Introduction
The Mountain Goats is a South Carolinian based alternative folk band. Formed by John Darnielle who is the lead singer, guitarist, pianist and the only member to be active throughout the entire discography, the band had been active since 1991. There is a page set up for the band on Bandcamp, an online platform for musical artists to distribute their music, as well as a place for fans to directly support their favourite artists. Bandcamp is run by Ethan Diamond who has been active since 2007, the same year that the site was founded. This digital media analysis will cover The Mountain Goats’ page on Bandcamp and will look into the different types of convergence, remediation and audience involved in the page.
Technological convergence
Technological convergence is defined as a “trend or phenomenon where two or more independent technologies integrate and form a new outcome” (Park, 2019). In this context, on The Mountain Goats’ page on Bandcamp there are multiple different site functions that are available to the viewers in one space. The homepage instantly shows a display of the band’s musical content which includes a selection of their discography, where the remainder can be scattered around various online platforms. On the sidebar, there first is featured: a ‘follow’ button, a links list and extra Bandcamp-related links. The choice to follow the band on Bandcamp allows fans to receive instant updates on the band’s content that they upload to their page.Once following The Mountain Goats on Bandcamp, there is also the choice to subscribe to an email newsletter which brings a third-party technology into their page. Moving on to the links list, this leads users to outside platforms including their website, Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram. There is also the process of online transaction when choosing to purchase an item from their page to either download to a device or mail to the buyer’s postal address.
Industrial convergence
Industry convergence is “the blurring of boundaries between industries by converging value propositions, technologies and markets” (Choi and Valikangas, 2001). The Mountain Goats is a band that began amateurly in 1991 and grew as a band through the years it was active. John Darnielle, lead and founder of The Mountain Goats, originally started on his own. He began by singing his poetry to chords played on a ‘cheap’ guitar and recording it on a dual-cassette recorder. Eventually he joined in more various band members who came and out throughout his musical career, as well as being part of records and recording in more professional studios. Sometime in 2013 The Mountain Goats set up a page on Bandcamp (based from the band’s first upload to the site) to expand their online presence. Bandcamp is already a larger company in itself which The Mountain Goats hosts their page through. There is also an extra link located on the top-left corner of their page which links to Merge Records’ Bandcamp page, the record label that The Mountain Goats is part of. When purchasing an item from the band’s Bandcamp page, there are also different industries involved. This includes online money transaction companies such as PayPal and email addresses that get involved in the process.
Cultural convergence
Content flows through different media channels and this is especially emphasised when the logic that a culture performs under is shifted. This is cultural convergence (Jenkins, 2006). Being on an online space, The Mountain Goats’ page invites multiple different subcultures. The band often produces music under the genres of alternative/indie folk, folk rock and lo-fi, bringing fans of the music styles together from both within Bandcamp and outside the site. There also exists a community who can relate personally in any way to the lyrics of The Mountain Goats’ songs. As mentioned on the Bandcamp page, their songs mainly deal with “hard drugs and tragic ends, hurting yourself and others, sicknesses of both body and brain, [and] off-brand alcohols” (John Hodgman, 2012). The Mountain Goats also have albums that follow certain themes which include communities such as wrestling fans and goths. Bandcamp being a music community, other musical artists on Bandcamp, whether fans of the band’s music, seeking inspiration or sharing similar fan-communities, are also part of the cultural convergence that occurs on the page. The links to The Mountain Goats’ other online platforms (website, Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram) also help to expand their communities online, both on their Bandcamp page and outside.
Social convergence
Bandcamp is a platform that allows for multiple types of artist and fan interactions in one space. This fits into the definition of social convergence which is the situation where separate social contexts are combined into one (Boyd, 2008). One of the tabs on The Mountain Goats’ Bandcamp leads to a ‘community’ page. This is a place where the band can post quick updates relating to topics that include, but are not limited to their music, shows and tours, band activity, and other creative works. This type of interaction is from the band to their many fans, however the community section also allows their fans to comment on posts. On album pages, there is a ‘supported by’ section which features a list of comments by Bandcamp ‘fan’ accounts alongside the title of their favourite track of the album. Included underneath, there is a display of the profile pictures of every other account who bought the album.There is also a button labeled ‘Contact The Mountain Goats’ which brings the user to a contact form which lets anyone directly send a message to the email address affiliated with the band via email.
Remediation
On Bandcamp’s ‘about’ page, the site describes itself as an “online record store and music community”. Using The Mountain Goats’ page as an example, a comparison can be made with each their page on Bandcamp and a physical record store, as well as a printed catalogue. On The Mountain Goats’ page, there are two sections: the discography and the merchandise. These provide a list of items that an audience member can purchase and have either downloaded to their device or mailed to their postal address. This function is similar to a printed catalogue where there is a display of purchasable items available to choose from, and a physical record store where items are sold and distributed. However, what makes The Mountain Goat’s page on Bandcamp work for online platforms and not through traditional mediums is that it allows for audiences to be able to easily access multiple contents in one space. For instance, users can listen to the album in full before purchasing it, read a full description of the album and get given the choice to purchase downloadable audio files, CDs, cassette tapes or vinyl records, depending on what the band made available.
Audience
For a majority of the interactions that fans have with artists on Bandcamp, including audiences of The Mountain Goats, the engagement is generally passive. On all artist and label pages on Bandcamp, music can be listened to for free. However, the experience is limited and will require direct support to allow features such as automatic loop and offline listening. On The Mountain Goats’ Bandcamp, all their music is required to be purchased to download the audio files. Doing this also allows for users with Bandcamp fan accounts to write a supportive comment to display on the album or single’s page. In other words, there is no free comments section for audio content, unlike on other online music platforms like SoundCloud. Another instance of the audience being required to show direct support is in order to view The Mountain Goats’ community page. The audience member needs to already be following the band with a Bandcamp ‘fan’ account.
From The Mountain Goats’ page design and description alone, the site’s target audience is mature. The themes that are present in the album titles and covers also imply this. Considering the prominence of online transactions and lack of social interaction (compared to other music platforms like Soundcloud and Spotify), this also gives the impression that The Mountain Goats’ page, and a majority of other artist pages on Bandcamp, are targeted towards a more mature audience. Additionally, the overall aesthetic of The Mountain Goats’ Bandcamp page, as well as Bandcamp altogether, appears to have been influenced by late 2000s to early 2010s web which also appeals and relates to their intended target audience. This is due to the codes and conventions featured in the way that artist pages are formatted including its layout, page widths, Arial font, text size, lack of image borders and custom colours.
References
Bandcamp n.d, About Bandcamp, Bandcamp, viewed 30 August 2021, <https://bandcamp.com/about>
Boyd, D 2008, ‘Facebook's Privacy Trainwreck: Exposure, Invasion, and Social Convergence’, Convergence (London, England), Vol.14 (1), p.13-20
Choi, D & Valikangas, L 2001, ‘Patterns of strategy innovation’, European Management Journal, Vol.19, No.4, p.424-429
Darnielle, J 2010, The Mountain Goats | Bio, The Mountain Goats, viewed 5 September 2021, <https://web.archive.org/web/20100429185853/http://www.mountain-goats.com/bio.html>
Jenkins, H 2006, Convergence Culture: where old and new media collide, New York University Press, New York
Park S.E 2019, ‘Technological Convergence: Regulatory, Digital Privacy, and Data Security Issues’, Congressional Research Service, p.1-23
The Mountain Goats 2013-Present, Music | The Mountain Goats, viewed 30 August 2021, <https://themountaingoats.bandcamp.com/>
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