Social Media and Music

Suhr (media studies, Miami U. Hamilton) explores social networking sites as a digital field of cultural production for popular musicians by loosely drawing on Pierre Bourdieu's theories related to fields and capital. She presents case studies of MySpace, YouTube, Second Life, and Indaba Music and their roles and impact on the music industry and musicians. Taking into account users' experiences, experts' advice, and testimonies and reports in news articles, she considers how musicians and the music industry work together and impact one another, how social networking sites' involvement with the mainstream music and media industries impact musicians and vice versa, what the new and emerging trends are in the digital field of cultural production, and what has changed, remained, and transitioned as new forms of practice. She discusses characteristics of the digital field, common types of work musicians undertake in the digital field, and issues involved; the rise of self-promotion and discovery; new mechanisms for communication and competitions in the social media era; copyright issues related to YouTube; how record labels and amateur musicians use Second Life, including real time live music performances; and the collaborative uses of Indaba Music. She examines the complexity related to the rewards that musicians receive by participating in social networking sites, and the politics of popularity, ratings, and ranking systems. Annotation Ac2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

H. Cecilia Suhr is Assistant Professor of Media Studies at Miami University Hamilton and a musician and composer.