Participatory Culture; Music

## Participatory Culture in Music: YouTube Singers

Over the years, music has evolved immensely. What makes a song catchy may vary a little between genres, but in the end it all comes down to a catchy hook, with a chorus that sticks with you like "It’s a Small World" from Disneyland. Just hearing the name of a catchy song such as "It's a Small World" causes you to instantly start humming the tune. The desire to burst out in song just from hearing the chorus is the production's main goal: spreadability. What makes a song or things amongst our culture spreadable may vary but the way in which this media is presented has seen to take a new route in getting those songs or artists spread. Within the world of music, YouTube has played a big role in this culture. The genre of music can be altered by what we call covers, which is an idea that was presented by Carter. Whether it be webcam covers or just covers made electronically, genres are overlapping within today’s culture. Throughout these two types of covers seen of YouTube, we see their roles in participatory culture.

### What Makes Media Spreadable?

In Jenkins’ article about "spreadable content", he discusses ways in which fans would advocate for the given franchise, this list includes:

> **·      They are doing so because the brand express something about themselves or their community.**
>
>

> **·      They are doing so because the brand message serves some valued social function.**
>
>

> **·      They are doing so because the entertainment content gives expressive form to some deeply held perception or feeling about the world.**
>
>

> **·      They are doing so because individual responses to such content helps them determine who does or does not belong in their community.**
>
>

This can also be applied to YouTube accounts seen on this site.

Also noted in his articles, this media is no longer seen as viral--which is attached to a negative connotation, but that something that is "spread" amongst communities. This is said for videos on YouTube as well. Something being "spreadable" does not always mean it appeals to all. Although some may genuinely like a song, there are some instances when a song becomes famous due to the negative press the artist have acquired. An example of this is Justin Bieber and his song "Baby". The song has 1,184,397,261 views on YouTube, but is the most disliked song on YouTube. The negative reactions and press caused this song to become spreadable. It should also be noted that Bieber is one artist that started out on YouTube and ended up being very successful and famous. This is interesting because although one of this songs is the most disliked on YouTube, it is through this site that he became the pop sensation he is today.

Whether it is a webcam cover, a regular cover, or a parody, the goal is for the video to go viral. Being "spreadable" is about gaining popularity and reaching a wider audience.

### References:

1. **Jenkins, Henry. "Henry Jenkins - Confessions of an Aca-Fan — — The ..." *If It Doesn't Spread, It's Dead (Part 6)*. Web. 25 June 2015.**
2. **Carter & Arroyo (2011): “Tub­ing the Future: Par­tic­i­pa­tory Ped­a­gogy and YouTubeU in 2020” *Computers & Composition*Volume 28, Issue 4 (December 2011): 292-302 PDF**