The Reasons for the Use of YouTube Among Musicians in India – Using Dependency Theory
A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of
Master of Philosophy in Media Studies
by Nrithya Maria Andrews (Reg. No. 1134002)
Under the guidance of Dr. SagarikaGolder Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT OF MEDIA STUDIES CHRIST UNIVERSITY BANGALORE, INDIA MARCH 2012
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Approval of Dissertation
Dissertation titled ‘The reasons for the use of YouTube among musicians in India - using Dependency Theory’ by Nrithya Maria Andrews, Reg. No. 1134002 is approved for the award of the degree of Master of Philosophy in Media Studies.
Examiners:
1. ______
2. ______
3. ______
Supervisor(s): Dr. Sagarika Golder ______
Chairman: Mr. John Joseph Kennedy ______
Date: ______(Seal)
Place: Christ University
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DECLARATION
I, Nrithya Maria Andrews, hereby declare that the dissertation, titled ‘The reasons for the use of YouTube among musicians in India- using Dependency Theory’ is a record of original research work undertaken by me for the award of the degree of Master of Philosophy in Media Studies. I have completed this study under the supervision of Dr. Sagarika Golder, Assistant Professor, Department of Media Studies
I also declare that this dissertation has not been submitted for the award of any degree, diploma, associate ship, fellowship or other title. It has not been sent for any publication or presentation purpose.
Place: Christ University Date: 30 March 2012 Signature of the candidate Nrithya Maria Andrews Reg No. 1134002 Department of Media Studies Christ University, Bangalore
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CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the dissertation submitted by Nrithya Maria Andrews (Reg. No.1134002) titled ‘The reasons for the use of YouTube among musicians in India- using Dependency Theory’ is a record of research work done by him/her during the academic year 2011-2012 under my/our supervision in partial fulfillments for the award of Master of Philosophy in Media Studies
This dissertation has not been submitted for the award of any degree, diploma, associate ship, fellowship or other title. It has not been sent for any publication or presentation purpose.
Place: Christ University Date: 30 March 2012 Signature of the Guide Dr. Sagarika Golder Assistant Professor Department of Media Studies Christ University, Bangalore
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Nervous and anxious about the form in which my thesis would turn out
initially, I cannot but smile at the sense of accomplishment I feel having finished
it. There are several people without whom this would not have been possible. I
take this opportunity to thank each and every one of them.
I owe my deepest gratitude to my guide, Dr. Sagarika Golder, without whose
guidance I would have not been able to complete this task. She has been
immensely supportive, encouraging and approachable from the initial to the final
level which made this venture that much simpler and enabled me to develop a
better understanding of the study.
I thank the Head of the Department, Mr. John Joseph Kennedy and other
faculty members of the Department of Media Studies, Christ University for their
support.
I am deeply indebted to my respondents from the musician community for
being highly co-operative and understanding. My research required their time and
patience and they made the time and grew the patience for it.
I would like to thank my fellow classmates for being there whenever I needed
them the most.
I would like to thank my parents for their constant support and words of
encouragement.
I thank my Lord for blessing and guiding me through every step of the way
through this endeavor. Property of Christ University.
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Table of Contents
Declaration ii Certificate iii Acknowledgement iv Table of Contents v List of Figures vi List of Tables viii
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Chapter II Review of Literature 9
Chapter III History of Music in India 29
Chapter IV Data Analysis 42
Chapter V Conclusion 69
Works Cited 77
Appendix
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List of Figures
Figure1.1 Shows the number of male and female musicians in the sample size 38
Figure 1.2 Shows the percentage of those who are vocalist and instrumentalists 40
Figure1.3 Shows the number of professional and amateur musicians in the
sample. 42
Figure 1.4 Shows that getting visibility is important 44
Figure 1.5 Shows the percentage of those who have considered professionally
shot videos 45
Figure 1.6 Shows the use of YouTube downloader among musicians 46
Figure 1.7 Shows the percentage of those who YouTube songs before
download 47
Figure 1.8 Shows the percentage of those musician who use YouTube tutorials 48
Figure 1.9 Shows the percentage of vocalists who use YouTube for practice 49
Figure 1.10 Shows the percentage of musician who found inspiration in
YouTube artists 50
Figure 1.11 Shows the percentage of those who cover YouTube artists 51
Figure 1.12 Shows the percentage of those who have put up music related Property of Christ University. Use it for fair puvideosrpose . G i v e c r e d i t t o t h e a u t h o r b y c i t i n g p r o p e r l y , i f y o u r a r e u s52in g it. vi
Figure 1.13 Shows the percentage of those who have uploaded videos on other
sites 54
Figure 1.14 shows the percentage of musician who receive comments
or messages 56
Figure 1.15 Shows the percentage that have a YouTube app on their mobile
phones 57
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List of Tables
Table 1.1 Shows the different age groups the samples are from 37
Table 1.2 Shows the percentage of hours musicians spend online 39
Table 1.3 Shows the most popular genre among the sample musicians chosen. 41
Table 1.4 Shows the most preferred medium of the sample 43
Table 1.5 Shows the percentage of kind of content the sample has uploaded 53
Table 1.6 Shows the reason why YouTube is most popular 55
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Chapter I
Introduction
Gone are the days when audiences waited around for music to be served to
them on the usual platter of mediums such as the radio, television or print. With
the age of New Media, audiences don‟t just remain audiences but they are
transformed and uplifted into the „user‟ category as well. YouTube is a website
that allows any person with an email address to upload, share and view videos.
YouTube is still a growing phenomenon that makes video sharing a very
important aspect of our Internet culture. YouTube has also turned into the favorite
music-discovery tool that favors both record labels stars and the „ordinary
person‟.
This research tries to measure all the reasons musicians‟ use YouTube
because, looking at the amount of music that is shared on a social network there
have been traces to believe that the dependency on this aspect of New Media,
YouTube has increased in comparison to the other media such as radio, television
or even print. There are numerous videos on YouTube, which the site itself allows
us to categorize them into specific fifteen categories. If the research were to look
into how each of those categories, the scope of the research would be too vast.
Music, being one of the categories on the set list of YouTube, scope will be
limited to just this one category and to finding out how YouTube had been
benefitting the creators of music, the musicians. We know for a fact that it has Property of Christ University. Use it for fair pubeenrpo sa eboon. Gi vtoe musicianscredit to because the au tofh other bseveraly citin YouTubeg prope successrly, if ystoriesour a we‟vere usi ng it. 2
heard internationally. This research aims to find out if Indian musicians have
tapped the potential the westerners have seen in YouTube knowing that this is a
global platform of opportunity. The research also delves into areas through the
dependency theory to check if the users/ audience shares an important relationship
with YouTube and hence the larger social system. To know if to be a musician,
it‟s important to use YouTube to feel like a part of this musician community race.
In doing so, the other objective of this study, to find out the advantages and
disadvantages of using this medium is discovered.
The more dependent an individual is on the media for having his or her needs
fulfilled, the more important the media will be to that person. The Media
Dependency Theory can be understood better with the help of the Uses and
Gratification theory.
Katz first came up with the Uses and Gratification theory when he began to
rethink the concept of the passive audience, which theories stated up until 1970.
He came up with the notion that audiences use media for their benefit. Later,
Katz, Blumler and Gurevitch expanded on the idea and stated that audience
participate in selecting a particular media and its content to gratify their personal
needs making them active.
The Dependency theory also called the Media System Dependency theory is
seen to be an extension or rather an addition to the Uses and Gratification. It was
first described by Melvin DeFleur and Sandra Ball-Rokeach in the year 1975. It Property of Christ University. Use it for fair pubasicallyrpose. Gdealsive withcred theit tcorrelationo the aut hbetweenor by ctheiti nnatureg pr oofp esociety,rly, if mediayour acontentre usi ng it. 3
and behavior of the audience. Rokeach and DeFleur in their book
„Communication Research 3‟ explain, “The basic propositions of The
Dependency Theory can be brought together and summarized as follows: The
potential for mass media messages to achieve a broad range of cognitive,
affective, and behavioral effects will be increased when media systems serve
many unique, and central information functions.” This stresses on the idea that the
more useful a medium will become, the more it has to offer.
The difference between Uses and gratification theory and the media
Dependency theory is that the former emphasizes of the needs of the audience
while the latter emphasizes on their goals. DeFleur and Rokeach suggest that
active selectors of media use media to achieve their goals and hence become
dependent on it.
They tie audience activity to audience dependency. According to them an
individual or society‟s degree of dependency is a function of “a) the number and
centrality (importance) of the specific information-delivery functions served by a
medium and b) the degree of change and conflict present in society.”
A simple example to describe dependency would be to think of the last time
there was a natural crisis in town. We are glued to the television or newspaper to
find out of schools or college are have declared a holiday. Imagine if the
newspaper didn‟t reach us or if the electricity went off. If the crisis was worse,
like a strike or hartal then ones dependency would increase, our willingness and Property of Christ University. Use it for fair puattentivenessrpose. Giv toe cactre dasi tthe to „medium‟the auth andor bitsy messagesciting p rtellop eusr lwilly, i falso yo uincrease.r are u sing it. 4
They also state that more than one kind of goal can be satisfied by the same
medium. The research hopes to employ YouTube these objectives and test the
dependency levels of the audience. If samples find YouTube a medium that offers
them with numerous functions that are central to their goals, then it means that
they are more inclined to continue to use YouTube in the future.
The growth of YouTube is one of the most surprising developments of New
Media. Scholars and researchers did predict change because of the capabilities
and potential of New Media, but not to this magnitude. It is said that watching
video online is one of the fastest growing of media activity. YouTube was
founded by three ex-employees of Pay Pal, a net banking system. Steve Chen,
Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim‟s discussion on how it hard it was to find Tv
footage of things they wanted to watch again in 2004 lead to the setting up of
YouTube. Clips showed on Tv was hard to find elsewhere, in case one wanted to
watch them few more times like the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction during a
performance at the Superbowl or tsunami footage shot by a tourist in South Asia.
So, these three young men, some venture capital and the idea were put together to
be launched in 2005. In a year‟s time, owing to its instant success hosting millions
of short videos every day, Google bought YouTube for $1.6 billion.
In a study by Pew and American Life, it is said that according to their 2011
research 7 out of 10 adults use video sharing sites like YouTube. Americans are
creating, sharing and viewing videos online more than ever before. The study
shows an increasePr oofp theert yusage of C ofh rvideo-ist U nsharingiversi sitesty. like YouTube or Vimeo Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. from to 66 percent the previous year to 71 percent in May 2011. 5
India on the other hand has just reached its critical landmark position with 100
million users in 2011. This may not seem much with a population of 1.21 billion,
but with Personal computers and Internet becoming more affordable, a study by
the Internet and Mobile Association of India predicted that, India will soon
become the largest internet using country this decade. With this in mind, of the
Internet users in India, Social Media is also growing by leaps and bounds in the
country. The Neilsen Company in collaboration with AbsolutData produced a
report in 2011 stating the usage and growth of social media in the country.
According to the report, 30 million internet users are part of social networking
sites of which 20 million visit these sites on a everyday basis. The report also
states Indians spend more time on these sites than checking their mail. It also
estimated that by the end of 2011, forty five thousand people were expected to
join the social networking site each day in India. In India the most popular social
media sites are „Facebook‟, „YouTube‟, „LinkdIn‟, Orkut‟ and „Twitter‟.
Narrowing it down from Internet penetration to the usage of Social Media to
the usage of YouTube, in comparison to the population of India is barely a small
percentage yet, it had caught the attention of the entire country especially after the
„Why this kolaveri di‟ incident.
Music and Media have always had a very strong underlying relationship. The
role of music has not been given enough credit in Media studies. The fact that one
of the reasons YouTube was even founded was in search of the performance of
singers Janet JacksonProp eandrty Justinof C hTimberlake‟satrist Univers ithety. Superbowl. But music and Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. media go way back than just New Media. 6
In the western tradition, the Piano was considered an emblematic element of
furniture in every European middle class family. This led to bringing public music
into the domestic sphere. Orchestrations of the biggest symphonies were
simplified into sheet music that could be played at home for domestic listening.
The same happened in American. Complicated rag time tunes were reduced into
simpler notations for more people to enjoy in their houses. Music brought people
to enjoy a domestic activity together. Families huddled around to sing,
accompanied by the piano and it turned into important feature for the middle and
upper class families when it came to domestic entertainment. It was in this content
that the phonograph or the gramma phone appeared. Here again, those families
who could not go to the operas would gather around to listen to the greatest
singers on records at home. Two wars later, it was the phonograph that was
replaced by the radio. This new medium acted as a tool designed to fit into the
same family togetherness context targeting the living room. Given this lineage of
music and media, it must not come as a surprise to know that music has played a
huge role in the propaganda of YouTube as well.
This research study has been divided into different chapters for better
understanding of the research done. The review of literature with regards to this
research tries to touch upon all areas remotely associated with New Media,
YouTube and Music and Musicians. It goes from exploring cyberspace to first
traces of video streaming, touches upon the coming together of various industries
to form new mediumsPrope leadingrty of Ctoh convergencerist Unive rtechnology.sity. Convergence Use it for fair putechnologyrpose. G iisv edealt cre dwithit t oelaborately the auth becauseor by c YouTubeiting pr oonp ephonesrly, if mayyou ber a anotherre usin g it. 7
reason for its growth. Literature on marketing and production methods of music
artists and labels has been included so that it helps to record the shift of
dependency. Later, it flows into YouTube used by researchers to other websites
used in the present context to literature about the YouTube phenomena that made
India take a closer look at YouTube and its benefits.
There is an entire chapter dedicated to knowing and understanding music in
India. This deals with India history of music, the birth of different Indian genres,
India music influence on western musicians, the growth of western music in India,
music on India media from radio to television, the dominance of Filmi music and
stars, India‟s acquaintance with reality music television and the „ordinary person‟,
New media and mobile technology and a general overview of YouTube in the
present context of music nationally in comparison to the International framework.
The data and analysis chapter is where all the data collected through the
questionnaire method is exhibited here. The data clears out misconceptions and
states the actual existing scenario. All the samples are musicians, those whose
bread and butter is music and also amateurs.
In the final chapter, the Conclusion, the researcher tires to look at the study
from the perspective of the dependency theory with all the data that has been
collected. This chapter touches upon the Uses and Gratifications Theory and then
leads to the Dependency Theory. Findings, reasons, advantages and disadvantages
are stated to check if there has been a shift of dependency onto YouTube at all. Property of Christ University. Use it for fair pu rpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 8
Chapter II
Review of Literature
Video streaming began much before YouTube. In order to understand
YouTube better this chapter tries to trace and understand the terms and events that
lead to the phenomena. The „Live Aid‟ movement was a series of globally
broadcast concerts sponsored by corporations to raise funds for the needy in the
1980‟s. These concerts were said to have one of the highest television global
audience of all time. A later version of this event was called „Net Aid‟. Concerts
were held in London, New York and Geneva was held throughout October 1999
to launch „Net Aid‟, the internet equivalent of „live aid. The Secretary General of
the United Nations said „Most people in needy countries have to get by on less
than two US dollars per day; now, with the click of a mouse, everyone can help.
There are no more excuses; lets bring on a new day.‟ For those who lived in
economically and informationally rich countries Net Aid allowed the concept of
„empathy-at a distance‟ work on them and make them feel like they can do
something to help from Internet terminals. It was then, at the turn of the
millennium, that the internet network was growing tremendously because it was
seen to be put on a pedestal called the life saver or it may have been just a clever
marketing technique, but it worked.
There are people who strongly believed that the Internet is a mere reaction to the
restricted and unequal possibilities of the broadcast. In film, radio and television, Property of Christ University. Use it for fair puar smallpose .number Give cofre producersdit to th sente au informationthor by ci ttoin ag large pro pnumbererly, i fof y consumers.our are u sing it. 9
With the incipient introduction of the information „superhighway‟ and the
integration of satellite technology with television, computers and telephone, an
alternative to the broadcast model, with its severe technical constraints, will very
likely enable a system of multiple producers/distributors/consumers, and entirely
new configuration of communication relations in which the boundaries between
those terms collapse. A second age of mass media is on the horizon (Poster,
1995). But there are views from Postmodernists, Marxists and liberal thinkers that
oppose this idea. The Internet is mainly interaction and little broadcast, but in
broadcast there is little interaction and mainly broadcast.
The term cyber space was first used by William Gibson in a fiction writing. But
the meaning of the term cyberspace has changed significantly over time. Although
now it is mostly associated with the internet and the diverse internet culture
earlier, by definition it meant „ any medium which encloses human
communication in an electronically generated space could be a form on
cyberspace.‟ If we were to go by this definition then, the „walkman‟ developed by
Sony Corporation, where the individual is plugged in electronically would be
called cyberspace. This does not allow a shared appreciation of the media event,
instead it consumed by only an individual user. There is a big difference between
listening to a cassette tape while driving in a car and listening to a radio station, in
that the cassette tape cuts you off from the outside world, while the radio ties you
into it‟ (Meyrowitz,1985). Therefor the definition of cyberspace was re-written to
make this differentiationPropert yby o includingf Christ bandwidthUniversi tasy. criteria. The main Use it for fair pucrharacteristicpose. Giv eof c cyberspaceredit to th thate a uist closesthor by to c describeiting pr YouTubeoperly, iwouldf you rbe a rthate u sing it. 10
cyberspace offers people an environment with many participants to influence and
affect each other because F.Randall Farmer and Chip Morningstar observed that
these participants seek complexity, depth and richness in the virtual world. Now,
cyberspace stand for a global network where individuals can exchange ideas,
interact, play games, provide information, create artistic media, conduct business
etc. all as part of social interaction.
According to James Carey and Jon Stratton the origins of „cyberspace‟ however
goes way back to the telegraph, which marked a separation of transportation and
communication. Stratton says that the emergence of the computer and the
microchip did not inaugurate cyberspace, „but the increase in the speed of
communication over distance to a point where the time taken for a message to
traverse the distance reduces to a period experienced by the receiver and sender as
negligible (1997).
Although theories relating to broadcast have been around for a while; cyber
society theories are comparatively new because the Internet has been around from
only the 90‟s. A whole array of communication studies related theories are
burgeoning. Literature related to Internet is characterized by an urgent
impulsiveness and generalizations and is in plenty but the fact that the growth rate
of technology is rapid; the literature also becomes just as redundant as the latest
technologies themselves.
Convergence technology has been a reason for this rapid growth of technology. Property of Christ University. Use it for fair puTechnologyrpose. Gi vconvergencee credit to can the take au tplacehor bony twociti nlevels.g pro Theper firstly, i beingf you r are using it. 11
infrastructure, like options for transmission, namely optical fibre, microwave and
satellite and the second level of transportation where content can be transported
via Tv or Internet or Webcasting. Services such as entertainment on the internet,
weather on phones, different types of data, text, images etc are all combined under
the umbrella called convergence. An example of this would be where Airtel India
released an 3G advertisement in 2011 that showcased convergence technology
that fits perfectly with this research when talking about convergence technology.
The ad has a family in a care. The dad forces the son to go with them to Bangkok
for a wedding. The son initially refuses but then, in the moving car logs on to
YouTube on his Samsung tablet to look at videos about Bangkok and changes his
mind to go with his parents in the car itself. The ad ends with „Videos
dekhiyeinkahi se bhiAitrel Internet 3G par‟ (watch videos from wherever on
Airtel 3G). Functional convergence is what occurs in individual media products,
like mobile phones with digital cameras. The coming together of
telecommunications, mass communications and data communication is the
underlying marvel of convergence. It is because these industries converge that
collaborations between corporations result in new combinations of mediums. At
the same time it is the technological innovation and the content that forces
corporation convergence.
Van Dijk speaks of the convergence between broadcast and networking as
mediums and called it „the second communications revolution‟, where older
mediums are re-determined,Property o fin C twohri keyst U ways-nive rassi tinteractivey. and as digital (1999). Use it for fair puDigitalrpose Media. Give can cr ebed ibrokent to th downe aut hintoor differentby citin bits.g pr Television,operly, if radioyour and are using it. 12
newsprint that come under the umbrella of the broadcast column are all available
in the digital form.
On the policy front, key network media players who help in the de-
commodification of software, music and film downloading portals, broadcast
products etc were attacked by broadcasters who pressured the government
because everybody could be broadcasters. This was affecting the user-pays
dimension of media. This was not the only problem, when commodities were
printed or when there was controlled access to cinema replication and piracy was
not high because of the high capital requirement for the equipment or venue and
the like. As digital media rose to the forefront, control of distribution became a
major concern for the owners of these commodities. Music in Digital media is
seen as a good domain to explain this consequence of digital media.
Under the subheading „Music as New Media‟, the authors of the book Digital
Cultures (Crubre& Martin, 2009) writes that music is only as great as the medium
it is consumed in. Whether a stadium, concert hall or headphones plugged in, the
musical experience is defined by the mode of consumption. Similarly, there is
another feature of music with circumstance that cannot be ignored. Music,
especially in the west can go on to be a representation of one‟s identity. Being
emo, a rocker or a follower of hip-hop connect to the rest of one‟s cultural world.
At times this association enters into a larger social scenario where the nature of
legal cultural practices in using music comes to the forefront. Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 13
The mechanical production of music at any given time and place if required has
been a great boon. One can listen to an orchestra playing Beethoven‟s music as
well as the latest chart buster whenever they feel like. It is this mechanical
reproduction of music that has helped spread several genres of music from the
streets of Brooklyn to the sufi melodies. Recorded music is the main reason for
the travel of music and in US and Europe have a corporations that dominate the
global music scene. The four main corporations are EMI, Warner Music, Sony
BMG and Universal. These companies invest large amounts of capital across
different areas. The industry is a culmination of performers, musicians,
production, marketing and distribution. The marketing aspect, delves deeper with
sales of rights to use the music in film, radio and Tv. All of this is linked together
by legal ownerships through contracts and law enriched Intellectual property
rights.
Although now, things are different with musicians using YouTube as a form of
marketing and distribution, how this normally works is record companies pick the
talent. The performers and their managers sign up with the record label and are
paid a share of the profit the label makes for the copyright of the music, other
rights to control the distribution through a range of formats and control of the use
of this music in advertising, radio, television etc. The company will manage and
market the entry of the material into the public domain.
Record companies trust the judgement of appointed agents to pick music that
sounds new, in Pkeepingroper twithy of the Ch latestrist Utrendsnive andrsi tthaty. is popular in the area and Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. sign them on. The other way is, once several artists have been found, contracts are 14
given out and the most commercially successful artists are pursued further. Some
other labels like EMI concentrate on the existing catalogue of talent. With profit
as the main motive of the industry, it is not hard to see why this model of music
ownership and distribution, capital investment and legal right have a problem with
the tremendous capabilities of new media and cost efficient distribution of music.
The music industry has dealt with many technological changes in the past. From
vinly records, the 1960‟s was when Philips designed the Compact cassette so that
music could be distributed in that format for people who liked to plug in their
Walkman or listen to music in the car. Then came the Compact Disc, with music
in a digital format. This provided the advantage of copying music rapidly without
the degradation of quality compared to the original track. Then came the MP3(
Moving Picture Expert Group Layer 3) files that loses part for a sound that are
considered to be less enjoyable to the ear for music. Then came the AAC format
for the iPod. The popularity of recorded music converged with more technological
innovations created a new way of social interaction through networks, but these
music based social networks were more than just a product of technology.
MySpace allowed the linking and the social networking to propagate the
distribution of commercial and non-commercial music. This became a platform
for floating new music, viral marketing and fandom.
Napster, which was an audio file sharing website which the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA) attempted to shut down. They argument was
based on the factP rthatop etherty copyright of Chri inst musicUniv ethatrsi tbelongedy. to record companies Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. was being tampered with and so, just because something was possible 15
technologically doesn‟t mean that it could be implemented. Because of which a
control was imposed on Intellectual property rights and how much commercial
music could be distributed through MySpace and Napster. The other modes were
limewire, Gnutella, e-donkey and Bit Torrent.
“This method of internet distribution through social networking sites, non-
commercial distribution and home copying evoked a rather chaotic and complex
response from the music industry. It is an excellent example of the ways in which
the technological capabilities of the New Media have been limited and determined
by existing social relations and also of how the inherent technical capacities of
New Media have simply adapted to changed circumstances” (Hardy, 2008).
Video distribution became much less of a problem when there was universal
access to broadband on the web because of video streaming, uploading,
downloading and podcasting. The Growth of YouTube is one of the biggest
developments of networked New Media. The online video started ten years before
the YouTube launched itself. But, due to bandwidth and slow connection speed
fast moving image delivery was not possible. A video blogging website called
vlog allowed users to add video into their blog entries. A first step towards
softvideo is to no longer regard digital video as just a publication or deliver
format, which is the current digital video as desktop video paradigm (which is of
course the same as the desktop publishing model) but to treat it as an authoring
and publication environment. This suggest that a major theme for a softvideo
poetics to explorePr oisp theer tdescriptiony of Chri sort Udevelopmentniversity. of a videographic writing Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. practice within video itself,that is to use digital video as a medium in which we 16
write (Miles,2002). Like the blog the vlog encouraged other vloggers to respond
via video. By 2004, even the business community took notice of this new online
video trend.
The grassroots movement to post visual blogs makes astonishing viewing, and
vlogsrisgin audience may give them an increasing impact. Following in the
footsteps of text blogsm video blogs are starting to take off on the internet. This
new form of grassroots digital media is being shepherded along by groups of film
makers and video buffs who started pooling publishing tips and linking to each
other in earnest this year (Business Weekly 29 December 2004)
But apart from some of the convenient features of YouTube, the branding of
YouTube was well done. Earlier, a YouTube video on a social networking site
used to always lead the user back to the main YouTube website. Also, YouTube
content was always branded with their logo.
There are so many video clips on YouTube that if people were to give genres
to each video put up, genre and the typology would be very scattered. YouTube
itself offers users genre classification such as Autos and Vehicles, Comedy,
Education, Entertainment, Film and Animation, How to and Style, Music, News
and Politics, Non Profit and Activism, People and Blogs, Pets and Animal,
Science and Technology, Sports and Travel and Events.
Ronald Chenail, in an article proposes that YouTube gives teachers, students and practitioners of Pqualitativeroperty oresearchf Chri sant Uexclusiveniversi poolty. of research based video Use it for fair puclips.rpos Thise. G articleive cr basicallyedit to t talkshe a uabouttho rthe by use ci tofin YouTubeg prope rinly the, if areayou ofr are using it. 17
academics. It was this article that acted as a trigger to my research problem. The
articles states that academic researchers have started using YouTube by
introducing basic qualitative research concepts, sharing qualitative data from
interviews and field observations and presenting completed research studies
(Chenail,2011). For example, The Research Channel, this is a non-profit
organization that links a global audience with insights, development and
discoveries in the field of research and academic institutions.They have a separate
channel dedicated research based videos called the ResearchChannel. Although
this channel is available to cable/satellite television subscribers and 70
universities across the country, their Youtube channel acts as an online video
library that is available to all. The Robert and Beverly Lewis Center for
NeuroImaging at the University of Oregon specializes in multifaceted,
interdisciplinary research in Bio Imaging and cognitive neuroscience. The centre
features on youtube with speeches from former directors on their work in the
center. The university provides researchers with short video clipsof the research
done though the university. If YouTube was used so widely by academicians
themselves, music being an integral part of the YouTube experience ought to be
more widespread because while musicians use Youtube for various reasons, a lay
person could log on just to listen to a song or watch the video of a song on
Youtube instead of downloading the same, increasing the popularity of the music
experience on Youtube.
Youtube conductsPr ouserper researchty of C hsor ithatst U theyniv knowersity how. exactly their site is being Use it for fair puusedrpo thanse. G guessingive cre dori tassuming to the a thatuth usersor b ythink citi nlikeg p thero pdesignerserly, if yofo theur asite.re uThesin g it. 18
methods used on these researches were varied from surveys to utility lab to FIDO.
FIDO is a method that was first used my Fidelity Investments. Here, various
elements from different sites were stuck on magnets and users were asked to
arrange them to know the ideal preferred visual organization and general
composition of the site. The usability study research method checks whether a
user is able to complete certain standard site tasks in a usability lab. This allows
the Youtube to know if their site is user friendly or not. Qualitative Methods are
however the most effective to know how exactly users use YouTube in the
context of their lives. This method explains why and how users use YouTube in
their living room, lazing in the couch watching YouTube videos etc. This cannot
be done in a lab as the user has to be in a more natural environment for research
purposes. So they use field studies where they interview users in their homes. The
behaviour of millions of users is recorded through traffic analysis. Survey
methods are deployed to find out what the users think of the website.
From the several researches that have been conducted by YouTube about how
people like to use this website, the research findings show that there are two
major groups of users. The users that log on to simply watch videos form the large
group, whereas the smaller group consists of more involved users, mostly being
uploaders. Through the FIDO research they found that, the more involved user
group opted for features that allowed them to learn simple but effective ways of
communication with their audience, build an audience, to make make money
thought YouTubePr oetc.pe Therty olargerf Ch grouprist U ofn iusersvers iexpectedty. nothing more from the Use it for fair puwebsiterpose .than Giv toe cwatchredi tvideos to th eand au soth choseor by to c ikeepting their pro pversionerly, ioff y theou siter a rsimple.e usin g it. 19
It would also found that users came is several other combinations where for
example, a user that preferred the site only to watch video leaves an occasional
comment or the like. According to the FIDO research, their YouTube experience
looks like it is somewhere between the two larger groups. This was according to a
study by YouTube in 2009. YouTube, through their research tries to bring forth
the best balance for all their users.
In 2009, Nielsen released data stating that the time that consumers spent in
watching video such as Tv, web or mobile increased. Online video itself grew by
13% in the year 2009. With the increase of broadband levels in U.S., it was
predicted that online video audiences would continue to spread as consumers start
to upgrade their computers to back increased video consumption. Mobile video
viewing was said to have increased by 52% from 2008 in America. This is
because of the increase in mobile video content and also because mobile web
viewing was becoming an option.It was revealed that the age group between 18-
24 year olds watched videos online for 5 hours and 3 minutes each month. This
was almost equal to the time they spent watching videos on a Digital Video
Recorder per month.
As we saw in the previous chapter, Reality Tv formed a gateway into the
minds of the audience where it became more acceptable to see real people on
television and from television to new media. Bill Nicholas in the book „Media
Studies a Reader‟ talks about reality television and how it parades a sense of pity
to „those poor people‟.Prope rMostty o freal Chityri sshowst Un iportrayversity people. as victims of disaster or Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. violence because of which there might be a certain amount of empathy for the 20
„characters‟ involved. Tania Modleski talks about some of the characteristics of
fictional soap operas that make it click with the audience. Bill Nichols sees a
parallel with many of these characteristics in reality television as well. The
participatory quality, that deals with a connection to versus separation, as in the
audience feel a connection to the characters/social actors and associate to the „like
me‟ quality as opposed to the „stars‟ who are from a different status. Similarly,
when a person watches a YouTube video of a struggling new artist, it is probably
this empathy or a connection that they feel towards this real person that makes
them want to „share‟ the video on social networking sites hoping that good,
deserving music and artists get noticed. Contrary to this, the negative emotions of
people like hate for the music or the atrocity of the artist may also lead them to
click the „share‟ button in the name of entertainment.Although audiences may feel
a sense of empathy for Britain‟s X factor winner Susan Boyle and share her
inspiration videos on YouTube, Rebecca Black‟s video Friday got much more
publicity because people thought she took pop music to a brand new low.
Modleski says that an emphasis on the knowledge of what others do or think like
troubled characters, potential dates, criminals at large, the acknowledgment that
audiences are subject to distractions while watching, multiple plot lines and
characters who may or may not know each other are some of the other common
characteristics between soaps and reality television. Modelski goes on to argue
that soaps have a special meaning to their target audience and goes beyond being
just a filler or escape. While Nichols says that reality Tv acts as more than just a Property of Christ University. filler in the eyes of an audience, this research hopes to find prove that YouTube is Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 21
almost more to the audience than meets the eye. Nevertheless, Reality television
urges faith- in the ceaseless baptism in the tele-real for those never to be bored
again. It offers hope for a future constantly collapsing into an ever-expanding
present (Nichols, 2004). If reality television offered people faith and hope,
YouTube doubled it.
With YouTube and other online Tv channels on the rise televisual content can
be experience everywhere, not only in the domestic living room. It can be seen on
a personal computer, on laptops, on mobile phones, in the train, while waiting for
the bus etc. It is unlike television of the 20th century and dissolving into the
everyday routine of life. Max Dawson says, „television today more accurately
refers to an ensemble of site-unspecific screens that interact with one another as
viewers and forms traffic between them‟ (Dawson, 2007).
With online video watching increasing by leaps and bounds every year,
YouTube has become part of pop culture for the present youth and its spreading to
the older crowds as well. The best way to get the attention of the crowds now is to
release a YouTube video. Musicians are putting this to best useas seen by the
emerging trend of companies that specialize in making music and related videos
solely for YouTube purposes. Ark Music Factory, that produces ready-made pop
songs for tweens with parental payment shot to fame after releasing the 13-year
old Rebecca Black‟s song called „Friday‟ (Sisario,2011). There have been several
YouTube success stories, but with amateur music such as that climbing popularity
charts with moreP rthanope 38.5rty omillionf Chr iviewsst Un iniv lessers ithanty. a week granting her both Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. fame and fortune with a single video, it gives hope to every bad or good musician 22
across the world. Forbes Magazine estimated that the song had generated ''a few
hundred thousand downloads'' and would earn her millions. But, Billboard made a
rough estimate of her earnings from YouTube and iTunes to be $40,000 per week
says Sisario in the New York Times. All this and more for just the attention this
YouTube video managed to get. The hype that surrounded the Rebecca Black
phenomenon died down just as fast as it shot her to fame. But, she did feature in
the music video of popular singer Katy Perry‟s music video, several Tv shows etc.
A YouTube video sometimes only gives a person their 15 minutes of fame, but in
this competitive world, that seems just enough for people.
Similarly, India had its first almost „Rebecca Black kind of moment‟ with
„Why this kolaveri di?‟ As filmi music features in movies, they already come with
ready-made plot based videos. But this time, Sony music decided to shoot a
separate music video for the song much before the release of the music album
itself, to release the video on YouTube for it to go viral. They did not know that it
would go on to take the country by storm and become a record-breaker on
YouTube. Several other versions of the song also emerged such as the female
version, the rock version, the kid version etc. and got a share of the spotlight.
Times of India wrote an article about the growing popularity of the song by
quoting few famous people. Megastar and hindi actor, Amitabh Bachchan wrote
on his twitter page,"Just heard #Kolaveri after much talk on it... it's so original
and catchy...congrats Dhanush and Aishwarya (Rajni's daughter)..love". Karan
Johar, BollywoodPr ofilmmakerperty of tweeted,Christ "KolaveriUnivers idi...definitelyty. the sleeper song Use it for fair publockbusterpose. Gri vofe thecr eyear!!!dit to Rockthe a onut Dhanush!!!,"hor by citin (2011).g prop Fromerly ,being if yo justur a ar e using it. 23
YouTube video, it moved on to play on National Music, Entertainment and News
Channels as well. The Business Lines newspaper reported that the Indian Institute
of Management and other top business schools have taken up studies on the
implication of, the reasons for, the viral spread of the song (Rhagavan, 2012). In
this article Rhagavan also talk about, the word „Kolaveri‟ meaning „rage‟ was put
to use by the police for campaigns against road rage. He suggests that the studies
conducted by these business schools should also expand the scope of the analysis
to include an authoritative analysis of the occurrence of rage related crimes so that
the use of „Why this kolaveri di?‟ is channelled positively for the betterment of
society.
Just as the buzz around this was dying, Dhanush and Anirudh, featured in
another YouTube video. Dhanush was approached by Boost, the Milk Drink to
make an ode to Sachil Tendulkar. The Economic Times writes about this saying
that the 'Boost Dhanush' tribute song to Tendulkar has been the most viewed
video on You Tube in India the first week it was released itself. Tendulkar has
been the face of Boost for two decades and it so they thought it was only befitting
to pay a tribute to him. The article says that this was the first social media
campaign launched by GSK (GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare), consumer
goods makers and it reached four million views in 10 days of its launch (Bhushan,
2012).
On a more general note, according to a study by Hanjun, Chang-Hoan and
Marilyn on InternetPro pander titsy ouses,f Ch throughrist U naniv experimentersity. conducted with 385 Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. samples who were American and Korean college students found out that people 24
with high information motivation prefer the human-message interaction on
website. But those with social interaction motivation are intensely associated with
human-human interaction. YouTube is a site that caters to both aspects of
interaction. YouTube does cater to those with high information motivation with
regards to the several video music tutorials available or even the number of genres
of music people are exposed too from all across the world. On the other hand, the
human-human interaction is made possible by subscribing to artists and their
YouTube channels, sending YouTube messages, posting comments etc. In the
study, both human-message and human-human interactions had a positive effect
on attitude toward the site, which leads to positive attitude toward the brand and
purchase intention (2005). This could be one of the reasons why musicians keep
coming back to YouTube.
We exist in an age of YouTube, Pandora and Spotify, where fans watch millions
of videos or listen to endless hours of music for free (Sisario,2011). What makes
YouTube unique to the musicians in India is another question that this research
hopes to answer. Another recently ( October 2011) launched website called the
Rockcityclub.com promises to combine the reality show experience along with
the YouTube experience to give its users something more. This website that calls
itself the first “Social Music Network”, allows musicians from all across the
world to upload videos. The music best appreciated, will be taken to the
Producers Circle. The Producers Circle contains some of the best from the music
industry who havePro wonper tseveraly of C Grammyhrist U nawardsiversi andty. the like to guide these Use it for fair pumusiciansrpose. G withive ctipsre dandit t techniques.o the auth Theyor b ywill ci tfinallying p rbeo pallowederly, i fto y operformur are at u sing it. 25
some of the best places at Las Vegas. From where, their career should take off.
But, YouTube has an added advantage over Rockcityclub, with the fact that for
the popularity quotient, one will requires the votes of the lay person as well and
not the musicians alone. But, will Rockcityclub filter out bad music that seems to
gain more popularity on YouTube and produce only quality acts? Only time will
tell if this would work or not.
The participatory culture that web media emphasises makes the web a public
sphere. The internet, especially with social networking sites whose backbone lies
in the interactive and participatory elements. This changes the notion of audience.
The term audience turns into „user‟ because of these elements. It is user generated
content that is a threat to traditional media. It brings within the reach of the then
audience, now „user‟ to be producers in our own right. Participatory culture gives
hope and faith to the „ordinary person‟, because participants in the public sphere
through opinions make stars out of the ordinary person on YouTube.The
traditional gatekeepers of news and culture who acted as guardians of quality have
had to adjust to the realities of participatory culture. The book We Media; How
audience are shaping the future of news and information written by Bowman and
Willis in 2003 predicts how traditional media is trying to mould itself accordingly
so as to include the common person. The Gannet Publishing Group a US based
company responsible for over many US dailies in 2006 began „crowdsourcing‟. It
was done „to put readers to work as watchdogs, whistle blowers and researchers in
large, investigativePro features‟perty o f(Howe, Chris t2006) Uni versity. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 26
Talking about participatory culture, the dependency theory also stresses on an
active audience. Explaining dependency theory further Stephen Little John in his
book Theories of Human Communication, “First you will become more
dependent on media that meet a number of your needs than on media that provide
just a few.”(Littlejohn, 325).
A study conducted by researchers on Internet Uses and Gratifications looks at
the interactivity construct in terms of motivations for using the Internet and its
consequences, as in attitude toward the site, attitude toward the brand, and
purchase intention. A sample of 385 college students in the United States and
Korea participated in the experiment. The findings suggest that consumers who
have high information motivations are more likely to engage in human-message
interaction on a Web site, whereas social interaction motivations are more
strongly related to human-human interaction. Both human-message and human-
human interactions had a positive effect on attitude toward the site, which leads to
positive attitude toward the brand and purchase intention(Ko, Cho, & Roberts,
2005)
A study was conducted on „Uses and Gratifications of Social Media: A
Comparison of Facebook and Instant Messaging‟ by researchers AnabelQuan-
Haase and Alyson L. Young. The study tries to understand why users, who have
several digital technology related options, adopt different forms of
communication instead of substituting the medium all together. Users have
accepteddigital Ptechnologiesroperty o finto Ch theirrist Ucommunicationniversity. repertoire but this study Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. also questions the type of need these different media fulfil. The authors conduct a 27
comparative study that observes the gratifications the users get from Facebook
with those from instant messaging. This comparison allowed them to draw
conclusions about how various social media achieved user needs. Data was
collected through 77 surveys and 21 interviews of undergraduate students.
Through factor analysis gratifications from Facebook showed six key dimensions:
affection, pastime, fashion, sociability,share problemsand social information.
Comparative analysis revealed that Facebook was about having fun, knowing all
social activities in their social network, but instant messaging was used for
relationship maintenance and development mostly. The authors talk about
differences in the two technologies and use the uses and gratifications theory as
their framework to understand why young people allow different media into their
communication habits.
Another study applied a uses and gratifications approach to investigate social
games - the game applications that are integrated in the social networking
platforms with both social and gaming features. Users expected social
gratifications and game gratifications from playing social games were examined.
Multiple regression analyses found that the social gratifications for being popular
figure among friends are positive predictor of game play intensity. The expected
game gratifications were not significant predictors of social game use. Results
suggest that there is a distinctly social aspect to social games that reflects its
social networking characteristics. Social games should be described as social
media rather thanPr justope onerty categoryof Chri soft onlineUnive computerrsity. games. (Hou, 2012) Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 28
Media Dependency theory on Facebook talks about the increasing dependency
on the social networking site where notifications, invites and messages give
people an unpredictable high. This anticipation can be addictive thus it leads to
Media System Dependency theory.
It is said that although scholars have initiated research to investigate small
portions of Media system dependency, more research is needed. Media System
Dependency does more potential in comparison to the Uses and gratifications
Theory because the relevance of Media System
Dependency in modern times has increased with the merging of communication
industries and usage of internet usage but there are still many unanswered
questions about the theory. DeFleure and Ball-Rokeach tried to refine their
theory several times but they could not go prove too much further than their initial
assertion that states media can and does have powerful effect. Its biggest
weakness‟ are said to be that it is hard to verify empirically, the power of
dependency and the meaning remain unclear and it does not explain long term
effects of media.
On the other hand, the dependency theory is elegant and descriptive, it allows
for system orientation, it integrates microscopic and macroscopic theory and also
helps to explain role of media during social change and crisis.
Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 29
Chapter III
History of Music in India
Music has always been an important part of Indian culture. Indian music dates
back to 1000 BC, to the Samaveda. These melodies from ancient Hindu traditions
are said to be the roots of Indian Classical Music which are now classified into the
Hindustani and Carnatic styles. The Samaveda, which is primarily a Hindu text
acted as the lyrics to these tunes, were sung at the time of making offerings and
sacrifices. By connecting music to religious practices, music was given a special
place in the heart of every Indian. Folk music of India forms a major section of
our folklore and sometimes folklore can also be of religious nature. Therefore,
folk music is also said to have influenced the Indian classical styles.
Folk and Tribal music was never formally taught to people. The rural life did
not allow those who were interested the advantage of devoting their life to
learning music. The musicians in villages had to attend to their daily duties of
agriculture or hunting for survival. They couldn‟t afford to spend the time, the
money or the risk. But, music was an integral part of every function or event like
the birth of a child, marriages, death etc. that the musical traditions never failed to
be passed on from one generation to another. India being a country of so many
different states and so many different cultures, Indian folklore was in plenty.
Overtime, as a result of change and continuity Hindustani Music has come to be
associated with North India and Carnatic Music to be associated with the South. Property of Christ University. Use it for fair puTheserpos erefined. Give styles cred ofit musicto the were aut happreciatedor by cit ibyng the pr eliteope rstrataly, if of y osociety.ur are using it. 30
Ali Akbar Khan, was a Hindustani classical musician. His performance in the
United States in 1955 first put Indian music on the global map. Internationally,
this sparked off rock and roll fusions with Indian music that were getting a lot of
attention in both America and Europe. John Coltrane, a jazz pioneer in music
recorded a song called „India‟ in 1961. Soon after, George Harrison a member of
one of the most popular bands in the history of music, The Beatles, recorded the
sitar for the song „Norwegian Wood‟ in 1965.
Although there was no particular name given to the use of the Indian influence
on western styles, back in the South Asian region the fusion of the styles was
named Indipop. Indian pop music or Indipop is the combination of classical music
and Indian folk with contemporary beats from various parts of the world. Indipop
began with a song called ko-ko-korina by popular singer Ahmed Rushdi in 1966.
Despite this, western music did not get much recognition in India on its own.
Instruments like the piano, drums and guitar got its recognition mainly to create
musicians who could help other contemporary Indian musicians.
In the meantime, the Indian classical styles of music also made their way into
Indian films. But since films targeted the masses and were based on characters
that resembled the lives of not only the elite, the music also had to be altered to
fit. Indian classical forms were mixed, commercialized and evolved into a genre
of music that can be enjoyed by all called „Filmi‟. Filmi music became so popular
that it still makes upto 72% of music record sales in India. Property of Christ University. Use it for fair pu rpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 31
3.2 Music in Indian Media
Obviously the media had a huge role to play in the growth of music in India.
Radio broadcasting began in 1927 in India. But it was only in 1937 that it was
given the name All India Radio. Jingles were made to sell products. Live
performances of Indian classical music were aired. But it was only once „Filmi‟
began getting popular that the radio was seen as a device to provide audiences
with auditory pleasures. AmeenSayani‟s show called the „BinacaGeetmala‟ was a
radio countdown show of Radio Ceylon played Hindi music from 1952 to 1988.
Initially the show played seven songs in random order, but later became a show
with the countdown to the most popular song. The lists were made according to
record sales and the verdict of the owners of record stores. The show was then
aired on All India Radio (VividhBharathi) from 1954 to 1994 for Indian
audiences. When the private players took over with the FM broadcasting, they
weren‟t allowed to broadcast news. Therefore more airtime on these FM channels
was filled using music.
By the late 1980‟s Doordarshan, which was the audio-visual counter part of
All India Radio was functioning to its fullest. Doordarshan was dedicated for
National programming and educational purposes. The programs on Doordarshan
reached a saturation point and hence DD Metro (DD 2) was an attempt by the
government to make it part national and part regional programs. Shows like
SuperhitMuquabala were purely dedicated to Hindi film songs and was
broadcasted on PDDro pMetro.erty oThisf C hhadris thet U topniv 10er ssongsity. of the week hosted by a Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. peppy host, Baba Sehgal. This show was also shot in Tamil and was called 32
SuperhitPotti hosted by Tamil television and film stars. This was also a
countdown show where songs were selected based on postcard polls by viewers.
This music show became so popular that it even got its own award show called
SUMU Awards. This pioneering format of music show on television led to
several other similar music based shows. Although Indian classical music did get
its share of exposure on television, the popularity of film songs over shadowed the
rest. The extravagant song and dance routines that these film songs had were both
audio and video which facilitated the escalation of the popularity factor
In 1991, a set of new policies and reforms by the government allowed foreign
and private broadcasters in India to limited operations here. In 1992, the economic
reforms were altered for the broadcasting industry which led to cable television in
India. Many players like MTv, Star Network etc entered the Indian market. These
foreign players brought international music and other television programs to
India. India, for the first time saw television channels solely dedicated to the
promotion of music and musicians with Channel V and Mtv. These channels
presented several formats of music programs. International music on these
channels introduced the masses to several other western commercial genres of
music like pop, hip-hop, rock etc. But it didn‟t stop just there; international music
changed how people looked at these artists as well.
In a country where filmi music dominated, singers were barely given a face or
an identity. Singers that sing filmi music that are the biggest chartbusters in the Property of Christ University. country are called Playback singers. The playback singer is someone who pre- Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 33
records their voice for a song that the actors lip-sync on screen. The music of the
film often played an important role for the success of the film itself, but the
people behind it like the music director, the singers, and the lyricists were not
given their due recognition. The music channels on the other hand promoted
music and musicians linking them to a face or identity. India saw artists or bands
being projected as „stars‟ for change. This was truly a western notion, because
internationally the music industry was taken as seriously as film. But in about
four- five years from then, channels like Mtv India and Channel V India stopped
running international music and focused on promoting only Indian music in 1996.
This led to the emergence of the similar western trend where singers featured in
videos of their own songs. These songs came under the Indipop genre of music.
The Colonial Cousins released their song with a video on Mtv India and the like,
and the song titled „Krishna‟ was a superhit in 1996. Another superhit was
„VandeMatram‟ by A.R Rehman in 1997. These were typically Indian tunes that
were remade to suit the audience of India at that point in time. Owing to this new
trend, international record labels like Sony launched in India in 1999 to
commercialize the music scene more. These labels would pick artists and promote
them with new sounds, music videos, interviews and shows. Singers like KK
,Shaan, Pop Shalini etc. were products of this new fashion of the music industry
by 2000. Although these pop songs were popular, the fame that came from them
was short-lived in India. Therefore, the natural transition for these musicians was
to become playback singers. Indipop was a phase that could never compare to Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 34
Filmi and so, although it helped propel the careers at the initial level giving these
artists an identity, Filmi was the way to escalation of music careers in India.
The first traces of internet radio were seen in 1994 with the broadcast of a live
performance by a band from Seattle. Read Audio a software was released by
Progressive Networks. The software was available for free download. Time
Magazine said that RealAudio provided AM radio quality which was in „real-
time‟. Other companies like Microsoft and Nullsoft also released similar
streaming audio players which were available to audiences as free download. This
in turn resulted in several „wed-based‟ radio stations sprouting up. Soon, this
trend of „web-based‟ radio began to catch up with the rest of the world too.
While VSNL launched the Internet in 6 cities in India in 1995, nobody would
have guessed the number of advantages music would have through this facility in
the years to come. Several cyber café‟s started sprouting up across these cities by
1998. By 2000, not only did Yahoo and MSN launch Indian websites but even
online journalism took off with Tehelka.com exposing a cricket betting scandal.
The same year, most internet radio stations increased bandwidth and so the audio
quality was, to make sound almost like the quality of music on a CD. Bandwidth
was made more affordable in 2000. But internet radio wasn‟t exactly popular in
India until Yahoo tied up with Launchcast radio in the early 2000‟s..Launchcast
was introduced as a plug-in to the Yahoo Messanger. It was available to most
parts of the world. This allowed the user the advantage to listen to music while Property of Christ University. chatting. This was the first of its kind where people had a certain percentage of Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 35
freedom to pick what they were listening to on launchcast. It was this feature of
personalizing music that the world was going to cash in on later. There were
different genres like punk, funk, pop, hip-hop, love songs, gospel songs, top ten
songs of the week etc. for the listener to pick from. Once the category was picked,
the music was played from a continuous set of tracks. A listener could not choose
the song, but if they did not enjoy a particular song they were given the freedom
to skip the song. Three skips were allowed in one hour, later it was increased to
five. The content on the station was altered from place to place depending on a
country‟s music licensing restrictions. This popularized western music with the
users of Yahoo, as audiences got to listen to hit tracks at least a month before the
song was released in India. Between 2002 and 2010, Whole Wheat Radio was the
first to become a complete listener controlled internet radio station.
The expected evolution from web-radio was going to be videos on the web.
Before YouTube and vimeo and the like, Shareyourworld.com, was the first of its
kind that allowed users to upload full clip or video clips in various formats. This
video hosting service was the brain child of Chase Norlin in 1997. But in 2001,
this service ended due to bandwidth and budget problems.
In 2003, camera phones reached the masses and by 2005, nokia became the
world‟s most purchased digital camera brand across the world. The mass use of
camera phones resulted in the increase of user-generated video. Youtube, was also
launched in 2005 and therefore rose to popularity with it being a platform for Property of Christ University. people to upload, view and share these videos. The video is stored on the Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 36
youtubeserver and provides the user with a code/ link that can be used to share
with other people to watch the video.
3.2.1 Reality Music Television
Audiences on the other hand were getting used to a host of different music
program formats on television with several other channels dedicated to music
were springing up. There were requests shows, antakshari, back to back music,
countdown‟s etc. Reality shows are a different type of television programming
that existed from the 1940‟s but exploded onto television globally in the
2000‟s.Reality television put ordinary people in the spotlight instead of actors and
captures raw, unscripted emotions of people. Shows like Big Brother and
Survivor brought reality television to the forefront globally.
Music based reality shows began in Australia with the show called Popstars in
1999. This was a result of grand success of several pop bands by the end of the
90‟s like Nsync, Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls etc. This show announced auditions
on television in Australia and where several talented and not- so talented people
participated to try their luck at fame. Some of the best and worst performances
were shown to television audiences. Emotions such as happiness, sadness of
broken dreams, anger, perseverance etc were captured. Five people were chosen
to form a band, make music with a reputed record label, get make overs to be star
material, publicity and shows. Audiences related to this program format because it dealt with makingPr odreamsperty comeof C htrue.rist Some Univ peopleersity related. to the shattered dreams Use it for fair puofr psomeose. ofG theive contestantscredit to tandhe someauth opeopler by crelatediting topr theop esuccessrly, if ofyo theur winners.are usin g it. 37
Either way, audiences grew really attached to the winners of Popstars because
these were not just stars that burst onto screen, but ordinary people who turned
stars under the watchful eyes of the television audience. Audiences felt like they
were allowed to be a part of their journey up from the very start. It was also
inspiring to all because it gave a sense of hope to the hopeless musician(vocalist)
and hope to believe in their dreams because it may come true. Although Popstars
spread across the world, the show died due to poor rating by 2004 except in
Germany. „Popstars‟ continued until 2010 in Germany.
Simon Fuller was inspired by this very idea of a show and came up with the
show called Pop Idol in UK in 2001. The format was the same but its aim was not
to form a band but to pick a solo talented vocalist from the nationwide talent hunt.
This show involved the audience much more than Popstars did. While emotions
of the contestant were given importance, they were also judged and harshly
critiqued by three judges on live performances for a live audience. Through Sms,
telephone lines and Internet viewers picked the winner of the show. The Idol
Franchise moved to the US in 2002 and was called American Idol.
Popstars came to India on Channel V at the same time in 2002 and the response to
this type of television programming was overwhelming. The all-girl vocal band
Viva (2002) and the mixed vocal band Aasma(2003) was a result of this hit show
in India. Channel V Popstars ended after Aasma. But this lead to other music
based reality shows that were offshoots of the Idol concept. Indian Idol came to Property of Christ University. India in 2004 on Sony Tv. The winner on Indian Idol was awarded a recording Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 38
deal with Sony BMG, a contract worth 5 lakhs, a car, a bike and a chance to be a
Playback singer in a movie by Yashraj films. Sony Tv took the „concept of
dreams and fame of an ordinary person‟ to the masses in India. Soon other
regional adaptations were made on the similar concept.
3.3 Music on New Media
The radio or television allowed audience the chance to listen or to see. But, if
they needed to be heard or seen through these mediums, opportunities were scare
unless one was already born into a star family, had star qualities or luck was on
their side. Where fame usually found people, shows like the „Idol‟ were a
platform for people to find fame.
As people were getting used to the idea of user-generated video content online
and the idea of ordinary people becoming famous on television, the common
man‟s comfort level with the media increased. YouTube is still a growing
phenomenon that makes video sharing a very important aspect of our Internet
culture. So when videos by ordinary people like „Charlie bit my finger‟ were
getting global popularity, music would definitely sell on a platform like YouTube.
Besides, until you were on American or UK based reality show, global fame from
a reality show was still not possible. Youtube changed that and gave every person
with an email address equal opportunity.
International success stories of how artists used YouTube to build careers Property of Christ University. began to crop up. Justin Bieber, the teen sensation used the website to upload a Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 39
performance of his that his uncle happened to miss. This video eventually got
several likes and comments and spread far and wide and made him the „next big
thing‟ soon enough. Sometimes, a global audience can be way harsher than the
three stern judges on national television. Take the case of Rebecca Black, she is
an example of what the global audience judged and rejected. Public opinion plays
crucial role here.The worse you are on YouTube, even if its negative publicity,
the more popular you are.
Indian artists are also beginning to see the potential success that this website
has to offer either in a small or large scale and making use of it. Wilbur
Sargunaraj, a musician from Madurai was the first person from India to be a
YouTube sensation with his music and instructional videos. His music involved
taking Indian culture to the rest of the world. His music went international when a
German band covered his hit song „Love Marriage‟ and posted it on YouTube.
Yes, the penetration rate of the Internet in India is only 6% and nothing in
comparison to the US. But, the success of the song „Why this Kolaveri Di‟ is an
example of how effect of YouTube in India.
„Why this kolaveri Di‟ is the debut film song of musician
AnirudhRavichander. It features the Dhanush, a popular Tamil film actor,
AishwaryaDhanush, daughter of Rajnikanth, wife of Dhanush and director of the
film, AnirudhRavichander, the 21 year old music director and Shruthi Hassan, the
daughter of Kamal Hassan and female lead of the movie. The song sung by Property of Christ University. Dhanush is a simple tune with auto-tuned vocals on a south indian beat, with Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 40
heavily south indian accented English lyrics. True, is it not the story of ordinary
people making it big on YouTube, but it does help trace the effect of YouTube in
India like never before. If the song had been released been released the normal
way with a film audio release, the song would have become a hit only in the
south. But it was the decision of Sony, the label that was releasing the music of
the movie „3‟ that decided to shoot a casual video and release the song on
YouTube by end 2011 for publicity purposes. In no time, the song became an
instant hit via social networking sites like Facebook and twitter nationally. The all
English funny lyrics on heart-break made it relatable to people all over the
country. This video made particularly for YouTube also went on to play on MTV
and became one of the few south indian songs to air on MTV India. The song got
every Bollywood star singing along. Dhanush and team were invited to every
award show to perform and the song also won several awards. Different versions
of the song by different ordinary people were released soon after. Everybody tried
to cash in of the Kolaveri fame. The song went International with a Scottish band
covering the same song. The audiences chose „Why this Kolaveri Di‟ to be a clear
winner.
The same team of Dhanush and Anirudh released another song called the
„Sachin Anthem‟ for the legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar in Febuary 2012.
The song follows the same format of autotuned vocals, simple melody, Dhanush
and Anirudh dancing, south indian elements with English lyrics. But, audiences don‟t seem to liftPr thisop esongrty oupf Contohr ias tpedestal Unive rlikesit ytheir. previous venture. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 41
The visual effect also has a great part to play during promotion of music by
musicians. That is why presentation is given importance with „Frame the Sample‟.
Musicians are using YouTube not only to sell their music, but to sell themselves
first. Chennai based company, „Frame the Sample‟ is a team of people that make
professional YouTube jam videos for musicians in the city for a particular fee.
Business and careers are stemming out of this website. Wilbur Sargunaraj has
toured the world because of his music on YouTube. He has performed in places
like Canada, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, UK etc.
YouTube also allows people and especially musicians in India the advantage
of music from across the world. YouTube is also used to learn music with free
tutorial videos. Instead of downloading a song, YouTube has also turned into a
website where people just listen to the song on the website over and over again. It
also allows downloads.
YouTube allows people to measure the success of the music with comments,
hits, likes and how far and wide across the map the song has reached.The use of
YouTube is vast and hence the scope of this research will be limited to music and
Indian musicians alone. An attempt to prove the dependency theory through the
YouTube phenomenon will be the focus of the study.
Property of Christ University. Use it for fair pu rpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 42
Chapter IV
Data Analysis
Data was collected through the Questionnaire Method. It is said to be the best
recommended method when trying to find out the goals and needs of audiences.
Surveys of people‟s media uses and habits can be done in two general ways. The
first method is giving respondents options. But it is criticized that they are only
responding to the researcher‟s cues. The other survey method is to ask them open
ended questions allowing the respondents to construct their own replies. But this
is criticised on the front that it makes it hard for the researcher to quantify all the
varied responses. As this research is trying to trace reasons, this method is best
suited where a questionnaire of 25 questions is asked. These questions are both
open ended and closed ended.
According to theorists of the Uses and gratifications theory Elihu Katz,
Michael Grevitch and Hadassah Hass surveys questions and options are
formatted, “from the literature… supplemented by additional items, based on our
own insights into the specific functions of the media” (1973). The researcher has
tried to implement these recommended details into the formation of the
questionnaire. Considering this study is based on New Media, their most
naturalistic setting would be when the samples were online. The researcher used
the website „Survey Monkey‟ to send out questionnaires to hundred samples. The
sample size is hundred. The Purposive Sampling method was chosen to pick Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 43
samples where all the samples are only Indian musicians, both vocalists and
instrumentalists from any genre of music.
1) Age:
18-20 10
21-25 60
26-30 24
31-35 6
70 60 60
50
40
30 24 20 10 10 6
0 18-20 21-25 26-30 31-35
Table 1.1 Shows the different age groups the samples are from
All samples seemed to fall under the Youth category i.e between the age
groups of 18-35.P rIto wasper tnoty o intendedf Chris tthat U ntheyive rmustsity .only fall under the Youth
Use it for fair pucategory.rpose. G ive credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 44
2) Gender:
Male 30
Female 70
Figure1.1 Shows the number of male and female musicians in the sample size
It doesn‟t come as a surprise, that 70% of the samples are male. This is
because very fewPr bandsoper thavey of femaleChris tlead Un vocalists.iversity .But this fact is genre biased. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it.
45
3) How many hours do you spend online everyday?
1-2 hours 21
2-3 hours 30
3-4 hours 49
(If more than 3-4 hours please specify)
Property of Christ University. Table 1.2 Shows the percentage of hours musicians spend online Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 46
Some samples claimed to spend even 15 hours online. There were also a few
who said they are logged on continuously through the day. From what we see
however, it is evident that almost half of these musicians spend at least 3-4 hours
online every day.
4) What kind of musician are you?( Multiple Answers)
Vocalist 50
Instrumentalist 70.80 %
Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. Figure 1.2 Shows the percentage of those who are vocalist and instrumentalists 47
The reason this was a multiple answer question was because, some
instrumentalists are also the vocalists of their bands. Any band, unless „acapella‟
has more instrumentalists than vocalists. Therefore, the existing vocalists also
double up as instrumentalists and therefore the percentage of Instrumentals are
much higher.
5) What genre of music do you play/sing?( Multiple Answers)
a) Carnatic b) Hindustani c) Light d) Western Classical e) Rock f) Pop g) Jazz h) Hip-Hop (If other, please specify)
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48
Table 1.3 Shows the most popular genre among the sample musicians chosen.
The reason samples were allowed to give multiple answers was because just
like film, music genres can overlap constantly to combine or form new genres.
We see that the western genres like rock, pop, jazz are the most pursued genres
here. In the India music, light music, which is Filmi music as always, is the
highest. While Carnatic taken up more than Hindustani, we must consider the
option that most sample were from South India, where Carnatic Music is more
prevalent. This might have been a different case if more samples were from the
north. Hip-Hop is a comparatively new genre and so 16.30% does make a
statement. Hip-Hop basically originated from the African-American community
in the 1970‟s. But it has finally seeped reached India where local musicians have
started pursuing it. Hip- hop bands with beat boxers and rappers are creeping up
all over. This could be because of the YouTube exposure that musicians possibly
get.
6) Under which category would you classify yourself?
Professional Musician 53
Amateur Musician 47
Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 49
Figure1.3 Shows the number of professional and amateur musicians in the
sample.
This shows us that the sample is nearly a half and half mixture of both
Professional and Amateur Musicians. A professional musician is defined by,
when a musician takes up music as his/her profession and depends of music for an
income. An amateur musician, may not be any less skilled than a professional
musician, but chose to pursue their other interests. This will also allow us to note
if the professional musicians use YouTube any differently than the Amateurs. We
will also be able to investigate if there is a difference of dependency level
between the two.
7) If you wanted to listen to a recommended new single, you would
Tune into your favourite music 2 channelProper ty of Christ University. Use it for fair puTunerpos intoe. G yourive cfavouriteredit to radio the stationautho r by citing proper2l y, if your are using it. 50
YouTube it 96
Table 1.4 Shows the most preferred medium of the sample
Here we see that, musicians no longer depend on mediums such as the
television or the radio for their music. 96% of musicians in India prefer YouTube
to be updated with their music. This shows the first and most effective trace of the
shift of dependency. Some of the tv channel and radio stations that samples
specified were VH1, Mtv or AccuRadio . But AccuRadio is also an online radio
channel. It allows one to customize the music and is a free internet radio app for
iPhone users. This just goes to show, that even the 2% who tune into their
favourite radio, depend on an online medium. Altogether that makes 98%
dependent on New Media for their music and 96% on YouTube in particular.
8) If you were toP rmakeoper at yvideo of C ofh roneist ofU nyourive rtrackssity. using pictures, you would Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 51
Use pictures of random people and 18 things to fill the video Use pictures of the band‟s 82 performance, the band logo, its members etc.
Figure 1.4 Shows that getting visibility is important
This shows us, one of the goals of the musicians with respect to YouTube.
While 18% may still not be comfortable with the idea of putting an identity to
their music the other 82% are. The majority of musician use YouTube as a way
of branding themselves and the band. The musicians put up pictures of the band‟s
performance, its logo and it members hoping that the band‟s music along with
individual identities of its members are imprinted in the minds of the
viewers/listeners.In the History of Music chapter of this study, filmi music and the Property of Christ University. playback singers are explained. In India where filmi music is dominant, the stars Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 52
lip-sync the songs sung by playback singers and so the singers are left without a
visual identity. Musicians now have a chance to change that by adopting and
understanding that visual recognition gives the musician more mileage.
9)Have you considered the option of a professionally shot video for the YouTube
purposes to promote you Music?
Yes 84
No 16
Figure 1.5 Shows the percentage of those who have considered professionally
shot videos
This question was asked to measure the seriousness the musicians have
attached to the visual element and identity. 84 % of the musicians have also Property of Christ University. Use it for fair puseriouslyrpose. Gconsideredive cred itheirt to formatthe au ofth representation.or by citing pAr professionallyoperly, if yo shotur a videore us ing it. 53
speaks volumes about the band and its music as well. Audiences perceive
musicians with a higher degree of regard with the representation. The 16% still
remain uncomfortable with putting an identity to their music. This could be for
the same reasons Mary Anne chose to give herself a pseudonym and write books
as George Elliot, where western musicians from India fear that their music may
not be taken seriously because of their Indian identity on a global platform. They
may believe that they want their music to speak for themselves and not be biased
by the nationality or person behind it.
10) Do you use the YouTube downloader to download music?
Yes 54
No 46
Figure 1.6Pr oShowsperty the of use Ch ofri YouTubest Univ edownloaderrsity. among musicians Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 54
Here we see another goal that is achieved though YouTube. The majority
percentages of musicians even download their music for their personal computers,
laptops or phones from YouTube using the YouTube Downloader. This software
allows user to download video and even convert these video files into mp3, mp4
etc formats. The dependency from other online downloading portals like torrent or
beemp3 is being replaced by the ability of YouTube to cater to another need of
the musician folk.
11)Do you YouTube music before you download/buy the songs?
Yes 90
No 10
Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purFigurepose. 1.7Gi vShowse cre dtheit percentageto the aut ofho thoser by whociti nYouTubeg prop esongsrly, ibeforef you rdownload are usin g it. 55
This shows us another need of the musicians are satisfied here. 90% of
musician use YouTube for reference purposes of other music. Only if the music is
good and worth downloading after they have checked it on YouTube, will they
make the effort to download. Downloading also means that it occupies more
memory space and so 90% find it more convenient to refer the music on YouTube
which buffers very fast.
12)Have you referred to music tutorials on YouTube?
Yes 86
No 14
Figure 1.8 Shows the percentage of those musician who use YouTube tutorials
86% of musiciansProp ehaverty oalsof C turnedhrist Uto nYouTubeiversity to. better their skills as Use it for fair pumusicians.rpose. G Theyive c rnoed longerit to treferhe a tout printedhor by notations, citing p butrop geter ldirecty, if y YouTubeour are using it. 56
tutorials on what to play and how to play. Tutorial videos can range from basics
of any instrument to learning how to play a particular song or how to master a
complex chord or rhythm. Music lessons which can be expensive otherwise are
obtained cost free on YouTube. People can also learn to play the not- so popular
instruments. Sometimes there are no teachers in the city who can teach the
instrument. But YouTube allows musicians to learn from experts around the
world.
13)If you're a vocalist, have you used the karaoke tracks available on YouTube
for practice?
Yes 57
No 43
Property of Christ University.
Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 57
Figure 1.9 Shows the percentage of vocalists who use YouTube for practice
Of the 50% who said they were vocalists, 57 % of the vocalists even use
YouTube karaoke tracks for practice. These tracks are again put up by users for
other users but before, YouTube karaoke tracks were hard to locate on the web.
Practice is essential to any musician, and it is what makes a musician. Therefore,
the dependency of the vocalists to tend to YouTube to get their practice speaks a
lot.
14) Have international YouTube artists inspired your music?
Yes 83
No 17
Figure 1.10 Shows the percentage of musician who found inspiration in YouTube
Property of Christ artistsUniv ersity. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 58
In a country that is dominated by Filmi music that uses the same hit music
formula over and over again, YouTube seems to be a refreshing breath of fresh
air. As much as Bollywood has become a genre of dance and music overseas,
other music from the rest of the world is seen to be making a great impact of
music made by these Indian musicians. 83% of musicians acknowledge the fact
that they have been inspired by other international YouTube artists. A musician‟s
work is creation and if that inspiration is rooted in these YouTube videos, India is
soon going to hear a lot of new music in the years to come. This also means that,
this 83% of the musicians have accepted the concept of „ the ordinary person‟
without the complete star image attached to them that Richard Dyer talks about.
YouTube acts as a platform accept and feel accepted on a global level. The
YouTube artists that have influence many of the samples are Jack Thammarat,
Alex Hutchings, Karmen, Wilbur Sargunaraj, Andy Rehfeldt, Andy Mckee,
Richard Bona, Gavin Harrison, Honeywagon , Boyce Avenue, Dirty Loops,
Alisha Batth, Amanda Palmer, Cicely, EsmeeDenters, Terra Naomi, Kina Grannis
and Ingrid Michaelson to name a few.
15) Have you performed YouTube cover versions by YouTube artists of popular
songs? (eg. Boyce avenue version of Coldplay's 'Fix you')
Yes 39
No 61
Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 59
Figure 1.11 Shows the percentage of those who cover YouTube artists
Although the musicians find inspiration in the YouTube artists, 61% have not
performed YouTube artist versions of the song at their shows.
16) Have you put up music related videos on YouTube?
Yes 79
No 21
Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 60
Figure 1.12 Shows the percentage of those who have put up music related videos
79% of the musicians have already used YouTube to put up music related
videos. They have understood the potential that exists on this site and put it to the
test.
17) If yes, what was the content of your music related video? (Multiple Answers)
a) A solo music performance shot with webcam in your room b) A live on-stage performance c) A jam session with the band
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Table 1.5 Shows the percentage of kind of content the sample has uploaded
This question was allowed multiple answers because they might have put up
different kinds of music related videos. YouTube sensation Justin Beiber put up a
video of his live performance on YouTube for his uncle who has missed the show
to watch. Celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres and usher noticed his talent and
signed him on for a record deal. Similarly, uploading live performance of shows
seems to be the favourite of the sample set of musicians as well. Some musicians
also specified that their content was for the promotion of their albums and so
contained interviews of the band members also.
18)Have you uploaded videos to other video hosting websites? If yes, please
specify
Yes 23
PrNoop erty of Christ University. 77 Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it.
62
Figure 1.13 Shows the percentage of those who have uploaded videos on other
sites
77% have only uploaded videos on YouTube whereas the other 23% have
uploaded videos directly to the social networking site, facebook. A few have also
uploaded video on vimeo.
19) Why do youP preferroper YouTubety of Ch overrist Uotherniv videoersit yhosting. websites? Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 63
It‟s the only one I know 2 It‟s the most common of them all 70 Its user – friendly nature 28 If other, please specify
Table 1.6 Shows the reason why YouTube is most popular
98% of the samples know that other video-hosting websites do exist but still
chose YouTube over them. Most of the users state that the use it because of it‟s
the most common video hosting website that is used on social networks but some
few other also owe it to its user friendly nature. Some other samples also specified
that YouTube is used because of its massive viewership availability and its
worldwide reach. Musicians can also view parts of the world that their music has
reached.
Property of Christ University. Use it for fair pu rpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 64
20) Have you received comments/ messages on YouTube from people inside or
outside India?
Yes 80
No 20
Figure 1.14 shows the percentage of musician who receive comments or messages
80% of the sample size does receive comments or messages from other
viewers. This is important because these comments may be highly encouraging to
the musicians causing media dependency. Even if the comments are feedback, it
only helps the musician with regards to improvement. Criticism taken positively
can also help in their growth as a musician. Comments, even if they are bad seem
to encourage musicians like we ve seen in the case of Rebecca Black or
SanthoshPandit.P SanthoshPanditroperty of Ch receivesrist Un alliv esortsrsit yof. comments but has only Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. encouraged him further to note his growth in popularity. 65
21) How many comments on an average? (Please specify)
Some samples said that they receive about 10- 15 comments per link. Whereas
some others say that its much lesser i.e. Between 5-6. One of the respondents said
“Not too many. Although, I have one video which has 215 comments.” Although
they don‟t receive too many comments, they still use YouTube to post their
videos. And so, even the few comments that they do get, musicians take them into
account. This gives them encouragement and allows them to fuel their desire to
continue music from time to time.
22) Do you have a YouTube app on your phone that you use from time to time?
Yes 48
No 52
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Figure 1.15 Shows the percentage that have a YouTube app on their mobile
phones
Although the difference is only 2%, this does say a lot. A little more than half
of these musicians have the YouTube app on their phones. This allows them to
move from mp3 on their phone to audio-visual when they‟re out and on the move.
They can listen, refer and watch music not only on their laptops or PC‟s but also
on their phone. Convergence technology has remoulded the actually necessity for
a cell phone but the fact that they have it on their phone, means that they‟ve felt a
need for YouTube all the time. This also shows a great level of dependency.
23)How did you spread your music before you started using YouTube?
In the Review of Literature chapter, we saw how music label and recording
artists help produce and promote music. This question helped to find out what
independent artists who weren‟t attached to labels did to spread their music. That
study shows that a lot of musicians gave out cd‟s of either singles or an album at
the end of a show. Some others gave out cd‟s at other band‟s showing knowing
that these gatherings would be a music loving crowd. Some constantly undertook
charity shows, weddings, church programs and college culturals to get noticed.
Some people had musician based get-together‟s just for people to hear their
music. Some others mailed their music around but then later started using online
portals like MySpace, ReverbNation, SoundCloud and Facebook. But most of the
samples said that live shows and word of mouth was their greatest tool to spread Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 67
their music. In comparison to what it is, YouTube should be a boon to the
musician community.
24)Has YouTube helped your growth as a musician? If yes, How?
90% of the sample agreed to YouTube helping their growth as a musician.
Most of them said that it helped with promotion and marketing themselves as
artists. SayanthiChatterjee, a vocalist said “Yes. It has made marketing and
business side of being a musician flourish. Now, I don't have to depend on a
record label to distribute my music. I can confidently go ahead, make music and
get exposure through YouTube.” VikramVivekanand, a guitarist said, “Yes. It
gives more visibility for me as a musician.” A lot of respondents also spoke about
the tutorials aspects on YouTube. M. Prashanth, a Light music keyboardist said,
“Yes! I learn a lot. Suppose i want to listen to swedish folk music. I can just go on
youtube and find out the nature of music, instruments, people etc. Amazing
Learning.” Whereas, TushnaMistry a Classical western pianist spoke about how
she was exposed to different styles. “Yes. More exposure.the "Related links"
section is especially helpful. It's led me to discover a lot more bands” said
AshishShetty, a guitarist fo a metal band. Shalini, a vocalist and guitarist, “
YouTube covers that give ideas of how to spin a song around but the biggest of
them all is the inspiration one gets from listening to any musician one mouse click
away.” Hip-Hopper AdhiWattabottles also added that YouTube helped him
Connect with fans. Rapper, Sofia Ashraf, 25, has been one of the lucky few who
witnessed the wondersPrope rofty YouTube of Chri ssaying,t Uni v“eYes.rsit yI .had music directors like A.R. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. Rahman approach me after watching my videos. 68
This just goes to talk of the magnitude that YouTube is depended on.
Musicians owe their growth as musicians to this website, willing to overlook their
own potential as artists.
25)As a musician, which are the websites you spend most time on?
Although all musicians mentioned YouTube as either the first or second
websites, there were many more. Facebook, mysongbook.com, tabulatures.tk,
billboard.com, soundcloud, reverbnation, Myspace, drummerworld.com, guitar
center, jamtrackcentral, Grooveshark, pitchfork, ultimate-guitar.com, Pandora,
spotify,8tracks, 9gag,Jango, Guitartab, toto99, Last.fm, metal-rules.com etc. are
the other websites that they spend a lot of their time on. YouTube remains the
most favoured website on every musicians list, in India atleast.
4.2 In Depth Interviews
Toby Joseph, is a sound engineer by profession but also a musician that plays
for Chennai based bands „Pyjama Conspiracy‟ and „Subject to Change‟. He is also
the founder of „Frame the Sample‟along with Amith Krishnan who is a free lance
film-maker.
Researcher: What is „Frame the Sample‟ about?
Toby: Frame the Sample is a company that specializes in making professional
videos for bands that go up on YouTube. We charge a band a particular amount
for the video shot and then pass it around on facebook. Property of Christ University. Use it for fair puResearcher:rpose. Gi vHowe cr didedi thet to idea the come auth about?or by citing properly, if your are using it. 69
Toby: Two of us, Ajith and I happened to record a video for Rehman‟s guitarist
Sanjeev Thomas‟s band „ Rainbow Bridge‟ in May 2011. Sanjeev has done other
music video‟s but he wanted a live recording set-up sort of video, almost like a
jam video but with more importance given to presentation and lighting and
camera quality like the videos Boyce Avenue puts up. The response and
appreciation we got was mindblowing. Sanjeev has a huge friendlist as it is on
facebook and he also has groups under his name. So when he/ we shared it on his/
our profile and his group, it spread far and wide and our first video reached over
five thousand views. So then, we began to reconsider this concept altogether.
Researcher: What‟s the process like?
Toby: Either we approach bands or bands approach us. We feature musicians and
bands that cut across all genres of music. Musicians can record audio at my studio
which I call TobsGarage and Amith, deals with the video recording and editing.
We try to make the recording process as comfortable as possible, in a friendly yet
professional environment. Then happens the marriage, as we like to call it„a
happy marriage of live music and video recording‟ and provide the band with a
professionally-done product that can be aired.
Researcher: Are there others you know of who are also making such videos?
Toby: Am sure there are or it‟s on the verge of an explosion. But, as off now we‟d
like to consider coke studio our competition. Coke Studio went viral on YouTube with the same livePro setpe up,rty so o faudiences Christ U aren ifamiliarversity .with the idea. Although, we Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 70
came up with the idea around the same time „Coke Studio‟ launched in India, not
after. Either way, we give lesser known musicians to have the same opportunity.
This just goes on to re - emphasize on all the facts that we have already seen in
the data collected from the questionnaires. YouTube not only gives the lesser
privileged musicians the opportunity to be seen and heard or helps them promote
their music on their own without the backing of a label or contract but also has
even turned into a business venture for some musicians who took it seriously
enough and made use of the social scenario to its best.
Property of Christ University. Use it for fair pu rpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 71
Chapter V
Conclusion
The analysis of the data reveals that musicians do use YouTube for several
reasons. We can understand this better with the help of the Uses and
Gratifications theory. By applying the Uses and Gratification Theory we will be
able to understand the shift of dependency also much better as the Dependency
theory is often said to be an offshoot of the Uses and Gratifications theory.
The Uses and gratification Theory provides a framework to understand how
different media consumers become more or less active and looks into after effects
that this increased or decreased involvement might have on the user. There are
five basic assumptions that theorists like Katz, Blumer and Gurevitch (1974) have
put together to define this theory.
Firstly, „The audience is active and its media use is goal oriented.‟ The
musicians are the ones that chose YouTube, this makes them an active audience.
They click on links it helps them navigate through. There are a variety of goals
that the audiences are aiming to be fulfilled and so they chose YouTube. We see
that the goals of these musicians are entertainment, education, practice, exposure,
recognition, promotion, encouragement, business and inspiration. These
musicians actively chose YouTube with these goals in mind.
The second element of the theory states that, „The initiative in linking his or
her need gratification to a specific media choice rests with the audience member.‟ Property of Christ University. Every musician has the option of not using YouTube and sticking to other Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. traditional media or methods to achieve their goals. But through this survey we 72
see that is by their own will that they chose to use YouTube to gratify their
musical needs. There are chances that one could zone out while watching or
listening to a single channel or station, but on YouTube, users navigate through
millions of videos which are also of a limited duration of under ten minutes. They
are forced to remain active and click onto another video.
The third assumption says, „The media compete with other sources for need
satisfaction‟. This, when simply put implies that audience are a part of the larger
society and so the media and the audience share a relationship which is influenced
by events in that environment. If ones needs for entertainment and information are
satisfied by a conversation with friends, the chances that u turn to television
reduces automatically. When we look at musicians as being part of a larger social
system, taking for example musicians on a social networking website like
facebook, audiences and YouTube share a relationship because everybody is
sharing videos like movie trailers or comedy clips etc. and the musicians are also
influenced by this trend in their cyber environment. Their immediate musical
needs are satisfied, where people just click an embedded YouTube video that‟s
already been shared, or YouTube the song and share it with the others on social
media which simplifies the entire audio visual process. For example, they are
made aware that there is a new song or artist has been released or if they already
know the content and continue to watch it, then it crosses the information needs
and spills over to the entertainment needs, which is the reason 96 % of the
samples prefer YouTubePropert yover of Ctelevisionhrist U andniv eradio.rsity . Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 73
The fourth assumption is research related because this theory has faced
questions of measurement. How does a researcher measure media use? This
assumption or element states, „People are self-aware enough of their own media,
use, interests and motives to be able to provide researchers with an accurate
picture of that use.‟ People are more conscious of their media use with YouTube
because in the open ended question (No.24) of the questionnaire, where the
researcher asks the samples if the YouTube has helped in their growth as a
musician, 90% agreed. They even went on to define how YouTube had helped
them grow. They are aware that the „goals‟ are achieved and that helped them
grow as artists either by expanding their knowledge because of the tutorial videos
or the related videos by the side or by promoting themselves and growing as an
artist in the minds of audience. The audiences are clearly able to state the
difference, for example the data shows that although 83% have been inspired by
music of other YouTube artists only 32% have performed these songs in their
own shows. Lots of bands perform covers otherwise, but the fact that only a
minority have performed YouTube artist‟s songs shows that the audience has
been able to clearly define their media use.
The fifth assumption stated by Katz, Blumer and Gurevitch states that, „Value
judgements of the audience are linking its needs to specific media or content
should be suspended.‟ This again deals with the researcher‟s perspective. They
suggest that in order to look at media use and gratification, the researcher must be
neutral.They suggestProp ethatrty people of Ch canris tuse U ncontentiversi tiny .different ways and this Use it for fair pucontentrpose .can Gi haveve c rdifferentedit to consequences.the author b Thisy cit isin notg p applicableroperly, ibecausef your ita rise using it. 74
clearly stated that 90% agreed to the fact that YouTube helped them grow.
Besides this research, doesn‟t explore the negative effects and so researcher bias
doesn‟t come in the way. This research tries to measure the reasons as to why
they use YouTube.
They also went on to say that the needs of the users/audience on YouTube are
generated by the „social situation‟ they are in. With 96% saying that they
YouTube a song, with 86 % broadening their knowledge with music tutorials and
84 % considering making professional videos for YouTube purposes to promote
themselves, it can be said that it is the pressure that they feel in their social
situation that requires them to continue using YouTube. This is their social
situation where musicians are using YouTube to promote and learn and they feel a
sense of feeling „left behind‟ if they don‟t be a part of this phenomenon. Some of
the amateur musicians may not do as many shows as they‟d like and get their
exposure. YouTube allows them to share their performance or music with more
people impoverish. Social situations perhaps doesn‟t allow these artists funds to
go all out for promotional activities, but YouTube allows them to promote their
music by putting a face to their music through this audio visual medium which
doesn‟t serve as only a substitute or supplement but also a better and more
effective way that satisfies related needs. In turn, when traditional methods cost
and YouTube allows them a cost free option that society uses, their need also lies
in making the best use of this free portal. In such ways, social situation create the
needs for these Pmusicians,roperty whereof Ch theyrist turnUni tove YouTubersity. for gratification. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 75
The shift of dependency comes into play here because, yes they are gratified
by YouTube, but the fact that a large majority find more gratifications through
YouTube over television and radio leads us to analyse this scenario from the
perspective of the Dependency Theory. Dependency theory was originally
proposed by Sandra Ball-Rokeach and Melvin DeFleur (1975). The theory states
that an individual depends on media information to reach certain needs and
accomplish certain goals, like the uses and gratification theory. But, the individual
does not depend on all media equally. Two factors influence the degree of media
dependence. First, the individual will become more dependent on a media that
caters to a more number of their needs than the other media. Secondly, the other
source of dependency is social stability. When the usual practices and beliefs are
challenged, forcing the individual to re-evaluate and make new choices, this is
when the dependency on a certain media will increase. This aspect can be applied
to trace the change of practices and beliefs among musicians in India that make
them re-evaluate their choices by using YouTube. If they have made new choices
it is because of the gratification they avail from the respective media that fit the
social situation of today for them. The Dependency Theory can be applied to this
study. It is looked at in four parts as divided by Rokeach and DeFleur.
First, „basis in media influence lies in the relationship between the larger social
system, the media‟s role in that system and audience relationships to the media‟.
This means that effects occur not due a medium being powerful, but because
media operate inP rao particularperty of way Ch rinis at particularUnivers isocialty. system to meet the wants Use it for fair puandrp oneedse. Gofi va eparticular credit t audience.o the au tThishor can by beci tseening withprop regardserly, i fto y YouTubeour are uass ing it. 76
making them as available to the user as possible. They make YouTube
downloader so that the audience don‟t have to go elsewhere to download their
music. They made phone apps so that users can have YouTube on their phone.
They have „related links‟ on the side of the video for those who want to get in
touch with similar music and musicians. In fact, this study also shows that 65%
people use YouTube because, YouTube the medium reaches out to users to meet
their needs making its user- friendly nature one of the reasons why people keep
going back to YouTube. YouTube‟s branding also has a important part here, it
may not be a very powerful medium but by their branding where YouTube always
links back to their website or the logo on ever video, its made people 75% of the
samples notice it as the most common video hosting website. There, by YouTube
making the necessary changes to keep their audience in mind, manages to meet
the expectations of the audience.
Second, “the degree of audience dependence on media information is the key
variable in understanding when and why media messages alter audience beliefs,
feelings, or behaviour.” In other words, the media effect‟s on audience members
depends on how important the media message is to them. The uses people make
of the media determines the influence. Messages YouTube sends out to the users
here is success stories of international artists. YouTube promotes the idea that its
never too early or late to become a star and that is the underlying message of this
medium. Every musicians dream is to be noticed at some level and so this
message plays highlyProp einrt they o mindsf Chr iofst the U nYouTubeiversity .users. If this be the message Use it for fair puthatrpo YouTubese. Give is c sendingredit to out th toe atheut hmusicians,or by ci taparting pfromrop theerl yidea, if thatyou itsr a platformre usin g it. 77
for easy promotion of one‟s music and then no it‟s no surprise that it does have its
own effects. Effects are measured by how people use the media and as we have
seen in the previous chapter, musicians use YouTube to learn, to download, to
practice, to get inspired, to connect with fans because they are reacting to the
medium‟s message that says stardom is near.
Third, “in our industrial society, we are becoming increasingly dependent on the
media a) to understand the social world b) to act meaningfully and effectively in
society and c) for fantasy and escape. When elaborated, what this means is that
we live in a world that gets more complex every day and we need media not only
to make sense out of it or to understand how we would respond to the complexity
or to help up cope and relax but also to know a lot more about the world through
media. By making sense out of the social world we allow media to craft our
expectations. Applying this to the study, we have seen how 83% of sample have
not online been exposed to international artists but also been exposed to a degree
where they influence the music styles. It allows musicians to understand and learn
more genres that do exist around the world helping them to find their own style in
the process. YouTube also serves as a leisure activity because 96% agreed to
YouTube a song if it was a recommended number. YouTube app on their phone
could be to kill boredom on a bus or train. On a deeper level, YouTube also
allows people to escape into the hope of getting noticed in a big way, someday.
Finally, the fourth, “the greater the need and consequently the stronger the
dependency… thePr ogreaterperty theof likelihood...”Christ Uni vThoseersit yh.ave higher needs depend on Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. media more and hence more high the influence. Musicians are using YouTube to 78
gain visibility that may be one of their greatest needs. As we saw, earlier
musicians depended on told like word of mouth and Charity shows but with
YouTube 90% of the musicians have confessed that YouTube has helped in their
growth. Growth as a musician or Growth as in popularity, that is their greatest
need hence they are very strongly dependent on YouTube.
The very basic fact of dependency theory lies in reducing dependency on other
mediums and increasing dependency on a particular medium. This is blatantly
seen with 96% saying that they‟d rather YouTube it than sit around the television
or radio to listen to their favourite tracks. Hence, Musicians in India are
dependent on YouTube.
Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 79
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Property of Christ University. Use it for fair pu rpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 84
APPENDIX
Questionnaire
1) Age
2) Gender :
a) Male
b) Female
3) How many hours do you spend online everyday?
a) 1-2 hours
b) 2-3 hours
c) 3-4 hours
(If more than 3-4 hours, please specify)
4) What kind of musician are you?
a) Vocalist
b) Instrumentalist
5) What genre of music do you play/sing? ( Multiple Answers)
a) Carnatic
b) Hindustani
c) Light
d) Western Classical
e) Rock f) Pop Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purposeg). G Jazzive credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 85
h) Hip-Hop
(If other, please specify)
6) Under which category would you classify yourself?
a) Professional Musician
b) Amateur Musician
7) If you wanted to listen to a recommended new single, you would
a) Tune into your favourite music channel ( Please specify the channel)
b) Tune into your favourite radio station ( Please Specify the station)
c) YouTube it
8) If you were to make a video of one of your tracks using pictures, you
would
a) Use pictures of random people and things to fill the video
b) Use pictures of the band‟s performance, the band logo, its members
etc.
9) Have you considered the option of a professionally shot video for the
YouTube purposes to promote you Music?
a) Yes
b) No
10) Do you use the YouTube downloader to download music?
a) Yes Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purposeb). G Noive credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 86
11) Do you YouTube music before you download/buy the songs?
a) Yes
b) No
12) Have you referred to music tutorials on YouTube?
a) Yes
b) No
13) If you're a vocalist, have you used the karaoke tracks available on
YouTube for practice?
a) Yes
b) No
14) Have international YouTube artists inspired your music?
a) Yes
b) No
15) Have you performed YouTube cover versions by YouTube artists of
popular songs? (eg. Boyce avenue version of Coldplay's 'Fix you')
a) Yes
b) No
16) Have you put up music related videos on YouTube?
a) Yes
b) No
17) If yes, what was the content of your music related video? (Multiple
Answers) Property of Christ University. a) A solo music performance shot with webcam in your room Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 87
b) A live on-stage performance
c) A jam session with the band
18) Have you uploaded videos to other video hosting websites? If yes, please
specify
a) Yes
b) No
19) Why do you prefer YouTube over other video hosting websites?
a) It‟s the only one I know
b) It‟s the most common of them all
c) Its user- friendly nature
(If other, please specify)
20) Have you received comments/ messages on YouTube from people inside
or outside India?
a) Yes
b) No
21) How many comments on an average? (Please specify)
22) Do you have a YouTube app on your phone that you use from time to
time?
a) Yes
b) No
23) How didP yourop spreaderty o yourf Ch musicrist U beforeniver syouity .started using YouTube? Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 24) Has YouTube helped your growth as a musician? If yes, How? 88
25) As a musician, which are the websites you spend most time on?
In Depth Interview
1) What is „Frame the Sample‟ about?
2) How did the idea come about?
3) What‟s the process like?
4) Are there others you know of who are also making such videos?
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Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it.