Users of an on-line music community

Trevor Pinch and Katherine Athanasiades, Cornell University

ACIDplanet is an on-line music community

• Differs from file sharing and downloading sites because the users provide the content

• Biggest such site with over 300,000 registered users worldwide

• Membership is free

• Growing rapidly (traffic doubled last year)

• Dave Hollinden (former webmaster):

“ACIDplanet is somewhere…where, you can just be an absolute hobbyist, or be fairly accomplished, or a power-user, or a real casual user, and still…just come and upload and, you might find a place for yourself in the community that way.”

ACIDplanet.com Home Page

ACIDplanet homepage contains:

• Banner ads to SONY products, especially ACID software and loops

• Featured Artists, News and Results of latest Contests

• Polls, Links

• Top Ten songs

• Weekly podcasts

• Prozone

• 1991 Sonic Foundry of Madison formed• 1998 developed ACID software for turning

computer into home recording studio• 1999 ACIDplanet 0.0 developed• 1999 ACIDplanet revised and released as

ACIDplanet.com • 2003 Sonic Foundry bought out by Sony

and ACIDplanet becomes a Sony website (unchanged)

• Make a Profile (name, photo, brief description) • Upload own music• Download other users’ music• Download royalty-free loops provided by Sony• Review other members’ music• Enter Contests• Receive a Chart Position• Join chatroom and forums

Establishing a Profile

• A profile establishes on-line identity

• Name is important and is used to reflect musical identity, style or attitude

• e.g. dj_doughy, Goth Family Singers, Danger Dude

• Users can have multiple profiles (with same e-mail address or different ones)

Example of Multiple Profiles of Mike Andraski

• HANK MOHASKI

• The Zanzibar Cheap Band

• DJ Zeus

• Tape Jazz Massacre

• Hankatron

• The Special Jellies

Information typically put on profiles

• Photograph of artist or an artsy picture• Description• History• Group members• Styles• Influences• Equipment and software• Date joined, how many reviews, whether open to

collaboration, e-mail link

• Upload as WMA File or MP3 File (20 megabytes/song)

• Brief description of song

• Self rate for obscenity content G-R

• Choose a genre (n = 18), a subgenre (n = 64)and sometimes a subsubgenre (n = 46 for electronica)

• Blues• Cinematic/sound track• Classical• Comedy• Country• Easy Listening• Electronica• Experimental• Hip-Hop/Rap

• Industrial• Jazz• Pop• Reggae• Rock• Spoken Word• Urban/R&B• World/folk• Other

• ACIDplanet has its own media player which makes it very easy to listen to any song

• When song is uploaded other users can immediately post a review which is displayed by the song on the artist’s song’s page

• Reviewers can rate song from one star to ten stars

• If ranking is less than five stars, review must be at least 25 words long

Stefanie K’s “Rock Me”

• 10/10: ap diva 6.18.2005 @ 10:32am pop queen unflinching nerves of steel just pumping hard on the billion dollar sacred cow of the american idol formula soft rock machine...great stuff...when do i get some of that sweet vox for my work?  waaaaaaaaaah!From: luckily77777 fenton, MO

• 10/10: Your..... 6.18.2005 @ 10:10am really starting to put a hump in your rump lately (lol)   Edgier and heavier ......and we really like the direction your taking....Great Work!From: hard rain Cincinnati, OH

• 10/10: Radio Ready! 6.18.2005 @ 9:47am Very Nice job by all....love the blues leads on the right....Love the placement of the backing vocals and the bull horn FX on the vocals was cool too....great lyrics too!...........kudos....................peace.SkipFrom: www.skipmoore.net HOUSTON, TX

• Immediate and continuously updated chart position

• Top 25 songs listed on Home page

• Charts for every genre

• Chart position is based on number of stars a song receives over time (secret S formula)

• Contests – often 4 or 5 at a time

• Remixing the most common:

e.g. this week remix t.a.T.u

• Mash-ups : splice two different songs together e.g.old school punk artist Nina Hagen with Cinema Strange and Blitzkid

• Winners of contests receive site publicity & free software

• Occasionally more exciting prizes offered, e.g. trip to the Bahamas, free Sony laptop

• Just announced this week was winner of competition to score a section of upcoming TV animation show “Dirk Derby Wonder Jockey”. Prize may be to use music in actual show.

Our Study

• Began June 2005

• Interviewed 21 ACIDplanet users (20 men, one woman; webmaster, web developer, and three other Sony employees

• Most interviews in NE of the US (but 3 in Korea)

• Interviews semi-structured, tape recorded, last one to two hours.

Other Data

• Our study has received attention in AE forum and in newsletters (Indian Rock Records)

• Also our own profile generates credibility

• We regularly surf AP chatrooms and forums

Goals of Study

• Understand how this new technology shapes musical practices

• How the new media is in turn shaped by user practices

• We focus on user practices in particular – huge interest in users and technology in S&TS

• How identities and norms are constructed within this new form of community

ACIDplanet as a user-driven site

• Dave Hollinden (Webmaster):“We listen to everything the users say, and we try and weigh…what makes the most sense and…what they’re asking for, to a large extent. And…there was another site that Sony had, where they wanted a place for…consumers to put what they made with Sony products. And that was Screenblast. But they went at it from the point of view of what Sony thought [it] should be….They had a huge staff, and they put together a very nice-looking site….It didn’t work out. And I think a lot of the reason for that, compared to us, who is just two people, basically working on a daily basis, is that it’s very user-driven, for our site, and Screenblast didn’t turn out to be as [much of a] user-feedback-oriented site.”

• AP includes specialized Feedback Form, Polls. • Webmasters and Web Developers are also

occasional participants• Jim Spitznagel:

“the users being the musicians, were really involved…And it just sparked what I did, uh, immensely, it was just like boom!...‘Wow! There’s all these other people, that I can contact any time, who are trying to do the same thing I’m doing.’ which is pretty nice when you’re working…especially in a place like Ithaca, where, small population…”

How Users Perceive Reviewing R=R

• Feedback from reviews (even critical) is one of the most valuable experiences for AP users.

• Reviews provide critique and/or encouragement

• Review ratings linked to chart placement

• Users often expect extremely positive rating or none at all. People expect R=R

Proliferation of Reviews

• Tendency is to do many and positive reviews.

• “‘what do I need to do to get these people to listen?’ Well I review them. And they go, ‘Oh, this guy named Spitznagel reviewed me, I’m gonna check out his music.’” – Jim (2,781 reviews and regular chart success)

• Writing so many positive reviews without actually copying and pasting from your own reviews can be difficult. Jim:

“If I feel that I’ve written a lot, the same thing, I’ll get the dictionary out and change a few words. Hahahahaha. And I just, say, ‘I’ll change ‘creative’ to ‘inventive.’ Oh, that’s good! I’ll change, you know, ‘cool’ to ‘groovy.’ Oh, that’s good, you know!’”

Reviews diluted

Reviews potential for honest, useful criticism lost:

• “…you do have a lot of people that are just, ‘Cool tune man! You know, when you get a chance, check me out, hit me up. R=R.’ It’s just, it’s all meaningless. You know? You don’t get anything useful out of the review.”

• A very small sub-set of people (“haters”) post extremely negative reviews. (“drive by shootings”). These reviews often attached to blank profiles with no songs for reciprocation.

• The webmaster can remove obviously malicious reviews but is not empowered to remove others that a user thinks are overly harsh.

Future of Reviews?

• This is a field where the reviewing norms are still in flux.

• The webmasters are contemplating solutions such as introducing a new “expert review system” which might rank reviews and reviewers depending on their experience and positive feedback a reviewer has received.

• The danger, as the webmasters see it, is that AP’s simple interface may become too complicated and discourage users.

• The charts are addictive (akin to the sales ranking on Amazon.com)

• Topping the charts on ACIDplanet the first time is an experience users never forget:

“You know something? My head was like, out to here [demonstrates head being very large with arms].” PianoPlayer (Frank Grasso) on being number one for a week on the soft rock charts

• Users who top the charts often send e-mails to friends, family and colleagues with a link inviting them to share in the momentary fame

• But if good reviews lead to chart success then the system can be gamed by soliciting positive reviews and even reviewing your own song by creating bogus profiles – this is known as Chart Whoring

Identity and Community

• Unlike other on-line music sites where users just down-load or file share or promote their music, AP builds a genuine new form of on-line community.

• Your profile, music, reviews and reviewing are all components of this identity.

• This can be seen at particular moments such as when engaging in one of AP’s most interesting features - collaborations

The AP Band

Some users seek active collaborations with other users on particular songs to form a band.

“I was like, wow, there’s just, so many people, talented people, unknown people, that are – it’s like having a whole band. You know, because like, if you need a guitar player, drummer.. Yeah, you could find people to collaborate”- Stefanie K

Files are passed along and different instruments and treatments are added to the song by other users.

Being in touch through reviews

• But meeting someone on AP is not quite the same as meeting your band buddies in the physical world. Building a good working relationship draws on all the different components of the AP community (profile reviews, previous songs).

• For instance, Sonic Epiphany, is looking for a vocalist on AP. He has found a female vocalist, iNFaReDHaZe, by listening to her songs which have charted. Now he contemplates the next stage:

“I’ve only been in touch with her through a couple reviews and stuff, so I really don’t know her that well.”

• AP users carefully construct their self-contained identities over time.

• Such identities carry consequences and are not like the anomic, anonymous identities on other websites. Such identities shape the community and at the same time the community shapes these identities.

• Thus when the webmaster (Dave) recently retired he posted a goodbye letter and a song.

• He had won the respect of many users and the reviews of his song expressed affection and respect although they had never met him in the non-virtual world.

• Dave saw himself as working for the users, making ACIDplanet a better and lasting place for everyone involved.

Other Uses of ACIDplanet

• Like technologies in general this computer mediated music site is used in unexpected ways by users.

• American user in Korea posts his songs there for ex-band members and family back in the US.

• One user likes to try out a song on AP before releasing on a CD

• Another user will try out a song on AP before performing it live at a gig.

Two Case studies: Stefanie K and Jim Spitznagel

• Stefanie K is an ex-stock trader who had learnt piano from her dad at age five – gave up at age fifteen - but returned to music after the death of friend on 9-11.

• She is one of the small number of women users.

• AP is predominantly male and woman users can be given a hard time (until they prove themselves to their male peers)

Sexism on AP• As Hank Mohaski notes:

“…[I]f she puts a song up and, and then you go back and read the reviews for that song, you’ll see the stuff percolating up,,, ‘Are you hot?’…And then there’s other stuff where it’s this out-and-out, like, sexism.. ‘Oh you’re a girl and you suck and, you can never be – you know, you’ll never make it’….I’ve known a couple female artists that have left the site, specifically because of that…either they weren’t taken seriously as an artist, or because they were basically being sexually harassed.”

• Stefanie K started to write songs “I write lyrics everywhere, I have pieces of paper in every bag I have with lyrics scribbled”.

• She meets an AP user, is drawn in, and begins active reviewing (she now has left 1,839 reviews).

• “I was obsessed for a while. My husband got a little pissed off”

• She used the website when her kids were at school, sometimes all night.

• She doesn’t use ACID software but has a homestudio in her basement with, mic. Keyboard, mixer (which records)

• She is now one of best-known artists on AP and her song “Rock Me” charts at 14 on all time hits.

JIM SPITZNAGEL

• Jim Spiztnagel has had a life in and out of music, played in a high school and professional band, owned a record store, promoted Blondie, Talking heads and other new wave bands. Now owns his own independent record label and makes music as a house husband – he uses AP as a way of promoting his own CDs

• His music is well respected and he has had several chart-topping hits on AP

Conclusion: ACIDplanet has evolved a unique community.

• Users participate in this music culture in a solitary manner (even when collaborating).

• Users can take on and experiment with more than one musical identity.

• Users, although individuated by space and identity are located within a larger, technologically mediated community which offers success, failure, discrimination and empowerment.

• This community is more organic than other file-sharing systems, because:– norms are and have been developing– identities gain reputation– social bonds are created