Final Web Ethnography Blog Post

Britney Spears and her Maturing Fan Base

Critical Review #8

"Mexican Ballads in the Modern Age"
Wald

Wald's main argument in this reading is that the corrido is a way for Mexicans to keep their culture and history alive, as he said it was a way"to transmit the news and cultural information that is of interest to its audience." The story telling characteristic of a corrido is something that has not changed over time despite changes in the sounds of the music.

This reading is relevant to what we are learning in class because it analyzes a subculture, its audience, and the connection between the two. In this case, the Mexican folk genre appeals mostly to mexicans, especially through its lyrics about mexican life.

Discussion Question:
I'm just a bit curious about this, I know it's a very vague question, but what is most important in corridos, the lyrics or "the music itself?"

"Cha-Cha with a Backbeat" -Flores

A main point that Flores seems to be making is the fusion of Latino music with both Afro-Cuban and African-American genres to create boogaloo is one of the most successful fusions of multiple cultures into one. This is especially done for the youth who listened to the music because the young Latinos, the Nuyoricans, would be torn between the music that their peers listened to and the music of their heritage. However, success would also seem to be a driving factor in bands creating that fusion sound.

This reading is relevant to what we are learning in class because Flores describes "the music itself" in musical terminology, referring to the back beats, the timbre, rhythm and percussions and other insturments. Flores also takes on an ethnographic point of view when he goes into the history of Latino funk to find its origins and the people and sounds that made it unique, for example Richie Ray and Eddie Palmieri.

Do you think that there is any type of music now that, "observes the [popular] dance moves closely and fits the rhythms and other musical qualities to the movements," the way that Richie Ray tried to? Why or why not?

Field notes #2

I.“BreatheHeavy. Com – The Number One Britney Spears Fansite With The Best Britney Spears News, Photos, and Media”

http://www.breatheheavy.com/exhale/viewthread.php?tid=142087

The site seems to be pretty popular. There is a list of tour dates and locations on the home page, as well as large photos that lead to the most recent news concerning Britney Spears. One of the stories I looked at was that Britney may appear in court to testify in a conservatorship-related case. I don’t know much about this topic, but one of the main arguments in the fan posts about this topic is whether or not Britney called lawyer, Jon Eardley, about the conservatorship issue.

Based on posts, there are fans of both gender, however it seems that there are more females.

It’s difficult to get an idea of their age because I am not a member of this fan site and also I don’t think age is information that people willingly give over the internet…

The fan site has data….? Amazing!

Averages:
187.51 posts per member
103,065.29 posts per forum
-119.78 replies per thread
1,532.97 posts per day
8.20 new members per day
57.31% of all members have posted.

Based on the data it seems that the fans who use this site are, for the most part, devoted fans who frequently have something to say about Britney’s current status.

II. Britney Spears Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/britneyspears

how could I possibly have forgotten about facebook as a place for Britney spears fans to gather? What a horrible ethnographer I am…

Well congratulations Britney, you have 1,159,883 fans.

Majority of her fans “look” like they are in either high school or college. They also range from different places, a few were from France, Egypt, Italy, and the U.S. There are male fans, but majority are girls. I’d predict a 1:10 boy : girl fan ratio.

The discussions did not start until November 2008. The first discussion post was made on November 7, 2008. I wonder why her face book discussions are so recent? It could be directly related to the date that her latest album, Circus, came out. Okay, Circus came out on December 2, 2008.

III. Britney Spears Myspace

http://www.myspace.com/britneyspears

a member of myspace since 10/20/2003

Uses this site to advertise her music in playlists and music videos. Also, she has chat boxes and a “b-line” so that fans can talk to her?...she also has an email list.

Fan count on myspace is 571,356 fans. I wonder if this number is lower than the Facebook number because they might have overlapped. For instance, maybe Facebook came out so that less people went on myspace and they signed up to be a Britney fan on Facebook instead.

Just like on Facebook, the myspace fan base is of both genders. However, on myspace, it looks like there is a more even ratio of girls to boys as Britney fans who make posts.

After looking through some of the posts that people have made about Britney Spears and the problems she is facing. Some people view Britney as intelligent, others don’t. Some just like the sound of her music, other just like the way she looks. Some people are just concerned about her health and her family, others think she is just doing the best with the situation she is in. I wonder what it means to truly be a fan of Britney Spears? Is it looking out for her best interest in your own opinion, or is it about just enjoying the music she produces and supporting her musical endeavors? Should fans really be that involved in an artist’s personal life?

Back part II

Back's main point in this part of the reading is that the way Afro-Caribbean and South Asian have mixed together to crossover racial boundaries and create new sounds is something amazing. These two cultures are able to cooperate, while at the same time holding on to the things that make it different.

This reading is relevant to the class because in the second part of Back's chapter, he exercises relfexivity in his writing when he is going to Peterborough for a show and he realized how it must seem for him, a white englishman, to attend a reggae concert. Along with reflexivity being an important part of being an ethnographer and writing an ethnographic piece, Back also has many ethnographic moments that he describes throughout the reading.

In the readings about heavy metal, growing out your hair was seen as a sign of loyalty to your band, your youth culture. This is similar to the way that youth involved with the reggae scene grow their hair into dreads. Are there any other similarities of the ideals or characteristics between reggae and metal?

"New Ethnicities and Urban Culture" - Back

Back's main point throughout this chapter is that the black working-class youth culture of Britain has evolved in many different ways since the post-war times. Back uses the term "cultural rhizomes" to refer to times when the culture reaches a point where it changes to form two different subcultures, and sometimes even mixes with completely different youth cultures to create completely new ones.

This reading is relevant to the class because of the examples of ethnographic field work that Back uses. A perfect example would be when Back attended a performance by Michael Ranks, an MC, and transcribed the whole performance, including crowd reaction and what the MC was saying. Back then went further to analyze the performance and answer the "why" question.


discussion question: Why does it seem like music that comes out of black youth cultures, for example hip-hop and soul, are so much better at evolving and fusing with and into new and different sounds? Or, can you think of any white youth cultures that have done similar changing and experienced "cultural rhizomes"?

Interviews

A = Allison (me)

SJ = Soo-Jean

D = Dexter

J = Jackson

A: So would you consider yourself a Britney spears fan?

SJ: YES! YES!

D: Definitely NOT!

J: No…one word answer; no.

A: what kind of people do you think are fans of Britney spears and how do you think her fan base has changed?

J: I mean look at Soo-Jean over there, fan base isn’t changing a whole lot.

A: well I mean like…we liked Britney spears when we were like pre-teen…not pre-teen

SJ: mmm…like 8.

J: and you still like Britney spears.

D: see but I think her fan base now is like catering to more people like your age…

A: do you feel like her fan base is staying the same?

J: she is a little bit like risqué dude. You know what I mean? Like some of her appeal…

SJ: but that doesn’t matter cause little kids don’t listen to the lyrics, it’s just more of the beat.

D: but they don’t listen to like electronic…

SJ: its more like when you get into the party scene…ish…or like the dances…or like middle school. I would say middle school cause you have dances…and you like hear all these things. And then obviously when you start driving cause you listen to the radio..so like definitely teens, like high school teens.

D: but not like…I don’t think she has a fan base like around 10 or 11. Cause they can’t relate to anything.

SJ: I think middle school for sure…middle schools pre-teens.

A: do you think she has changed her fan base?

SJ: no…its changed…older people like it.

D: I think people that started liking her when they were young still like her, but she’s having a hard time getting like 8 year olds and stuff….and its kinda like a reason you said before…her song lyrics now are getting a lot more political and…her challenging…“gimme” or whatever the song is…they just can’t relate to that you know?

J = (anonymous)

M = Mary Beth Lesbirel

A: Why do you think Britney spears has withstood the tests of time, even though its only like ten years…but it’s a lot in the fast paced world we live in today….? What kind of people do you think are fans of Britney spears? How does her fan base grow?

M: I guess she pulls a consistent fan base every time…I don’t know...people like me listened to her when she wasn’t that good…I mean the fact that she has evolved as an artist has helped her last over time….

J: because she continues to do what works for her, however she must have some really good people behind the scenes because they are staying with the pop trends…they are always putting out stuff that is hot and people are gonna like…from "hit me baby" to now, the sound definitely has changed…but they make sure that the stuff she comes out with is definitely gonna sell…I feel like Christina Aguilera tried to be pop but have her own sound….and Britney spears was always more popular…but Christina has a way better voice than Britney…but Britney's just an icon…whoever handles her sh*t knows their stuff…

J: twelve and thirteen year olds shouldn't necessarily be fans cause they don’t know what Britney spears is about..they are more attracted to the bad….i think the demographic has changed…

Serenade Me Under the Arch

There was a hype going around as I anticipated the Brown Derbies special performance at the arch between Morris and Champlin. There was not actually any hype about the performance amongst students on campus, and it wasn’t one of the things that you had to go to or else you’d be missing out on a critical college experience, it was just an acapella performance. Nevertheless, I was excited to attend my first arch sing ever, which could be why I was more enthusiastic than the average attendee. Sadly, in all my excitement I didn’t leave for the performance until 10:35, but when I got there they had just begun their performance, so I didn’t miss much.

The first thing that took me by surprise was the amount of people gathered under the arch. Although there were only about thirty or so people, I always thought of acapella as something that only the performers’ close friends would come to attend. But the fact that they had regular attendants and actual fans surprised me. While wearing my soccer sweatshirt and sweatpants, I felt very out of place as I looked around at the audience who thought of “casual” clothes as jeans, layered tops, jackets, and scarves. I was completely out of place, but once the Brown Derbies began to sing I could have cared less about what I was wearing. I don’t know what kind of songs I thought they were going to sing, but I never would have expected to hear a song by Yellowcard, an alternative band, at an acapella performance. From that point on, I looked exactly like every other person in the audience; I was smiling and truly enjoying myself.

I watched for a few minutes when I realized that the Brown Derbies usually perform in Wayland arch, but they were making a special appearance on the Pembroke side of campus because that is where their newest member, Austin Boxler, lives. Their acts were centered on the introduction of Austin into the Brown Derbies, which alluded to Simba being brought into the circle of life from the Lion King. In each of their acts the whole group would form a semi-circle around one or two “lead singers.” For each song that they sang, there was a different person singing the lead for the song. I had never been to an acapella performance before so I had no idea what to expect, but the fact that they each shared the spotlight gives me the impression that an acapella group functions as a unit where each member is important, a very “family” type of atmosphere. There was also a part of their performance that stood as a sort of “initiation” for Austin as a new member of the team; he had to tell a joke. Although he completed the task with ease, it was interesting to see the other members encouraging him with some jokes of their own. The fact that the Brown Derbies would come across campus to make a special performance just for their newest member portrays the acapella scene, in my point of view as an acapella rookie, as a friendly, courteous, and intimate scene.

For their main performance the Brown Derbies sang songs like “Say Yes,” by Elliot Smith, “Way Away,” by Yellowcard, and other songs that are available on their albums. Each song was executed so well, I even thought that they wrote one of the songs themselves because I’d never heard it before, but when they sang it sounded like it could have been. There were also a couple of the Brown Derbies that were not bass or alto’s, but they were beat boxers. Something like beat boxing, which is usually associated with hip-hop and rap, was a very interesting aspect of the performance. It enhanced the sound of the song as a whole by creating more dimensions, other than voices and humming. A key characteristic of acapella seems to be the ability for a group to make natural voices sound like instruments. The sound of multiple voices overlapping into a harmony is beautiful. When they sang “Say yes,” I was moved by the softness in their voices as the tempo of the song slowed and the emphasis on certain beats decreased. I even noticed a girl in the audience fanning away the tears that were accumulating in her eyes. The power of the human voice is not something that is limited to only speeches, but also includes songs and singing.

During the half hour that they performed, the Brown Derbies not only entertained the audience with their amazing voices, but also with some humorous improvisation antics and interaction with the crowd. As an old man walked through the arch during one of their songs, a Brown Derby exaggerated a courteous gesture to let the man through. In another song, the lead singer said, “If I could play a guitar it would look like this,” while pretending to play a guitar. These little parts that they creatively made up as they went made the performance more enjoyable by relieving and tension with humor. By creating an enjoyable atmosphere, the Brown Derbies were able to manipulate and connect with the audience on a level beyond the sound of their music.

After being surprised by the number of people that attended the acapella singing and how much I enjoyed the performance, I realized why there is an acapella scene. In a sad attempt at being a good ethnographer and talking with the members of the Brown Derbies and some of the people who were there, I was able to exchange a few words with one of the singers. However, due to the cold weather conditions and the fact that the Derbies were all going to the Blue State coffee shop, I wasn’t able to talk long. Just as he was walking away, the singer I was about to interview invited me to the coffee shop with the Derbies, and their close friends, to continue the interview. At this point I was convinced that the reason a scene that seems very uninteresting and slow paced like the acapella scene is still around is because they show the same respect and kindness to their audience that they do towards each other.

Although they only performed for a short thirty minutes, I was able to learn about the acapella scene at Brown University simply through observation. The courteousness that the Brown Derbies exercise amongst each other permeates into the audiences that come to watch them, creating a scene that holds these ideals in high regards. With a perfect balance between their comedic improvisation and uniformed outfits, the Brown Derbies are an example of an acapella group that captures the ears and hearts of its listeners. (1126 words)