DIGITAL CONVERGENCE
AND THE
MUSIC VIDEO INDUSTRY.
By Alec Dejanovic
The phenomenon of Digital Convergence is not a very old concept, and can be described as the "flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of audiences" (Jenkins, 2006). Digital convergence has made an extreme impact on various forms of media, especially the music video industry.
The effect of convergence on the music video industry is phenomenal, as it has radically changed the way we watch and interact with music videos, and artists themselves. The difference between the way old media was, and new media is consumed in this day and age is quite staggering. Through the comparison of sitting at home as a family watching the weekly music video chart show 'Countdown' on a small Television, to interacting with your favourite artist over twitter about their brand new music video on YouTube - we can see how media convergence has radically changed the way media, and specifically music videos are consumed in the current day and age.
There is a very interesting division amongst music artists on YouTube, and how closely they interact with users. Although both entities can release music videos, achieve great success and millions of views - the methods of which they gain a fan base are very diverse. Amongst the worldwide popular artists who release music videos on YouTube such as Justin Beiber, LMFAO, Avicci and Lady Gaga, (of which are signed to gigantic music labels and are played across all types of media outlets around the world) are the independent YouTube artists. These artists aren't backed by established record labels and media agencies, and usually do their own music video productions, and release all their own content themselves. Even though independent artists may not have the luxury of monetary backing and extensive connections, they can still amass millions of views and subscribers based on their creativity, talent, appeal and relationship with their viewers.
Kim Bartel Sheehan and Deborah K. Morrison write "Today, many online users are not content with accessing and viewing or listening to content from established sources. Instead, consumers want to interact with message content by adding to the content or re-purposing the content for new and different users." De Storm - a popular YouTube musician, directly relates to this statement - as he has gained a lot of success and millions of views by letting his viewers directly shape the type of content they watch on his channel.
When De Storm started his channel, he was trying to establish himself as a rapper/producer using YouTube as his platform to share his production, singing and songwriting skills with a wide online audience. Once he had built up a substantial fanbase, Storm started to involve his audience a lot more with his channel by asking his subscribers to write down a random topic each week in the YouTube comments section, or over twitter. After picking a random users comment, Storm wrote a song based on the chosen topic, and self shot a music video for it. At the time, no one else on YouTube had this type of subscriber interaction, and because of this, DeStorm amassed a huge amount of views and subscribers, thus becoming 'part of the first generation of “YouTubers” who managed to monetize their videos.'(
In an interview, De storm states, “Everything has to funnel to one direction, you can’t be all over the place. When I’m on Facebook, I’m using that for YouTube. When I’m on Twitter, I’m using that for YouTube. That kind of focus can help consolidate your identity to just one platform and make sure your fans are thinking of you as a YouTuber first and foremost."(De Storm, HOW TO: Become a YouTube Sensation, 2010). This shows that part of Storm's success was utilising many social media avenues to direct multiple user groups to his YouTube channel, which is a good example of an artist using media convergence to their advantage.
Using the previous example as evidence, we see that the convergence of multiple social media services can greatly widen audience participation and awareness to an artists content. Before the uprise of the internet and social media services, music videos were only featured on specific television channels and shows such as 'MTV' and weekend Free-To-Air Programmes. This greatly minimised the amount of exposure many independent artists could achieve, as the only artists featured on these music channels were already established, popular artists with record deals and financial support. Nowadays, an artist can upload a self funded music video onto a video sharing site, spread awareness over many social network channels by linking or embedding the video, and potentially reach a gigantic audience for minimal cost, at any time.
As easy as that may sound, there is only so much an artist can do before the spread of a music video is out of their hands. Once their video is out there, it is usually up to the viewer base to continue to share the media amongst peers. Hilderbrand explains that 'Youtube became popular by word of mouth - which in the Internet era means forwarded e-mail links, blogs, and Myspace profiles' (Hilderbrand, 2007 p.48.). Even though the previous statement is about YouTube, the idea is very much applicable to the success of an artists music video too, as sharing over various social media avenues is such a vital part of a video gaining views and popularity.
Conclusively, digital media convergence has cause a profound shift in the way artists can expose and share their music. The change from television channels being the only way music videos were distributed, to the modern avenue of uploading a file to various internet sites - most notably YouTube - has enabled artists who would previously not have had the opportunity to display their music to now reach out and expose their art to the world. Through examples such as De Storm, we see that close interactivity with a subscriber/viewer base is a very effective way an artist can share and expose a music video. Because of modern digital media convergence, and the multiple ways media can be shared over various social media avenues, we can conclude that the independent artists of today have just as much of an opportunity as already established 'popular' artists to achieve great success - unlike in the past, where the music video market was closed off, controlled, and based exclusively around television media.
References
- Sheehan, Kim and Morrison, Deborah (2009) Beyond convergence: Confluence culture and the role of the advertising agency in a changing world in First Monday vol 14 no 3. Date of access: 29/08/12-http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2239/2121
- Dwyer, T. (2010) 'Media Convergence' McGraw Hall, Berkshire, pp1-23
- Hilderbrand, L. (2007), 'Film Quarterly, Vol 61, 'Youtube: Where Cultural Memory and Copyright Converge'' pp 48-57
- Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. Introduction. pp. 9. New York University Press.
- HOW TO: Become a YouTube Sensation, p.1. Date of access: 29/08/12
- DeStorm : "How To Solve A Rubik's Cube! (Rap)" (2011) http://youtu.be/aYv_oB_PXSg , Date accessed: 28/8/12
Additional Reading
H.Jenkins (2006) Convergence and Divergence: Two Parts of the Same Process http://henryjenkins.org/2006/06/convergence_and_divergence_two.html Date Accessed: 29/8/12
- Alex Munt New Directions in Music Video: Vincent Moon and the ‘ascetic aesthetic’ (2011), http://www.textjournal.com.au/speciss/issue11/Munt.pdf Date accessed: 29/8/12
- H.Jenkins (2001) 'Convergence? I diverge" http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/converge.pdf Date Accessed: 28/8/12
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