CARACTERIZACIÓN GEOMÉTRICA

The expression online presence is used to indicate the group of Internet sites occupied by a band, individual, organisation, event, and so forth. Broadly speaking, this includes not only the websites created and maintained by the given band (individual, etc.), but also any other related online content. Elle s’appelle’s online presence was dispersed across several websites. However, thinking in terms of the spatial metaphor of the centre and the periphery, it was possible to identify one central site. Borrowing a term from computer jargon, we could also refer to this as the ‘default’ site for the band. It was central in the sense of being a major node within the hyperlink network around the band, displaying links that led to more ‘peripheral’ sites; it also presented the largest amount of information on the band, which was also the most up-to-date; finally, it was the website that the band members themselves referred to most often – for example, during announcements at performances.100

In the case of Elle s’appelle, initially this ‘default’ site, the main referential point, was undoubtedly their MySpace.com profile page.101 However, this statement needs further specification. One crucial aspect of the distribution of online presence is the temporal

100 _{In a similar vein, Hine (2000) observes that ‘[d]ifferent levels of connection and different numbers}

of visitors produce a hierarchy of central and marginal sites. The result is a highly differentiated form of space’ (Hine 2000: 108).

element, that is, the fact that the centre(s) and peripheries may shift with time. Certain websites may become less frequented and/or less up-to date and gradually – or even suddenly – lose their central position, while others may become more popular and shift towards the centre. The MySpace.com profile functioned as the central online site for Elle s’appelle when the band started in early 2007, and maintained this role during the period when they played their first important gigs, released their first single, played Liverpool Music Week for the first time, and became gradually more popular, even if still mainly within Liverpool. Yet by the start of the year 2008, when they embarked on a UK-wide tour with fellow Liverpool band goFASTER>>, the online focus had begun to partly shift to their profile on Facebook.com. The MySpace site did not lose its importance, as both sites were updated and frequented by the musicians and fans alike regularly, and all key content – news items, blog entries – were posted to both sites, even if at times only through the use of cross-referential hyperlinks.

After the break-up of the band in August 2008, the founding member (singer and bass player) maintained and occasionally updated the MySpace profile due to continuing demand for their music (the number of plays of their tracks per day remained, in his words, ‘enormous’ following the break-up).102 The Facebook page also continued to exist at the time of writing, with a number of updates after the break-up posted by a different member of the band (singer and keyboard player). Looking at the distribution of blog posts, updates and comments – the source site can usually be identified even if the same content is simultaneously present on the Facebook and the MySpace band profile –, it appears that MySpace was kept alive mainly by the founding member of the band (hence its central position from the very start), while the Facebook page was maintained by the keyboard player. In other words, the shifting and distribution of centrality in the present case can be an indicator of the roles and division of labour within the band itself.

As noted in Chapter 3, MySpace Music profiles follow a more or less fixed structure provided by the portal. The profile of Elle s’appelle followed this template, without too much personalisation, as regards either the order or layout of the sections. The page began with the band name, followed by the generic labels (‘Pop / Powerpop / New Wave’), the motto (‘Hyperactive Nursery Rhymes’), the location (‘Liverpool, United Kingdom’), a profile views counter displaying the number of visits to the page, as well as further set indicators, basic pieces of information, and a contact box with the following functions: ‘msg’ (send message),

102 _{Based on both online evidence and face-to-face interview with the singer and bass player of Elle}

s’appelle (04 March 2009). The musician compared the number of plays per day to that of fellow Liverpool bands 28 Costumes and Hot Club de Paris, whose tracks were being played with significantly less frequency.

‘add’ (to friends), ‘chat’ (instant messaging), ‘invite’ (to a group), ‘share’ (with a friend), ‘save’ (to favourites), ‘block,’ and ‘rate.’ The ‘General Info’ table displayed information entered by the individual or group according to different categories (only the categories filled out by the owner appear on the profile). The profile of Elle s’appelle displayed

• the ‘member since’ date;

• the band members (only first names and instruments), as well as separate email

contacts (see below for detail);

• influences: the list of artists that influenced the band’s music;

• the ‘sounds like’ list: a further list of bands and artists, the ‘sounds’ of which the

band judges to be similar to theirs – this is intended to orientate the user browsing the profile with regard to musical style; finally,

• the ‘type of label.’

The displayed label was ‘None’ throughout the band’s career, regardless of the fact that they released a single under an independent label – in the particular context, the implication was that the band was not signed to any label in the traditional sense and did not intend to be associated with one.

A second notable fact is that the ‘member since’ date (17/05/2007) preceded the date of the first show at the Barfly club (01/06/2007) by two weeks, which means that the band had made their online ‘debut’ first. As the singer and bass player informed me, they were contacted online and invited to play at the Barfly with fellow Liverpool bands goFASTER>>, 28 Costumes and Indica Ritual after they had made their demo audio material available on MySpace. Besides this, the founding member of Elle s’appelle himself became acquainted with the other two members partly through their individual MySpace profiles. Friends had already recommended the prospective members as musicians, but following up on the recommendation, he visited their websites and decided to contact them.103 Therefore, while offline relationships proved to be important in the formation and initiation of the band, MySpace as a source of information also played a crucial role.

A comparison of ‘snapshots’ of the profile at different points in time does not indicate changes in the content discussed so far, with the only exception of the ‘Band members’ section. Here, the band kept updating the contact details following changes in their management: for example, on 14 February 2008, at the time of their UK ‘Bosspop!’ tour, they displayed separate email addresses ‘for bookings or general enquiries,’ ‘for press queries,’

‘for radio queries,’ and a collective email address for the band. The rest of the elements remained static, communicating a stable band identity.

The right side column of the profile page includes the ‘music player,’ which allows artists to upload their own songs. MySpace users can not only listen to these tracks by streaming,104 but also add any track to the music player on their own profiles with a single click – in other words, they can use the tracks uploaded by artists featured on MySpace to personalise their own profiles. This element of self-presentation then at the same time fulfils promotional purposes for the respective band or artist. In addition, the music profile owner can also opt for making their tracks available for download via MySpace, although Elle s’appelle’s profile did not enable this. Elle s’appelle’s music player usually featured five to six recorded tracks, including the two songs released as a single in November 2007 through the independent label Moshi Moshi Records.

One of the signature features of a MySpace music profile is undoubtedly the available audio tracks. This facility forms part of a wider trend of the ever-increasing significance of digital and Internet technology, in particular the online channels of music consumption, production and dissemination. This includes the easy and often free availability of music online in conjunction with online networking technology, whether for downloading or streaming. The technical facilities for distributing one’s own music online and soliciting feedback have ensured the exponentially growing popularity of MySpace and similar musician-friendly social networking sites among bands, artists, as well as, notably, promoters and record labels looking for artists. On the other hand, as one of my informants implicitly suggested, the plethora of ‘unknown’ but aspiring acts has also made the pursuit of a successful career more difficult for bands, precisely as a result of the over-saturation resulting from the popularity of this form of online presence.105

The example of importing tracks to profile pages already indicated that certain online elements can simultaneously fulfil functions of self-presentation and promotion, and we can find further examples of the convergence of communicative functions in features of the online profile. The music player on Elle s’appelle’s page is followed by the ‘upcoming shows’ section. During the time of the single release and the Bosspop! tour (Autumn 2007 – Spring

104 _{‘Streaming’ refers to playing online, without downloading the audio track.}

105 _{After the break-up of Elle s’appelle, the singer and bass player suggested that the band probably}

would have ‘made it’ before the time of the Internet – in his opinion, the abundance of bands online has made it more difficult for any individual band with a unique such as Elle s’appelle to stand out. While he was not certain of this, he suspected that the Internet has had a negative effect on the live music scene due to the fact that now ‘everything is available online’ (Face-to-face interview, 4 March 2009).

2008), the section listed at least twenty different forthcoming events on average (as mentioned in Chapter 3, the tour was a series of joint gigs with the band goFASTER>> organised by the Barfly club, beginning in February 2008). This abundance of gigs in itself strongly suggests that the mentioned period was a hugely eventful one for the band – the section in this sense simultaneously fulfils informational and promotional purposes by ‘advertising’ that the band are busy.

The list of shows is followed by the ‘latest blog entries’ section. During their active existence, the band used the blog frequently to report news and events, to express thanks to promoters or other bands, and to make announcements to the audience. The blog thus functioned as an important forum of communication towards people around the band. On the Facebook page, the same role was fulfilled by the so-called ‘updates,’ i.e. news entries automatically received by users who join the page as ‘fans’ of the band, which are also displayed on the site similarly to the blog entries on MySpace. This similarity can be viewed as an example for structurally slightly different forms of online communication serving the same function.

Below the blog entries, we find the ‘about’ section – a band biography, the ‘friend space’ with the ‘top friends,’ and the friends’ comments section. Within the ‘biography’ section, the band displayed videos: first, they posted the video for the single ‘Little Flame’ straight after its completion, later a preview from Elle s’appelle at ‘Treehouse Sessions’ from April 2008. The videos appear as an element of self-presentation and promotion similarly to the tracks in the music player; moreover, the ‘Little Flame’ video also makes reference to the event of releasing the new single (shortly after the release a note was added, informing the viewer that the Little Flame single had been sold out). For the period of the Liverpool Music Week 2007 festival (29 November – 9 December), the festival’s logo was also featured in this section. Lastly, quotes praising the band’s music were also cited here, serving the function of promotion as well as indicating that the band was the focus of external – music press – attention.

In summary, Elle s’appelle used the available MySpace music template without too much personalisation, adding all ‘required’ information and customary content106 such as music videos on the main site, as well as images from band photo shoots and live performances in the photo album. They nevertheless also employed subtle subversions such as citing authors and film directors under ‘influences,’ a space where bands and artists usually

106 _{This observation is made on the basis of the viewing of several hundred MySpace music profiles}

list their musical influences. This can be described as a dual composition of the band’s representation of identity: on the one hand, theirs profile is a symbolically bounded virtual space (signified by a URL i.e. web address) among extended online ‘population’ of bands and artists, each with their own bounded spaces. On the other hand, they express their individual identity through their unique choices and responses to, and subtle subversions of, the available structure and the perceived MySpace norm (the ‘usual’ answers).

Without accepting its deterministic binarism (along the lines of feminine – masculine), we can draw a parallel between this dual representation and Simmel’s theory of fashion: according to the theory, the phenomenon of fashion arises from the dual desire of identification with others – the ‘psychological tendency towards imitation’ (Simmel 1957: 542) –, as well as the desire of being separate from them – ‘the need of differentiation, the tendency towards dissimilarity’ (543). The duality of identification with and identification against norms is inherent in the notion of identity.