Throughout this course, we have explored the various digital, global and networked spaces we inhabit. As an “online publisher,” I would say that I have learned a multitude of things through simply creating an online presence and expanding it. For my website, I wanted to create a space that promotes and documents my progress as a musician. In Goffman’s reading, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1956), he explains his theory of there being a ‘backstage’ and ‘performance’ side to every individual (Goffmann, 1956). Using his dramaturgical model of social life, I would argue that this website serves to present a more personal side of who I am as an artist. Essentially, this platform is meant for my listeners/audience to get to know me for more than just my music. Media platforms like Instagram and Spotify make it easy for users to present and portray a fairly one-sided representation, but I want to inspire and encourage others to share their talents and passions through my story!
Audience Demographics/Analytics
Throughout this course, we had the ability to keep track of our statistics through websites like Google Analytics. After reviewing the data, I was surprised to see who my audience was and the various places they were located. Considering the fact that I am a musician based in Vancouver, BC, it was crazy to see how far my content has reached throughout the globe! In the image below, I have put together the data of my audience members within the platforms of Google Analytics, Youtube, and Spotify.
From the data, I noticed that there were a few common trends in my analytics. For instance, it can be seen that my target demographic ranges between individuals who are within the ages of 18-24. Likewise, across all three platforms, the results show that the majority of my audience is female. I would assume that because I am someone who writes songs about personal experiences, females would be more likely to relate to them compared to males. Geographically, the top countries in my audience can be found in Canada, the United States, the Philippines and Indonesia! Knowing these trends will help me create content and cater it towards these specific areas in the future!
In addition, I would define my public as young adults who listen and enjoy the musical genre of Acoustic/R&B. In Week 6, we learned that the term public can be defined as the social space created by the reflective circulation of discourse (Warner, 2002). I have catered my content towards that audience through singing/covering songs within that genre and creating warm and welcoming visuals/designs. Although my music is not something that can be held physically, I would say that I am providing my audience with songs and covers that they can consume and listen to through streaming and downloading on distribution platforms.
Now vs. The Start of the Semester
Looking back, I would say that my perspective of publication was limited to books, novels, news articles and newspapers. Given the many advancements made in technology and the various ways we consume media, I have grown to see that the publication of the self happens in our everyday lives. Throughout the semester, I have developed my own digital garden where I have cultivated my own little piece of the Internet. In Tanya Basu’s article, she defines a digital garden as a space that “explore[s] a wide variety of topics and are frequently adjusted and changed to show growth and learning, particularly among people with niche interests” (Basu, 2020). As the weeks developed, I continued to download various plugins and learned the importance of refining my voice through the process/blog posts created. I made the decision to remove comments on my website for the sole purpose of limiting certain interactions and feedback. Although user-interaction is great in many scenarios, I chose to limit these interactions on my site to keep the space as something I can confidently call my own.
Plans for the future
When it comes to my future monetization plans, I hope to continue gaining revenue through various platforms like YouTube and Spotify. Since I am still in the early stages of developing my website, I don’t plan on taking any further actions to monetize through WordPress. Instead, I hope to transform my site to provide more of a promotional asset to my brand. I see myself changing the format into more of a social media reference landing page like Linktree. Hopefully, by doing so my audience can easily access other social media platforms that feature my music/content in the future!
It’s hard to predict what may happen within the next few years. After this semester I would have finally completed my undergraduate degree and hopefully, be in the process applying for a full-time job. However, my main goal since the beginning has always been to finish school for my parents and then attempt to pursue music full-time for at least a year. I hope that over the next few years I will be able to support myself financially with something related to music. Whether it be working in an administrative position at a music distribution company, or even as an intern at Spotify, I hope that this website continues to be a space that I can creatively express myself and encourage others to do the same. There are still many things I have to endure, but I am excited for the lessons and growth to come!
References
Basu, T. (2020, September 03). Digital gardens let you cultivate your own little bit of the internet. Retrieved from https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/09/03/1007716/digital-gardens-let-you-cultivate-your-own-little-bit-of-the-internet/
Goffman, E. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Anchor Books.
Warner, Michael. 2002. “Publics and Counterpublics.” in Quarterly Journal of Speech. 88.4. Available from http://knowledgepublic.pbworks.com/f/warnerPubCounterP.pdf
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