The Swedish Model: Balancing Markets and Gifts in the Music Industry

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Issue Date
2011Author
Baym, Nancy K.
Publisher
Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, author accepted manuscript
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The internet has destabilized media industries. This article uses the case of Swedish independent music
labels, musicians, and fans to articulate one model for understanding the new roles each can take in this
new context. Interviews, participant observation, and popular media coverage are used to show how
labels and musicians in this scene loosely organize with fans to create a gift economy among
themselves. Although they seek to earn money, they are not focused getting it from the audience.
Instead, they engage the audience as equals with whom they can build a larger community that benefits
them all. The article shows how they use giving songs away and engaging directly with audience
members through the internet to pursue this goal. In contrast to discourses against file sharing, the
analysis demonstrates how media producers may reconcile themselves to the participatory culture of
the Internet.
Description
This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final publication is available from Taylor & Francis at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2011.536680.
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Citation
Baym, N. K. (2011). The Swedish Model: Balancing Markets and Gifts in the Music Industry. Popular Communication, 14(1), 22-38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2011.536680
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