Baym on Music Fandom

Nancy Baym, a professor at the University of Kansas, the author of these books, this blog and one of the leading scholars thinking about the relationships between music and fans, (not to mention an old-school R.E.M. fan) attended two recent-ish conferences that approached that issue in very different ways. The “Futures of Entertainment” conference, hosted by MIT’s Henry Jenkins, devoted braincells to, among other things, the incisive rethinking of “viral”:

“People choose what they pass along to other people. The content matters. If something is viral or memetic, it’s caught or coded into DNA, not chosen. “Viral” and “meme” are broadcast ideas, where the all-powerful content producer forces the weak consumers to enjoy and propagate something.”

and making crucial distinctions between modes of media engagement. As above, boldness is my addition:

“Companies exist in a world that’s all about money, but fans typically participate in gift economies. When companies try to “monetize” fans…they run into problems because fans don’t operate that way.”

Word. But then she compares F.O.E. to what was discussed at the conference for professional organization MIDEM, the disconnect becomes crystal clear:

“With a very few exceptions I heard very few people at MIDEM asking the question ‘how can we provide value to our audience?’ Instead I heard them asking ‘how can we get money from our audience?’”

Blerg. Baym tries to set them straight, though, with her own presentation, which she posts in full at her blog. Reblogging her own blurb below, because it’s so OTM:

Of course, the flip side to fans’ empowerment is what seems a lot like disempowerment to those who’ve been able to control music production, distribution and coverage. It’s natural to respond to this with fear. The threats are real. Those in industry may want to stop fans from: Criticizing them, spreading their music, using their name, bootlegging their shows, discussing their private lives, writing fantasies about them, spreading misinformation.

But getting control back is not an option. That genie is not going back in the bottle. The power struggle and the tensions it raises will continue for the foreseeable future.

The relationship between fans and artists is less and less like a business relationship in which artists and industry set the terms and audiences either buy or don’t, and more and more like a social relationship in which bands and fans have to negotiate terms together.

They are independent, they have their own goals, and they will do things you don’t like. They can also help you.