How consumers contribute to the development and continuity of a cultural market

Abstract

This article examines the “indie” music industry in South Korea. It describes a consumer-led market where network of consumers aided by social media take responsibility for its maintenance and development, specifically the market for indie music in South Korea. With the emergence of digital technology and a participatory culture, the roles of consumers have expanded. Through their commitment and passion for independent music, aided by social media, these consumers have developed a virtual indie music community, which uses a variety of mechanisms, such as producing podcasts, to promote its music. These non-traditional producers regard indie music as an important part of their lives and their existence, which is why they take responsibility for developing the indie community rather than leaving this to a profit-orientated music industry. Therefore, we demonstrate how in South Korea the production of indie music has ceased to be dominated by traditional actors, such as record labels, and is driven by the enthusiasm of music fans. Previous research on cultural markets suggests that consumers play critical roles in the formation and evolution of the market. This study sheds light on this process by depicting a cultural market that is governed by pro-social consumers (rather than anti-market resistance) who pursue a balanced approach between resistance to and negotiated harmony with commercial and social norms rather than drawing a simple boundary between “us” and “other”

Value and virtue in the sharing economy

“…The diffusion of digital technologies has meant that such processes of singularization have been appropriated by communities of collaborative consumption, in which consumers co-create the meaningful and affective universe within which a particular product can acquire value as a good. Such productive publics create value registers whereby specific products that might be indistinguishable to the uninitiated – like Indie music, for example (Choi & Burnes, 2016) – can be distinguished as more or less valuable, and thus singularized into goods.…”

Bonding and spreading

“…The recent emergence of consumer participation and consumer-led markets therefore suggests that markets, their formation, and their development cannot be managed only by producers' traditional means (Choi and Burnes, 2016).…”

“…The cardinal reason for developing relationships with their consumers is that cultural producers understand that consumers of cultural goods are key contributors to developing and maintaining cultural markets (Choi and Burnes, 2016). Cultural consumers are key contributors not only by circulating cultural content and creating new content using commercial resources, but also by organising communities that develop networks of relationships with other consumers who share their interests and passions (Arvidsson and Peitersen, 2013).…”

“…experiential, emotional, and contextual) values to products (Choi and Burnes, 2016;Figueiredo and Scaraboto, 2016). Often, consumers with common goals in digital networks who are geographically dispersed and loosely connected form collaborative consumer networks.…”

“…Not only that, but music consumers can also act as promoters and publicists (Baym and Burnett, 2009), financial supporters (Wikstrom, 2009), co-producers (Morris, 2014), and active actors in sustaining the market for music (Choi and Burnes, 2016). Such studies highlight, among other things, that producers in the recording industry should cultivate relationships with music consumers and that music consumers should be regarded as co-creators of value.…”