Curating Liveness: the Role of Youtube in Constructing Authentic Viewing Experiences Through Live Music Channels
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Curating Liveness: The Role of YouTube in Constructing Authentic Viewing Experiences Through Live Music Channels Master’s Thesis by Anika Doshi MA Media Studies — New Media and Digital Culture June 2019 Supervisor: Dr. G.C Mueller Reader: Dr. Tim Highfield Doshi 1 Abstract The plethora of music platforms made available by new media has led to the re-structuring of music consumption whereby live music is no longer confined to concert halls and music venues but can instead be enjoyed from behind the comfort of a screen. Given that this experience is changing, what enables live music channels to construct these experiences and who shapes such virtual ‘liveness’? This study answers these questions by investigating the role of YouTube in shaping authentic viewing experiences. Building on existing scholarly research and key theories relating to platform studies, performance studies and popular music, it explores how live music channels on YouTube construct liveness as a form of authenticity. Based on a content analysis of twenty videos from YouTube channels COLORS and La Blogothèque - selected for their unique yet different aesthetic techniques of curation, results indicated that for liveness to be perceived as authentic, specific criteria need to be included which while reflecting liveness, does not necessarily have to be live at all. In doing so, this study contributes towards academic discussion regarding evolving music consumption patterns and consequently aims to instil focus on building organic relationships between the artist and audience through new media platforms. Keywords YouTube, liveness, authenticity, live music channels, new media Doshi 2 Acknowledgements I would first like to thank my thesis advisor Dr. Gavin Mueller at the University of Amsterdam for encouraging me to write about an area that I was deeply passionate about and for steering me in the right direction every step of the way. I would also like to thank my reader Dr. Tim Highfield for taking the time to read my thesis. This past year has provided me with valuable knowledge that has enabled me to develop a critical approach to new media and broadened my horizon. For that, I would also like to thank the faculty at the New Media and Digital Culture track at the University of Amsterdam. Finally, I must express my profound gratitude to my parents and sister for providing me with unwavering support and encouragement throughout the course of my academic career and during the process of researching and writing this thesis. This undertaking would not have been possible without you. Thank you. Doshi 3 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 From the Stage to the Screen ........................................................................................................ 4 1.2 Contextualizing Digital Relationships .......................................................................................... 5 1.3 Contextualizing Digital Music Platforms ...................................................................................... 7 1.4 Focus of this Study and Rationale ................................................................................................. 8 1.5 Thesis Structure ............................................................................................................................ 9 2.0. Mapping the evolution of Music Commodities: From the Phonograph to Streaming .......... 11 2.1. Music has a marketplace ............................................................................................................ 12 2.2. Breakthroughs and World War II ............................................................................................... 13 2.3. Breaking boundaries .................................................................................................................. 14 2.4. The Contemporary Landscape of Live Music ........................................................................... 16 2.5. Staging Liveness: Liveness in a digital context ......................................................................... 17 2.6. YouTube and Participation: Critical Findings from the Field of Platform Studies ................... 19 2.7. Popular Music and Authenticity ................................................................................................ 22 2.8. YouTube and Technology .......................................................................................................... 23 3.0. Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................................... 26 3.1. Curating the live ......................................................................................................................... 26 3.2. Intimacy, Spontaneity, Relational Labour and Immediacy ........................................................ 28 3.3. Natural is best: Audio in a live context ...................................................................................... 30 3.4. Authentically Broadcasted: YouTube and Authentic Content ................................................... 32 3.5. Constructing the Popular: Participation on YouTube ................................................................ 35 3.6. Subliminal Branding and Liveness: a new ecosystem ............................................................... 36 4.0. Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 39 4.1. Channel Selection ...................................................................................................................... 39 4.2. Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 41 4.3. Concepts to be analysed ............................................................................................................. 41 5.0 Findings and Discussion ............................................................................................................... 43 5.1 Curating Liveness: Key findings from YouTube channels COLORS & La Blogothèque ......... 43 5.2 Mediating the visual experience: camera angles, editing and aestheticism ................................ 43 5.3 Staging Spontaneity .................................................................................................................... 47 5.4 When Audio Goes Live .............................................................................................................. 50 5.5 Notes on Intimacy: Striking a Balance ....................................................................................... 51 5.6 YouTube’s participatory culture ................................................................................................. 53 5.7 The live surpasses the record: the reception of the authentic experience ................................... 55 6.0 Concluding Remarks and Further Research .............................................................................. 57 Doshi 4 1. Introduction 1.1 From the Stage to the Screen “Because live performance is the category of cultural production most directly affected by the dominance of media, it is particularly urgent to address the situation of live performance in our mediatized culture”. —Philip Auslander, Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Culture 43 The impact of networked digital platforms has manifested itself in a myriad of ways – one of which includes the practices and experience of media consumption. Over time, music has been subject to various technological and structural transitions, many of which have been so seamless in their appeal to our senses that they have gone unnoticed. One of these areas is live music. Live music has proliferated itself from the stage to the screen, enabling the possibility of instantly accessible footage in ways that never existed before. This has led to an inherent alteration within the very social and cultural fabric of live music, particularly the ‘where’ and ‘when’ aspect of the way in which music is consumed and simultaneously, the perception of the professional musician and their audience. As an article by The Verge aptly explains “so much of what we see on our screens and hear on our stereos is processed to the point of genial blandness. But someone stepping up to a microphone and singing in front of cameras can still feel urgent and real, no matter how well-rehearsed the show is” (Murray n. pag.). In this way, liveness presents several appealing characteristics to modern audiences through its profoundly engaging nature, an essential component of the contemporary music landscape. Simon Frith cites Keith Negus in his 2007 article ‘Live Music Matters’, who argues based off his historical survey of music on British television, that music and television professionals have tended to treat television as a neutral lens, rather than a transformative medium which could redefine or develop innovative kinds of musical performances (Frith 8). Today, this perception has drastically changed and new media platforms are viewed primarily as transformative media which bear innovative capacity to deliver live streamed concerts, pre-recorded ‘live sessions’ and popular music shows that are instantly accessible to the contemporary music audience. Most significantly, the live music industry