Fandom, liveness and technology at Tori Amos music concerts: examining the movement of meaning within social media use

Abstract

In recent years, the use of smart phones, mobile internet and social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and text messaging has altered live music experiences for some popular music fans and audiences quite sharply. Live music has been regarded as a powerful and integral element within popular music fandom, a space where fans can gather to ‘enact the meaning of fandom’ (Cavicchi 1998, 37) and as an event ‘made distinctive by its listeners, as each person’s connection with the event is shaped by expectations, prior experiences, mood and concentration.’ (Burland and Pitts 2014, 1). The arrival of new technological tools has facilitated powerful interjections into the behaviour within this space, enabling music fans at the show to connect digitally with each other, to tweet and text concert photos, setlists and other information live and by allowing non-physically present fans around the world to feel part of and experience a sense of the event (Bennett 2012, 2014). In other words, the boundaries of live music events are being extended to include the remotely located audience and give them a sense of being there. Likewise, physically present concertgoers are also experiencing an extension of their experience, through the ability to capture and preserve moments of the show on video and photo through their mobile devices and connect with the remotely located fans as the show takes place. These possibilities can produce strong tensions for some fans who aim to remain engaged in the live show, yet feel a desire to use their technological devices to perform a valued service to non-physically present fans and also preserve moments of the event.