping that theorists once thought their behaviours suggested. I tend to agree with Andy Bennett, as through my own personal experiences as an active participant in raves, clubbing and the dance music scene over the last 18 years of my adult life, that I too do not limit myself to being a member of just one particular scene or genre grouping. I’ve allowed myself the freedom to explore and express my musical tastes through a myriad of musical styles, ranging from Dolly Parton singing country, to DJ Hixxy playing Happy Hardcore dance music, all that is in between, and then some!

Another interesting point made by Andy Bennett within the same article, is that he feels the term ‘subculture’ is now nothing more than a “convenient ‘catch-all’ term for any aspect of social life in which young people, style and music intersect” (par. 2). He suggests this term is so vague in today’s vocabulary, that there is the danger that it can mean everything and nothing, all at the same time. Bennett also suggests that there are mainstream and non-mainstream subcultures, and the best way to differentiate between the two is to follow the lead of Sarah Thornton, who suggests they are based on representation attributed by the media. According to Thornton, “authentic subcultures are largely constructed by the media” as a result of the members within these subcultures attempting to develop their ‘boundaries of self’ and how they relate to the rest of society, based on how they are portrayed within the media (par. 13). Seeing as the involvement of the ‘media circus’ as we know it, is more ubiquitous that the Internet itself, can any subculture or group of any origin, really ever escape the prying eyes and stringent scrutiny of the mass media? As a result of this, Thornton suggests, “subcultures… grow by force of their own energy into mysterious ‘movements’ only to be belatedly digested by the media” (1995:117). I would have to agree totally with Thornton, because it’s not until a group, or a cause, or a ‘movement’ of some description generates its own momentum entirely of its own design, that the media then decides to become an interested participant and add to its propulsion through the spotlight of media attention and advertising. The ‘movement’ itself starts long before the media find out about its existence, and decide to become involved.

Getting back to the blog mentioned earlier “Authentic Youth: Cultural Capital and Credibility in Digital Youth Culture” written by Jordan, she discusses the importance of cultural capital affected of these participant youth within their online communities. She talks of how “particular technologies and websites” allow the interaction of the involved “creative ways” with which to engage in their chosen subculture and interests, and then to actively ‘live out’ their self-created identities, voicing only that which they see fit will positively propel and enhance their status within the group. It is through this engagement and interaction that the youth place greater importance on status and active involvement “based on an implicit hierarchy of credibility”, which can be attained through continuous recognition and involvement within the online social networks, and participation within the physical interaction in the clubbing scene and nightlife within their city, town or suburban environments. All of this ‘engagement’ is designed to heighten and augment their social connections. The payoff is the accruing of ‘cultural capital’ & ‘street-cred’ (credibility) within the social network, and “highlights how young people can become more socially engaged through their online activities” (Jordan, par. 3).

Next time I will be investigating the spread of the “MP3 blog”, other social networking sites like “Facebook”, “Myspace Music” & more locally based “Respect Music” that sustain and propel the dance music online scene, and how they interact with file sharing websites like “Soundcloud” and others.

Until then, keep lovin’ the doof doof!
Cheers.



References:

Bennett, Andy. Subcultures or Neo-Tribes? Rethinking the Relationship between Youth, Style and Musical Taste. Sociology 1999; 33; 599. Sage Publications. Online version accessible at: http://soc.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/33/3/599

Thornton, Sarah. Club Cultures: Music, Media and Subcultural Capital. Polity Press, 1995.