Fractured bonds and crystal capital: Social capital among COVID-era music communities

Abstract

As COVID-19-driven lockdowns and social distancing became the new normal in 2020, musicians experienced a reshuffling of their social networks. This article uses in-depth interviews with nine community arts practitioners in Australia, Norway and the United States to explore the impact of COVID-19 on their ability to practise, collaborate and connect with their musical communities. Results showed that, while social distancing has significantly disrupted active connection with localized communities and musical networks, participants reported increased connection and engagement with wider networks through technology. Applying Putnam’s concepts of bonding and bridging capital, the authors posit that COVID-era music engagement has seen a shift towards decentralized communities through an emphasis on bridging capital. Ultimately, however, analysis showed Putnam’s concepts to be unhelpful in describing online music connections, and ‘crystal capital’ is proposed as a possible way to theorize the subjective nature of online music engagement.