I had been trying to wrap my head around the concept of crowdsourcing as a cultural artifact. Crowdsourcing has many different aspects, it's certainly not an uncommon occurrence In fact, it's happening more often with the progression of the internet.
I had been looking up music videos on YouTube, when it occurred to me. So many bands use their fans as a way to create new videos, artwork, posters, and other various elements for their band. It's an awesome opportunity for everyone. The band, gets a video done for free or very minimal cost to them. A stellar fan gets the pride factor of being able to tell everyone they know, their kids, their kid's kids that they got to make the music video for "Dig" by Incubus . Incubus isn't the only band that has found a way to incorporate their fans into their creative process. Other bands such as The Classic Crime, The Vaccines and Blink-182 have all found ways to include the fans. "Wetsuit" by The Vaccines used a combination of their own video, with fan's photos from Instagram. Incubus is one of the few bands that I have found that hosted a music video contest, and officially named a fan as the "winner". The Classic Crime hosted a contest, but the winner was never really announced. I think that is a crucial part of the process. There needs to be an end winner of some sort, I don't think that the decision should go unheard.
When I was looking up videos that bands had made by including the fans, one of my favorite examples that I uncovered was from Blink-182. I am not the biggest Blink fan, but I have never seen anything like this video. It stood out on so many levels. When launching their new single, "Up All Night" they wanted to find a way to show off the song. Blink-182 partnered with AT&T to search YouTube, finding all of the music videos that fans had posted over the years, using their songs without their permission. Instead of going to YouTube and reporting all of the accounts, instead, Blink rewarded their fans in a sense. They created a video, using their fans videos, to showcase their new single for their new CD. The launch of "Up All Night" was not an ordinary new single, for Blink fans, this was huge. Blink-182 had not released a single in nine years, until this video of course. Can you imagine, being a fan watching "Up All Night" by Blink-182 after anticipating the release of their new song for however many days, then suddenly flipping back in your chair when you see yourself in the video? I think this music video in itself is an excellent example of how our culture puts a lot of emphasis on music, especially in our generation. With so many different bands, genres and fan bases out there, how do bands stay connected with their fans. I think the way that Blink pulled their fan base back and plugged them directly into their new sound was a unique way to involve the people who have supported their music for so long. In reality, bands would be nothing without their fan base. Finding ways to include them is the best way to ensure that the band themselves can continue to do what they love, while the fans can continue to hear what they love.
In a way, what Blink-182, Incubus, The Vaccines and many other bands in today's era of music did, is in a sense a form of crowdsourcing. They found a way to use their fan's creativity to show off their music. I think this can be a very practical way of creating some incredible work for a band. Many fans will create work for a band just because they love their music. Often, before I go to a concert, I will create a poster, or if I have seen a band preform live before, I'll print out photos I've taken to have them sign. For many fans, having the chance to create something that could be used in the long run by a band could be a dream come true.
Laura (you have the same middle name as me! (Yes I know its common but its still cool!)) Beckwith,
ReplyDeleteI was a bit confused when first reading your document on what you were writing about since you described so many different bands and how they incorporated their fans. I then fully grasped your concept in describing how Blink 182 incorporated their fans as a crowdsourcing objective, so your culture artifact is their music video which is a very cool current crowdsourcing example. I remember while watching Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never movie that he used crowdsourcing of his fans in youtube video covers of his song One Time and I can imagine how excited they would be to be in his movie (come on I would probably freak out kiss the movie and watch it over and over thinking that JB has seen my face!!!) well beside the point, as a fan of Justin Bieber I can understand how Blink 182’s fans would feel after watching that! I think to further apply your topic, I would answer the questions “How does the music video redefine crowdsourcing? What is the purpose of the video? And How did the video capture the fans?” In all, I believe your topic would focus more upon how the music redefines crowdsourcing in the modern day since it was created by the band for their fans, so that is what I would focus the essay upon in my opinion. Sounds like a good topic looking forward to the paper!
-Joana
P.S. I read your comment on my topic proposal and that’s AWESOME! Don’t you love his little orange chubbiness and the cute little bears and fish!!!! AWH! I am excited to write about the Lorax and flattered that you thought of me while watching it yourself haha :)
I love your idea Laura. It is straight forward, and makes a lot of sense when coupled with the Blink-182 example. I had a hard time understanding the Incubus, The Vaccines, and The Classic Crime part but after rereading it I understood it. I've seen similar things before but I've never thought of them in the sense of crowdsourcing. I feel like you have to make some inferences to answer some of the questions that Joana was talking about however it may be a better idea to specifically address each question.
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