Music Commons and Participatory Culture through Streaming Platforms

## **Introduction to the Music Commons**

Beer speaks to society entering into an era of post-humanism where “the body is situated in constant flows of information allied with cultural representations of what these flows mean for the body.” Anyone with access to internet, or 40% of the world’s population and increasing, can download, listen, or share music on its various platforms. With music applications and their catchy slogans such as Soundcloud (Hear the world’s sounds) to Spotify (Music for Everyone), there are multiple outlets for interaction. This type of digital commons for public access raises multiple facets for digital interpretation. Effects from the use of visually invisible resources arise, as well described on Idea Channel's video, but there are both consequences and rewards to this emergent property of the digital music system. Some have tried to privatize the market with subscriptions, such as Pandora and Spotify, while others have maintained the idea behind free public access, such as Soundcloud and Youtube. These companies are changing the way we listen to music, from accessibility to how we consume, interact with the artist, and those around us.

### **The Consumption of Digital Natives vs. Immigrants and Emerging Cultural Norms**

The concept of a Digital Native has been an emergent topic of conversation as we further enter the digital era. The Millennials and younger generations were essentially born into this time period surrounded by technological progress. Those born prior with a more conventional upbringing are considered to be Digital Immigrants. Natives understand how to use technology and are savvy in terms of the way they interact with the tech, themselves, and the world around them. Digital Immigrants feel technology, especially the culture form of music, can promote disconnection. They feel the mere act of plugging into a device and out of the physical world dictates a form of isolation. Natives however have different cultural values and views associated with this idea and act of listening to music in a personal field of experience. Although it may shut off the physical world, it opens the door to the digital world. Natives are shaping and evolving the face of communication and music is a platform in which this is occurring. What used to be cassettes and CD’s have become digital streaming platforms with accessibility to connectivity and interaction in a completely digital way.

In an article speaking to the changing expectations of connectivity and communication, Johnson Cheung speaks to a research study where he conducted interviews with high school students. In one of his interviews, a young Digital Native spoke to this shift, “In the digital era, communications among friends do not require ‘content’ anymore; one just needs to ‘be there (stay signed on)’ in order to play a part in the process of exchanging…” This view reflects a change in perspective, physical presences and statements aren’t required to be dictated as communication in the Digital Native era. One must simply be connected to the grid, own an account, and use/interact with the platform to be considered interaction. Thinking of Spotify, users who publicize their music habits share their tunes as they listen to them. On the homepage, one can see what their friends and family are listening to as well and in a mere click we can connect and interact with those we follow to learn more about them and their taste in music. Without directly speaking to them we have the ability to interact and also communicate with others on the topic of music. Soundcloud does this as well with reposts and playlists. As long as you have a public account you can easily share and interact with your followers. You can even create personal playlists for friends, family, or significant others with a few clicks of a button. Without having to say anything at all one can create a playlist reflecting their emotion and send it to the desired person. Over a digital music platform one can connect and communicate with others instantly.

These ideas break down the segregated media experience that Beer describes and arguably many D

igital Immigrants also see from this experience. But for Natives, it’s building a sense of community and identity online through your taste in music. We consciously know we are sharing with those who follow our accounts and have that audience in mind as we go about our music experience.

### **Social Cooperation Between Artist and Listener**

In Michael Mandberg’s The Social Media Reader, he calls to light the capabilities of social cooperation that is an emergent factor of digital platforms. This highly connects to many digital platforms that promote the culture of music. It has never been so easy, accessible, and dynamic the ways in which one can edit, promote, and communicate with another on the topic of their music.

Soundcloud specifically is a free music form that allows users to upload or listen to music of all kinds. At it’s height it embraced its idea of promoting independent artists and providing them with an outlet to release their music to the public. Below is an analogy excerpt from the Social Media Reader:

This idea can completely be related to that of Soundcloud. It’s a form of music streaming where both independent and more popular artists feature their music for free. The application itself is free so it’s an unbiased platform for connectivity of anyone who participates in music as a cultural form. The artist isn’t the only one who takes part in spreading their music. The artist posts his songs or messages to the Soundcloud “community.” Users like or repost songs to their accounts, a means of both sharing to their friends songs that affected a “like” or “repost” but also as a means of taking part in that artist’s pursuit of expanding themselves and their messages. Especially with its social media sahring capabilities, it creates an invisible community of shared networks where artist, listener, and all those along the way are intertwined. This cooperation can be on a small or large scale, but either way even the mere act of listening to a song contributes to the promotion and connection to another, whether that be the artist or a person one thinks of while listening to the song.

### **The Spectrum of Interaction -- Bodily to Collective Territory**

In conclusion of these ideas we see a spectrum -- Digital Immigrants viewing technology and the use of digital platforms for accessing music as a form of disconnection, while Natives are shifting this view to a more dynamic platform for connection, cooperation, and communication. Natives don’t disregard the idea of creating bodily territories by plugging into their music applications, but they disconnect from one world and connect to another. They connect to a limitless digital realm of sharing, interactivity, and collectivity. By simply plugging in we plug in to more than a song, we plug into a platform of sharing, cooperating with artists, and showing our tastes in music to our friends and family.

I would like to call attention to a special case that is on the rise in terms of the increasing connectivity through a digital territory -- See Silent Disco Wikia Page.

**Sources:**

Beer, David. "Bod­ies and Inter­faces: The Cor­po­real Cir­cu­la­tions of Pop­u­lar Cul­ture." *Popular Culture and New Media: The Politics of Circulation*.

"The Social Media Reader : Michael Mandiberg." *Internet Archive*.

David Beer, Pop­u­lar Cul­ture & New Media: The Pol­i­tics of Cir­cu­la­tion (Pal­grave, 2013)

Cheung, Johnson Chun-Sing1. "Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology And Less From Each Other." Journal Of Social Work Practice 27.4 (2013): 471-474. Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 19 Oct. 2015.