Music, media and digitalisation

The purpose of the study Music, media and digitalisation is to map the possibilities and implications that digital music distribution may cause. The PhD project has a sociological character and will thereby focus how the individual as well as the music distribution industry comprehend the nexus of music consumption and identity construction by the individual. The project is divided into three phases; the perspective of the music distribution industry; the perspective of the individual, and finally the sociological fusion of the two.

Background

Digital distribution of music has opened a new era for consumption of music. The digitalisation of music has resulted numerous changes for the consumption of music. One of those things is the miniaturising of music, compressed down into extremely small formats such as mp3 and ogg. This miniaturising has implied a maniness of music for the individual. Tremendous amounts of music can be stored or streamed from the digital net via digital devices such as smartphones a handy and mobile pocket computers. This technological feature makes music a possible companion in everyday life any time and anywhere.

One of the problems with this overflow is the question of how the individual shall be able to choose music. One way to solve this is presented by the digital distribution sites as digital tools; associated music to present listening, music that different friends has been listening to (in this aspect one can also follow a friend to get access to their musical choices). “New” music can also be marketed through intelligent recommendations based on the individual digital history. The system of this digital guiding is based on the information the individual chose to give away to the site, a type of symbolic capital.

The purpose of the thesis is to map implications that this trading cause for the individual in the individuals music consumption.

Method and theory

The study has a sociological foundation, which means that all actors within a particular field is taken into consideration. Explicitly this implies that both the digital distribution industry as well as the individual is accounted for. The research questions aim to capture the construction and conceptualisation of identity by the individual digital viewed by digital distribution industry as well as the individual. The project is therefor divided into three phases; the perspective of the digital music distribution industry, the perspective of the individual and finally the sociological nexus of the two.

PhD student

Susanna Leijonhufvud, Ph.Lic. susanna.leijonhufvud@oru.se