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The magazine Tic & Société looks at the digital mutations of music

Published on 03 December 2020
Update on 26 September 2022
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Summary

 "Well beyond the economic dimension alone, the music sector has been, for the last twenty years, the site of a myriad of experiments of all kinds around the digital. Whether it is, on the economic level, a redistribution of the cards between the various actors of the sector - or even the irruption of new actors, coming from the web for example -, or, on the artistic level, a reinvention of the ways of producing music, of recording it, of mixing it, or even, on the level of uses, the transformation of the modalities of access, of the modes of listening and even of the modes of learning of the instruments, it is the whole of the sector which was transformed and continues to be transformed ".

This issue of the journal tic&society returns to the analysis of these different transformations.

In the introduction to this issue of Tic & Société, Christophe Magis and Lucien Perticoz remind us that "the music industry has a history punctuated by regular crises that are each time the occasion for a reorganization of the socio-economic actors, an aesthetic opening or a technological advance from which the sector reorganizes itself in order to provoke a new period of growth.

The first part of this dossier focuses on the ongoing analysis of economic developments in the music sector.

  • Guylaine Guéraud-Pinet begins by studying the importance of a "derivative market" for music since the crisis at the turn of the century: the television sound system.
  • In his article, Guillaume Heuguet studies the impact of the logics of musical valorization of a player, YouTube, on the reorganization of the sector. "The calculation of views, at the heart of the commodification of music on the platform, reveals a new understanding of the cultural and social value of music, in which it is subordinated to its visual associations.
The second part studies the impact of economic transformations in the music industry and the emergence of new web-based actors on the professional practices of musicians and music creators.
  • In this context, Stéphane Costantini questions the changes in the musician's profession and the growing importance of communication skills in their practices, but also the tactics they use to integrate these skills without denying their artistic ambitions.
  • For Sylvain Martet, Martin Lussier and Anouk Bélanger, " these injunctions to media visibility also seem to be coupled with a requirement for self-training throughout one's musical career, a requirement that seems to have been fully internalized by the Montreal music professionals interviewed by the authors. They conclude that training in the music professions is "now fragmented, individualized and continuous", a trend that may well contribute to the increased precariousness of musical workers whose acquired skills quickly become obsolete, thus requiring a constant effort at self-training in order to avoid a form of downgrading.
The third part examines the uses of music in the digital age, in particular the transformations of the imaginary associated with the forms of access to musical or derived content.
  • Raphaël Roth and Laure-Hélène Swinnen also address the theme of self-training through the analysis of a YouTube channel that offers free tutorials to learn the guitar,
  • Romuald Jamet and Jonathan Roberge analyze the subtle relationship that Quebecers have with both francophone music and the use of streaming platforms, and the complexity of the articulation of the two. "Whilemusic streaming has stabilized its socio-economic models and has participated in a rebound of the music industry economy since the mid-2010s, Quebec artists hardly benefit from it, their exposure and listening rate being low on the platforms."
Philippe Le Guern, in conclusion, gives a personal synthesis of some twenty years of research on these questions. He questions "the really "disruptive" potential of "the irruption of digital in the field of music [...] compared to [...] [its] analog era", but also the very existence of a "pre-digital regime [...] to which would succeed a digital regime", which would consequently lead to a surpassing of the musical fact itself.

File Summary:
  • Christophe Magis and Lucien Perticoz : Introduction
  • Christophe Magis and Lucien Perticoz: Music as an analyser: changes in the music industry and changes in music research
  • Guylaine Guéraud-Pinet : The television sound system: mutations of a derived market and multiplication of the forms of commercial valorization of television music
  • Guillaume Heuguet: Verified views, evacuated listening: the advertising value of music on YouTube
  • Stéphane Costantini: Communication skills and digital practices of "connected musicians
  • Sylvain Martet, Martin Lussier and Anouk Bélanger: Self-training, a new paradigm for career development in the digital context? A look at the Montreal music scene [
  • Raphaël Roth and Laure-Hélène Swinnen: Teaching guitar on YouTube. The free tutorial and the contradictions of the "digital transformation" of the teaching of the instrument: the case of the MrGalagomusic channel
  • Romuald Jamet and Jonathan Roberge: Is Quebec music compatible with streaming? Uses and representations of Quebec francophone music on streaming platforms in Quebec
  • Philippe Le Guern: The experience of music in a digital regime: continuity or disruption?
The journal TIC & Société

Référence :

, edited by Dominique Carré (Université Paris 1) and Éric George (Université du Québec à Montréal), is devoted to the analysis of the relationship between information and communication technologies (ICT) and society.

Sources

The magazine Tic & Société looks at the digital mutations of music

 "Well beyond the economic dimension alone, the music sector has been, for the last twenty years, the site of a myriad of experiments of all kinds around the digital. Whether it is, on the economic level, a redistribution of the cards between the various actors of the sector - or even the irruption of new actors, coming from the web for example -, or, on the artistic level, a reinvention of the ways of producing music, of recording it, of mixing it, or even, on the level of uses, the transformation of the modalities of access, of the modes of listening and even of the modes of learning of the instruments, it is the whole of the sector which was transformed and continues to be transformed ".

This issue of the journal tic&society returns to the analysis of these different transformations.

In the introduction to this issue of Tic & Société, Christophe Magis and Lucien Perticoz remind us that "the music industry has a history punctuated by regular crises that are each time the occasion for a reorganization of the socio-economic actors, an aesthetic opening or a technological advance from which the sector reorganizes itself in order to provoke a new period of growth.

The first part of this dossier focuses on the ongoing analysis of economic developments in the music sector.

  • Guylaine Guéraud-Pinet begins by studying the importance of a "derivative market" for music since the crisis at the turn of the century: the television sound system.
  • In his article, Guillaume Heuguet studies the impact of the logics of musical valorization of a player, YouTube, on the reorganization of the sector. "The calculation of views, at the heart of the commodification of music on the platform, reveals a new understanding of the cultural and social value of music, in which it is subordinated to its visual associations.
The second part studies the impact of economic transformations in the music industry and the emergence of new web-based actors on the professional practices of musicians and music creators.
  • In this context, Stéphane Costantini questions the changes in the musician's profession and the growing importance of communication skills in their practices, but also the tactics they use to integrate these skills without denying their artistic ambitions.
  • For Sylvain Martet, Martin Lussier and Anouk Bélanger, " these injunctions to media visibility also seem to be coupled with a requirement for self-training throughout one's musical career, a requirement that seems to have been fully internalized by the Montreal music professionals interviewed by the authors. They conclude that training in the music professions is "now fragmented, individualized and continuous", a trend that may well contribute to the increased precariousness of musical workers whose acquired skills quickly become obsolete, thus requiring a constant effort at self-training in order to avoid a form of downgrading.
The third part examines the uses of music in the digital age, in particular the transformations of the imaginary associated with the forms of access to musical or derived content.
  • Raphaël Roth and Laure-Hélène Swinnen also address the theme of self-training through the analysis of a YouTube channel that offers free tutorials to learn the guitar,
  • Romuald Jamet and Jonathan Roberge analyze the subtle relationship that Quebecers have with both francophone music and the use of streaming platforms, and the complexity of the articulation of the two. "Whilemusic streaming has stabilized its socio-economic models and has participated in a rebound of the music industry economy since the mid-2010s, Quebec artists hardly benefit from it, their exposure and listening rate being low on the platforms."
Philippe Le Guern, in conclusion, gives a personal synthesis of some twenty years of research on these questions. He questions "the really "disruptive" potential of "the irruption of digital in the field of music [...] compared to [...] [its] analog era", but also the very existence of a "pre-digital regime [...] to which would succeed a digital regime", which would consequently lead to a surpassing of the musical fact itself.

File Summary:
  • Christophe Magis and Lucien Perticoz : Introduction
  • Christophe Magis and Lucien Perticoz: Music as an analyser: changes in the music industry and changes in music research
  • Guylaine Guéraud-Pinet : The television sound system: mutations of a derived market and multiplication of the forms of commercial valorization of television music
  • Guillaume Heuguet: Verified views, evacuated listening: the advertising value of music on YouTube
  • Stéphane Costantini: Communication skills and digital practices of "connected musicians
  • Sylvain Martet, Martin Lussier and Anouk Bélanger: Self-training, a new paradigm for career development in the digital context? A look at the Montreal music scene [
  • Raphaël Roth and Laure-Hélène Swinnen: Teaching guitar on YouTube. The free tutorial and the contradictions of the "digital transformation" of the teaching of the instrument: the case of the MrGalagomusic channel
  • Romuald Jamet and Jonathan Roberge: Is Quebec music compatible with streaming? Uses and representations of Quebec francophone music on streaming platforms in Quebec
  • Philippe Le Guern: The experience of music in a digital regime: continuity or disruption?
The journal TIC & Société

Référence :

, edited by Dominique Carré (Université Paris 1) and Éric George (Université du Québec à Montréal), is devoted to the analysis of the relationship between information and communication technologies (ICT) and society.

Sources

Labo Société Numérique

Labo République Française Agence nationale de cohésion des territoires
The magazine Tic & Société looks at the digital mutations of music