Popular Music Fandom: Identities, Roles and Practices
Griffith University (Australia)
The study of music fandom is a relatively new area of academic interest within the wider field of popular music studies. This collection of essays offers a solid grounding in the bourgeoning field. In the same way as Bennett, Shank and Toynbee's Popular Music Studies Reader (2006) was a reprise of Frith and Goodwin's On Record (1990), this book acts as an update of Lisa Lewis' The Adoring Audience (1992), one of the earliest, and now seminal, texts in the field. Twenty-two years later, Popular Music Fandom offers a new collection of fan perspectives on music from the 1950s to the 2000s that also touch on new technologies (such as the internet and social media) which now play a significant role in shaping music fandom.
Duffett's introductory chapter gives a detailed overview of both the history of fan studies and the problems that surround the study of fan culture. Many of the earliest studies of fan culture were in the area of film and television. While useful, they did not provide an adaptable framework for fan studies in popular music. Duffett notes that the lack of any kind of framework to analyse the unique set of practices that are associated with fandom is part of why literature on the topic is relatively rare compared to other areas of popular music studies. The reason for this, Duffett notes, is that "fandom does not fall neatly into easy processes of generalization: 'music fandom' is one term for a wide range of phenomena and identification occurring in a variety of different times and places, a term that encompasses a range of tastes, roles, identities and practices" (27).
While the intersection of many of these elements is what makes fandom studies such a fertile area for analysis, it also means that it often slips through the cracks between musicology (which is often concerned only with the text), sociology (which often views music through the window of subculture) and psychology (which relies on concepts sometimes contested by cultural studies). To study music fandom in a cohesive way, an interdisciplinary approach is needed to examine not only the practices themselves, but the relationships between them. As Duffett states, music fandom "combines a threshold of affective engagement with, variously or in combination, musical appreciation, music practice, celebrity-following, social networking, dancing, collecting and self-expression" (27). Popular Music Fandom features chapters that touch on all of these "engagements", from Roy Shuker's overview of record collecting and appreciation, to Matt Hill's chapter on the "celebrity-following" of specific music producers, to Cornel Sandvoss' study of Ibiza and EDM through an analysis of online forums.
Of particular interest are the two chapters which deal directly with EDM and dance culture: Beate Peter's "Beyond Capital, Towards Myth: EDM Fandom and Dance Practice" and Cornel Sandvoss' "I Love Ibiza: Music, Place and Belonging". Peter's thoughtful consideration of fandom in Chapter Three uses EDM as a case study to better understand the complex issues that surround the creation and definition of fan cultures. Like many of the contributing authors, Peter explores the importance of a fluid framework for fandom studies in order to "reflect the contemporary state of social flux" (93). Further, this fluidity also takes into consideration that fandom is not always a lifelong commitment, and that fans may belong to many groups at the same time, or at different times throughout their lives.
The case study then explores the social and legal contexts around early rave music and how these definitions have changed (and still change) over time. From this, Peter threads together the social, psychological and philosophical to better understand EDM fandom and dance practice as both an individual and collective group experience—often at the same time. Myth-making has long been discussed as a thread that runs through popular music history (see Kelly and McDonnell 1999), and when applied to EDM, the creation and reliving of individual and shared "mythical" experience may help the reader to understand the deep loyalty expressed in dance music fandom.
Sandvoss' investigation into the community surrounding the Ibiza EDM scene combines an anthropological framework with quantitative and qualitative data collection. This data was taken from a popular message board, the "Ibiza Spotlight" (launched in 1999). The thematic analysis covers 70,535 separate posts and is combined with Skype interviews with frequent posters. Through this extensive data collection, Sandvoss aims to address the question of whether one can be a fan of a "place" in the same way as a "text", as both place and text are "socially constructed though symbols, discourses and representations" (244). This exploration raises some interesting ideas, particularly the detailed discussion of "vibe", which, from the interviewee responses, seems a significant part of Ibiza's lasting appeal. The "vibe" also encompasses feelings of fun, safety and acceptance, while also acknowledging the fluidity and temporality of the Ibiza EDM community. The idea of "vibe" in a social context is not dissimilar to "groove" in a musicological sense—we know when we have felt it, but it is often difficult to define in a precise way. Sandvoss does well in exploring this idea of "vibe", an often intangible but important component of many fandoms.
Large-scale studies such as Sandvoss' allow for data to be arranged in many different ways, and for both small and broad-scale trends to be uncovered. However, with so much data available for analysis, it is disappointing that it is used so infrequently in the chapter. Instead, most analysis is specifically focused on interview comments. Similarly, while the chapter outlines many of the positive experiences surrounding Ibiza, there is no acknowledgement of those who may not have had the transcendent community experience those on the message board recounted. Negative reports from posters may also be a part of the fan experience in Ibiza—what happens when the myth of Ibiza is shattered for EDM fans?
In addition to chapters focusing specifically on dance music, other notable contributions include Matt Hill's exploration of fandom around record production. While analyses of record production are beginning to increase in frequency in popular music studies, very few cover the fandom around record production. Similarly, Roy Shuker's analysis of why fans feel the desire to collect records, or engage in "completism", also covers ground often missed by sociological studies of popular music. Nedim Hassan's investigation of fan practices in the domestic environment illuminates experiences so common to many that they are often overlooked; they still involve both music and social interaction, which makes them important to studies of fandoms. Each chapter offers something engaging for the reader, whether or not you are familiar with or enjoy the kind of music each fandom surrounds.
One criticism of Popular Music Fandom is that while it covers areas of sociology, anthropology and psychology well, it is missing any connection to musicology. Chapters discuss various kinds of music; however, with the exception of Matt Hill's occasional citing of musical examples, there are no references to any musicological elements in relation to the fandom that surrounds them. While focusing on the "text" is certainly not at the centre of fan studies, some connection with it may contribute to answers about what fans fall in love with and why.
Reading through Popular Music Fandom encouraged me to reflect on my own experience as a music fan, and of the many fandoms I have inhabited over the course of my musical and academic career—after all, our early love of music is usually what fuels the curiosity to want to understand more deeply the strange, enjoyable, giddy experience of being a "fan". As a collection of chapters, ideas and analyses, Popular Music Fandom offers a varied, interesting and important contribution to the growing area of fandom and fan culture studies that is certain to influence further research.
Bennett, Andy, Barry Shank and Jason Toynbee (eds.). 2006. Popular Music Studies Reader. New York: Routledge.
Frith, Simon and Andrew Goodwin (eds.). 1990. On Record: Rock, Pop, and the Written Word. London: Routledge.
Kelly, Karen and Evelyn McDonnell (eds.). 1999. Stars Don't Stand Still in the Sky: Music and Myth. New York: New York University Press.
Lewis, Lisa (ed.). 1992. The Adoring Audience: Fan Culture and Popular Media. London: Routledge.