‘MySpace bands’ and ‘tagging wars’: Conflicts of genre, work ethic and media platforms in an extreme music scene

Authors

  • Tamas Tofalvy Ph.D., assistant professor at Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Department of Sociology and Communications; research fellow at University of Szeged

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v19i9.4354

Keywords:

Internet, social media, extreme metal, scenes, MySpace, Last.fm, work ethic, genre

Abstract

In this paper I interpret the transformations that took place in an extreme metal scene due to online fan interactions during the first wave of music–related online social media between 2004 and 2008. I show how the online success of a band on MySpace led to the devaluation of a whole genre, and also to the decreased reputation of MySpace as a medium among fans, coining the term ‘MySpace band.’ I describe how this judgment was strongly interrelated with the common conviction among fans that the activity of a band on a social platform should not be considered as ‘work’ as opposed to ‘working hard’, playing shows and touring ‘in real life’. In another case study I examine how the use of the tagging function on Last.fm lead to conflicts regarding the categorization of the genre and ignited vivid debates in the scene. The boundaries of the scene became uncontrollable in the open online social sphere, with newcomers transforming the representation of the scene in real time. Through those case studies, on the one hand, my aim is to show the interrelation of culture and technology: how value judgments on social boundaries, genres and work ethics are closely bound up with the uses and interpretations of media platforms. On the other hand, as subcultural and post–subcultural explanation schemes too could be applied to those scenic practices, I suggest that instead of concentrating on the presumed structural nature of scenes, focusing on the discursive constructions of genre may offer a fruitful avenue for understanding collectivities of musical taste.

Author Biography

Tamas Tofalvy, Ph.D., assistant professor at Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Department of Sociology and Communications; research fellow at University of Szeged

Tamas Tofalvy  Ph.D., is assistant professor at Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Department of Sociology and Communications, research fellow at University of Szeged and vice–chair of the Hungarian branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM). His research interests lie at the intersection of cultural construction of technology, popular culture and digital media policy.

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Published

2014-09-05

How to Cite

Tofalvy, T. (2014). ‘MySpace bands’ and ‘tagging wars’: Conflicts of genre, work ethic and media platforms in an extreme music scene. First Monday, 19(9). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v19i9.4354