Conference proceeding
Bluesfest Crushes: an exploration of fandom at a regional blues festival
Peer reviewed proceedings of the 4th Annual Conference, Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand (PopCAANZ), pp.259-273
Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand Annual Conference, 4th (Brisbane, Queensland, 24/06/2013 - 26/06/2013)
2013
Metrics
97 Record Views
Abstract
<p>Each Easter, outside the iconic beachside town of Byron Bay, thousands of music fans converge for Bluesfest – a five-day blues and roots festival where international musicians from rock, blues and roots traditions perform alongside rising local talent, as well as some of the more eclectic musicians from Australia and the rest of the world. Crucially, as part of the live music experience, the music festival enables ticketholders to engage in activities vital to being a fan. While fandom is an elusive concept, it may be partially measured through several indicators: buying artist merchandise, queuing for CD signing and/or photos, and attending musicians’ Q&A sessions. Through such activities, festival participants signal their legitimacy as fans and, often via social media, their membership of a larger cohort of fans. This research utilises university media students to query festival participants about their engagement in these participatory activities and their perspective on ‘being a fan’. What type of engagement and memorabilia is most valued by fans, and how is it acquired? What roles do social media play in the fan relationship? Our analysis identifies specific groups of fans, by their demographics, their newcomer/repeat visitor status, and their reports on how and why they chose to engage in fan-related activities while at Bluesfest. A further concern of the data analysis was to explore the possibility of an underlying ‘economy’ of fan relationships in the digital age.</p>
Details
- Title
- Bluesfest Crushes: an exploration of fandom at a regional blues festival
- Creators
- Jeanti St Clair - Southern Cross UniversityDenise N Rall - Southern Cross University
- Publication Details
- Peer reviewed proceedings of the 4th Annual Conference, Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand (PopCAANZ), pp.259-273
- Conference
- Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand Annual Conference, 4th (Brisbane, Queensland, 24/06/2013 - 26/06/2013)
- Publisher
- Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand; Wellington, New Zealand
- Number of pages
- 259-273
- Identifiers
- 2015; 991012821390202368
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Business, Law and Arts; School of Arts and Social Sciences; Creative Arts
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Conference proceeding