Experimenting with Fandom, Live Music, and the Internet: Applying Insights from Music Fan Culture to New Media Production

Abstract

This article maps and theorizes online jazz fandom activities around live music, and then reports on applied experimental work that the authors undertook with jazz promoters and musicians to explore ways in which live music can be situated in the activities of online fandom. Three theoretical themes of online taste-maker-led fan communities, narratives of online fan experience, and modularization of content are explained and discussed. Two case studies, where the theoretical themes are applied to the practical needs of live events organizers, are then introduced, discussed and evaluated. The authors then draw conclusions about the extent to which an understanding of fan practices and the possibilities of online platforms can be combined to extend the experiences of live musical events into online experiences. They also consider the possible ways in which online media re-address a series of questions about narrative and narration, agency and subjectivity, expertise and accessibility.

Notes

¹Two free Google services were employed to monitor visitor information, traffic statistics and RSS subscriptions: Google Analytics and Feedburner. With these tools, we were able to monitor hits; traffic flow; referrals from other websites that might be linking to us; RSS subscriptions and analyse the overall success of the project.