社群媒體時代的台灣獨立音樂：台灣獨立歌手如何平衡創作、創業及行銷的調查研究 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學國際傳播英語碩士學位學程 International Master’s Program in International Communication Studies College of Communication National Chengchi University. 碩士論文 Master’s Thesis 社群媒體時代的台灣獨立音樂：台灣獨立歌手如何平衡創作、創業及行銷的調查研究 Taiwan Indie Music in the Social Media Era: an Empirical Investigation of How Taiwan Indie Singers Balance Creating, Entrepreneurship and Self-Promotion. Student: Andrew Huang Adviser: Professor Yi-Chieh Jessica Lin 林怡潔教授. 中華民國 107 年 1 月. January, 2018.

(2) 論文題目 Taiwan Indie Music in the Social Media Era: an Empirical Investigation of How Taiwan Indie Singers Balance Creating, Entrepreneurship and Self-Promotion. Student: Andrew Huang Advisor: Professor Yi-Chieh Jessica Lin 林怡潔教授. 國立政治大學國際傳播英語碩士學位學程碩士論文. A Thesis Submitted to International Master’s Program in International Communication Studies National Chengchi University In partial fulfillment of the Requirement For the degree of Master of Arts. 中華民國. 107. 年 1. January 2018 2. 月.

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(4) @ Copyright by Andrew Huang All rights reserved 2018. 4.

(5) Abstract This thesis investigates the mechanism of Taiwan's independent music sector and how Taiwanese independent musicians operate in the era of social media. Departing from an interest in the nature of independent music and the interactions between artist, audience and the market, I conduct in-depth interviews with 20 music professionals from the industry (including singers and behind-the-scene personnel) to derive multiperspective observation about the various stages of production chain of Taiwan’s independent music. The data is analyzed and discussed in details with the following themes: artist segmentation and positioning, music release and distribution, Facebook music promotion, live performance, storytelling, creating versus self-promotion, what they perceive as the “indie music spirit,” and finally what is the typical indie music career pattern. This research concludes that, in the realm of independent music publishing, veritable talent is the prerequisite to establishing a career. While digital music production and social media democratized the cost of music making and provides publicity access to everyone, the amount of time and expertise required for managing social media constraint indie singers so that only very few reach mainstream recognition through self-promotion in social media. However, many indie singers perceive their career goals as sharing stories through music rather than using music as means to reach fame and fortune.. 5.

(6) Acknowledgement The thesis owes its completion to assistance of many people. First, I am obliged to my advisor, Professor Yi-Chieh Jessica Lin, who spent a wealth of time and efforts facilitating me to revise my thesis in the whole process. With the guideline from my advisor, I am able to complete my thesis. Second, I want to take this opportunity to show my gratitude toward my two committee members professor Shefong Chung and professor Hsin Wen Hsu. With your decades of industry experience and probing, you inspired me to dig deeper to produce a more insightful thesis. I would like to express my attitude towards all the music industry singers and behindthe-scene talents for granting the interview and sharing your experiences and feedback with me. Your contribution to my thesis is what I will not forget. The unconditional support from my family, acquaintances and friends help me to go through the process. They provided me with constructive ideas and suggestions that illuminate me as I confronted the bottleneck. Without you, it is unlikely for me to complete the whole thesis process. Thank you all so much!!!. 6.

(7) TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval Page Copyright Page Abstract ………………………………………………………………..5 Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………6 Table of Contents ………………………………………………………7 List of Photos …………………………………………………………10 List of Referenced Charts ………………………………….................13. Chapter One: Introduction …………………………………................14 Chapter Two: Literature Review ……………………………………...19 Section One. Taiwan Indie Music Industry ………………….........20 2.1.1 Taiwan Indie Music Historical and Cultural Context ….20 2.1.2 Definition, Production Process, Creative Principle …….22 2.1.3 Roles of Independent Music Industry …………………..24 2.1.4 Taiwan Independent Music Subgenres …………………30 2.1.5 Artists as Entrepreneurs …………………………………32 2.1.6 Roles of Audience ……………………………………….33 2.1.7 Democratization of Music Production and the Media …..35 Section Two. Music Marketing on Facebook ……………………...39 Section Three. Word-of-Mouth ……………………………………42 Section Four. The Megaphone Effect ……………………………...46 7.

(8) 2.4.1 Personal Journal to Taste/Crafts Display ……………….46 2.4.2 Venturesome Taste Display ……………………………..47 2.4.3 From Community to Audience…………………………..47 2.4.4 Audience Maintenance Practices: Feigning Similarity and Self-Deprecation ………………………….48 2.4.5 Embracement of the Mass Market Brands, Without Losing Authenticity ………………………………………51 Chapter Three: Methodology …………………………………………..54 3.1 In-Depth Interview ………………………………………..54 3.2 Interviewees Overview and Credentials ………………......57 3.3 Interviewee Target Segmentation …………………………61 Chapter Four: Data Analysis …………………………………………...67 Section One: Democratization of Music Production and Distribution ……………...…………………………………………67 4.1.1 Music Production ………………………………………..67 4.1.2 Music Distribution ………………………………………67 Section Two: The Independent Music Journey …………………….70 4. 2.1 Motivation and Creative Principle ……………………...70 4. 2.2 Creating versus Self-Promotion ………………………...72 4. 2.3 Live Performance/Storytelling ………………………….73 4. 2.4 Artist as Entrepreneur …………………………………..76 4. 2.5 Roles of Audience ………………………………………78 4. 2.6 Independent Music Journey …………………………….82 8.

(9) Section Three: Social Media Marketing …………………………...84 4. 3.1 Five Consumer Psychological Motives for Joining Social Media ………………………………………….84 4. 3.2 Word-of-Mouth …………………………………………89 4. 3.3 The Megaphone Effect ………………………………….92 Section Four: the Independent Music Career Pattern …………….104 4. 4.1 The Independent Music Career Pattern ……………….104 4. 4.2 Finding ………………………………………………...105 Chapter Five: Conclusion ……………………………………………..108 References ……………………………………………………………..111 Appendix: Interview Questions ……………………………………….116. 9.

(10) LIST OF PHOTOS Photo 1. Indie singer William Chen’s StreetVoice song list and number of likes. (Source: William Chen’s Facebook, 2017) ………………………………………….79 Photo 2. Audience requesting song on indie singer William Chen’s upcoming concert on Facebook. (Source: William Chen’s Facebook, 2017) …………………………..80 Photo 3. Hakka singer Chen Wei-ru and Robin Tseng, both nominated for Golden Melody Awards in the Hakka category in 2017, hosted a pre-award concert together. (Source: Chen Wei-ru’s Facebook, 2017) …………………………………………..81 Photo 4. Hakka indie singer Chen Wei-ru and Robin Tseng posted an exclusive photo of their pre-performance moment on Facebook for their audiences. (Source: Chen Wei-ru’s Facebook, 2017) …………………………………………………………..85 Photo 5. Indie singer William Chen recently posted a photo of him petting a dog while on vacation in Taitung. This photo serves to show the warm and cuddly side of his personality. (Source: William Chen’s Facebook, 2017) …………………………….86 Photo 6. Indie singer Cliff Huang, an intellectual with great narrative skills, is versed at posting creative stories about his songs on Facebook. (Source: Cliff Huang’s Facebook, 2017) ……………………………………………………………………..87 Photo 7. For the concert of “Golden Melody Award Hakka Evening” held by Chen Wei-ru and Robin Tseng, they orchestrated a Facebook live streaming session to allow fans to view their live performance and their funny on-stage interaction. (Source: Chen Wei-ru’s Facebook, 2017) …………………………………………..................88 Photo 8. Hakka indie singer Chen Wei-ru is interviewed and profiled by a Hakka 10.

(11) culture website as a modern era Hakka singer in 2016, before his Golden Melody Awards nominations were announced in 2017. (Source: “New Hakka People Profile” online magazine, 2016) ……………………………………………………………...90 Photo 9. Indie singer Cliff Huang’s launch concert at The Witch Store for his debut EP ‘Before the Fog Dissipate’ attracted huge crowd and was reported by Sanlih news website. (Source: Cliff Huang’s Facebook, 2017) …………………………………..91 Photo 10. As socially conscious singer Cliff Huang’s reputation grows, fans’ comments pour in on his Facebook while he embarks on island-wide touring. (Source: Cliff Huang’s Facebook, 2017) ……………………………………………………...92 Photo 11. Indie singer Cliff Huang started his post of songs on StreetVoice as personal journal but slowly moved into taste display. (Source: Cliff Huang’s StreetVoice, 2017) ………………………………………………………………….......................93 Photo 12. Cliff Huang’s Facebook post for his new EP release and touring plan. The singer, in the beginning of his career, tries to answer all comments. (Source: Cliff Huang’s Facebook, 2017) …………………………………………………………...94 Photo 13. Even though after losing out in the Golden Melody Awards, Hakka singer Chen Wei-ru continues to receive news coverage because of the nominations. He joint DJ Do Tze’s (豆子) radio show at the Broadcasting Corp of China in late 2017. (Source: Chen Wei-ru’s Facebook, 2017) …………………………………………...97 Photo 14. Indie singer Cliff Huang is starting to attract huge audiences for his live performance. Enthusiastic audience even shot his performance and created music video for him. (Source: Cliff Huang’s Facebook, 2017) …………………………….98 Photo 15. Hakka singer Chen Wei-ru posted a Facebook photo of him working for 11.

(12) Apple Theater project and dissembling the stage prop, showing the daily side of his career. (Source: Chen Wei-ru’s Facebook, 2017) …………………………………..100 Photo 16. Hakka singer Chen Wei-ru posted a Facebook photo, complaining about his hectic work schedule and making fun of his bad skin condition. It shows his selfeffacing sense of humor and friendly side. (Source: Chen Wei-ru’s Facebook, 2017) ………………………………………………………………………………..101. 12.

(13) LIST OF REFERENCED CHARTS Chart 1. StreetVoice 2017 Year End Report Music Genre Chart. (StreetVoice, 2017) ………31 Chart 2. StreetVoice 2017 Year End Report Top Five Growth Genres Chart (Source: StreetVoice 2017 Year End Report.) ……………………………………....32. Chart 3. “Taiwan Mainstream Record Companies and Independent Music Production Method Comparison Table” by Jien Miao-ru’s essay “The Production Politics of Taiwan Independent Music.” (Jien, 2013) …………………………………………………...37. Chart 4. William Chen’s hit song “Never Came Back” music video is tallied to be the third most popular music film on YouTube Taiwan according to Storm Media article. (Source: Storm Media, 2017) ………………………………………………………102. Chart 5. William Chen’s hit song “Never Came Back” is ranked as the fifth most popular Mandarin song in 2017 according to the influential KKBOX yearly chart. (Source: KKBOX, 2018) …………………………………………………………………….103. 13.

(14) Chapter One: Introduction. With the birth of home computer music production software (for example, Apple's GarageBand comes free with every computer), the cost of professional music production plummeted drastically by the end of 1980's. The collapse of the physical album sales is instigated by the invention of home computer music production software, MP3 download in the 1990's and then music online streaming in the 2000's. In short, the advancement of music production technology changed the music market that had been around for 150 years. The technology of four-track analogue recording already existed in 1980's and allowed iconic band Nirvana to produce their debut album “Bleach” in 1988 in their basement with a measly budget of $606.17, enabling them to jumpstart the Grunge sound movement with this method of rusty, angstridden music. The four-track analogue recording could only produce rough-sounding music associated with the indie music of that era. In the subsequent decades, the arrival of digital music production allowed indie bands to produce albums with sounds nearly as polished as mainstream albums. The technology advancement of music production allowed the focus of indie music to shift from its early low-budget, rough music style to the choice of releasing album independently with more polished, unique, innovative style. The access and opportunity to pursue a personal artist career’s dream seems particularly enchanting and relevant in this current era. The genre of independent music and independent filmmaking has existed since the 1970’s in the western world. 14.

(15) Independent filmmakers or musicians used to be revered as demi gods with a rarefied mystique. Nowadays, everyone has the access to produce film and music and release them independently and virtually. This new era of democratized cultural product arrived at the convergence of digital music production method and the emergence of social media for any user to distribute information freely. Digitally produced (home computer made) music cuts what used to be millions of $US production cost down to a few thousand now. Professional music production becomes democratized and is available to anyone who is interested in pursuing it. It creates a new sector of independent music sector populated with musicians who have little bucks but passion galore. At the same time, the birth of MP3 and then online music streaming changed the way audiences consume music. With music playing device evolving from CD player to MP3 player to iPod then to any cell phone, listening to music is an act that can be carried at any moment in any occasion instead of a location with stereo. Independent music sector serves the role as an experiment lab for cutting-edge musicians to experiment fresh and innovative sounds. It specializes and encourages music with distinctive and experimental styles. Career savvy artists such as American superstar Madonna and Taiwan diva Zhang Hui-mei (張惠妹) routinely borrow and adopt elements of indie music to reinvent themselves to stay relevant. It also serves as a platform for music of social/political discourse (Sheng-Xiang Band (生祥樂團)) and for society's marginalized groups (No Party For Cao Dong (草東沒有派對) and hip. 15.

(16) hop group 911 (玖壹壹)). In addition, it accommodates diverse musicians with unique, innovative and highly personal music. Independent music symbolizes the democratization of any ordinary person to produce professional standard music; the rise of social media represents the democratization of the authority to convey message to mass audience. Independent music symbolizes the democratization of any ordinary person to produce professional standard music; the rise of social media represents the democratization of the authority to convey message to mass audience. Facebook was introduced into Taiwan in 2008, becoming the dominant social network method and a powerful music marketing Social media's forte in utilizing cutting-edge technology allows it to interact with readers/audiences far more efficiently than traditional media. Facebook’s algorithm system shows you the posts and opinions of a network of friends with similar lifestyle and education background. It would be far more accurate if you wish to know whether you will like a movie or an album by reading posts from your Facebook close friends than reading traditional media’s critics review. That explains why social media is upstaging traditional media and slowly replacing its role as the platform to deliver entertainment product reviews that’s geared towards audience lifestyle and taste. I explore why the word-of-mouth generated by social media can overpower the authoritative reviews written by professional critics published by traditional media. As any reader knows, all media, journalist and critic have their penchant and bias and particular styles. Very often, their personal or institutional taste is so transparent that 16.

(17) one doesn’t even need to finish reading a professional critic’s review to know his verdict. As a result, many readers stay away from certain media with editorial slant they do not appreciate. I conduct in-depth interviews with 20 music professionals to derive insight about the independent music sector. With these insights, I portray Taiwan’s indie music sector from the following perspectives: artist market segmentation and positioning, music distribution, social media music promotion, live performance, storytelling, creating versus self-promotion, the indie spirit, and finally what is the typical indie music career pattern. Currently, the independent music sector is facing a hurdle: it remains hugely unstructured and unindustrialized in comparison to the art-house film industry. The art film industry boasts three global film festivals (Berlin Film Festival, Venice Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival), which collectively rivals the Academy Awards (the Oscars) in influence. Music industry remains centered on the commercial oriented awards such as the Grammy in the U.S. and the Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan. However, in my opinion, if the independent music sector works hard in pooling individuals and groups' resources to build its industry infrastructure, promotion channel and awards ceremony, one could foresee a future when this sector becomes a robust market. Furthermore, one can never underestimate the possible arrival of newer music 17.

(18) technology. The film industry is currently enjoying a new boom introduced by the 3dimensional (3D) filming technology which is different from the old 3D method in the 1970’s. As the music industry moved from cassette to CD to MP3 to streaming in merely 30 years, one can't exclude the possibility of a new form of music consumption that might boost the market again.. 18.

(19) Chapter Two: Literature Review This literature review begins by referencing various articles to explain the roles of Taiwan independent music such as: allowing mainstream singers to express their ideas more freely without commercial concern, and serving as a platform for noncommercial music acts such as social consciousness music, and serving as a experimental lab for developing innovative, experimental music styles. I then discuss the democratization symbolized by independent music sector and social media. It then follows with a brief political and social summary of Taiwan’s independent music history in the past three decades, including definitions of what indie music involves (distribution channel, production method, creative principle), its evolution of terms in Taiwan’s history, the popular styles of Taiwan indie music, and finally the subgenres of Taiwan indie music. I also analyze the new responsibilities artist take on as an entrepreneur, overseeing the entire operation of his own music enterprise. Closely related to that is the growing importance of fans’ role as a co-creator, sponsor, investor and stakeholder. Past researches are consulted to examine how social media’s marketing methods are used for music (both mainstream and independent and worldwide) marketing to illustrate social media’s power to promote music. I use Word-ofMouth Effect theory to explain the power of social media and then use the Megaphone Effect as a theory to explain how the independent publishing world works.. 19.

(20) Section One: Taiwan Indie Music Industry 2.1.1 Taiwan Indie Music Historical and Cultural Context. According to the published forum article "The Origin of Taiwan Independent Music" with acclaimed music critic Ma Shi-fong (馬世芳) from "The Origin of Taiwan Independent Music" (He, 2010), Taiwan independent music originated with "underground music" in 1980's. The lift of Taiwan's Martial Law (戒嚴令) in 1987 introduced a new era of media proliferation. Before that, only three main TV stations and two newspapers were allowed to operate. Anything art work released outside the gridlock of these five outlets were considered "underground." Rock bands such as Red Ants (紅螞蟻) and Youth Band (青年樂團) were trailblazers who wrote and sang their own songs and released the albums independently. In the 80’s, any work released outside these mainstream sanctioned outlets had the mysterious, dangerous and forbidden aura and hence the term “underground.” The birth of digital music production in the late 1980's caused album production cost to drop drastically and allowed more aspirants to produce music.The rising of the opposition party Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) (民進黨) and the rise of Taiwan identity awareness and the Taiwanese dialect (台語) served as the political and social backdrop of Taiwan's indie music birth. The burgeoning democratic movement and the anti-establishment ethos in indie bands music fed on one another and led to cross pollination. 20.

(21) The album "Go Nuts Song" (抓狂歌) by the group Blacklist Workshop (黑名單工作室) and the debut album "Joyous Anal-Retentive" (肛門樂慾期作品集) by social protest band LTK Commune (濁水溪公社) in 1989 marked as early examples of Taiwan's independent music. Rock group Lutang (亂彈) won the Golden Melody Awards for Best Group for its debut album “Hope” (希望) in 1998. When the vocalist Chen Tai-hsiang (陳泰翔) went up the stage to accept the award, he proudly proclaimed that “Taiwan’s band era has arrived.” However, what happened later was the proliferation of indie music only rather than commercial success of indie music. As Ma puts it (He, 2010), Mayday (五月天) and Sodagreen (蘇打綠) are the only two Taiwan bands that have enjoyed mainstream label endorsement and commercial success. According to book Echo of the Time (時代迴音) edited by Li Ming-tsun (2015), only a handful of independent music acts achieved commercial success or mainstream recognition. These crossover acts include Mayday (五月天), Cheer Chen (陳綺貞), Sodagreen (蘇打綠) and Deserts Xuan (張懸). Despite these acts taking indie music into the mainstream market, it also means that the majority of indie musicians have stayed with niche audiences who have discerning taste. In Jien Miao-ru’s essay “The Production Politics of Taiwan Independent Music” (台灣獨立音樂的生產政治) (2013), she points out that the terms evolution of each era’s popular music implies the changing nature of the music production politics. One can see the current wave of indie bands as the descendant of the folk singer/songwriter during the campus folk song era (校園民歌) in the 1970s. The 21.

(22) name of each era’s popular music evolved from “popular music” (熱門音樂) in the 1980s, to underground/non-mainstream-alternative rock (地下音樂/非主流/另類搖滾) in the 1990s, then to band era/indie music/indie band (樂團時代/獨立音樂/獨立樂團) in the 2000s, then to indie label/DIY indie label (獨立廠牌/DIY 獨立廠牌) since 2007. With the term “indie music” since 2000s, its principles include pursuing creative freedom, not manipulated commercially, produced DIY and self-released.. 2.1.2 Definition, Production Process, Creative Principle According to music critic Ma Shi-fong (馬世芳) in the published forum article "The Origin of Taiwan Independent Music" (He, 2010), Taiwan independent music can be defined by factors including distribution, creative and production process, and creative principle. Distribution wise, Taiwan indie music is characterized by independently released music albums that rely on college radio and niche audience publications to promote to the niche audiences. Often, some indie singers or bands with certain level of recognition in the commercial market are able to cement deal for mainstream labels to distribute their independently produced albums on the national sales network. However, these indie albums lack the backing of the lavish music videos and TV commercial spots from mainstream music label. In terms of creative and production process, Taiwan's independent music is characterized by singer-songwriters and bands who perform their self-penned songs. In contrast, mainstream commercial singers mostly release albums with songs penned 22.

(23) by other professional songwriters and executed by brand name album producers. However, what truly marks "independent music" is originality in terms of music making. Taiwan indie music usually refers to independently produced music that focus on original musicality rather than catering to the audience or market demand. Indie music is characterized by more sincere, heart-felt, labor-of-passion music rather than the mostly tear-jerking commercial ballads produced by mainstream labels. As Ryan Hibbett states in “What Is Indie Rock?” (2005), the simplest definition of indie music refers to music not produced by a major international music label (AOL Time Warner, Universal, Sony Music, BMG, EMI) or one of its affiliates. However, indie rock can also be an esthetic genre, a tool of social differentiation and a means of marketing. Using Pierre Bourdieu's concept of “cultural capital,” Hibbett draws a parallel between indie rock and high art, both of which build its brand value through niche audience and therefore lack of mass audience. It requires specialized knowledge from the audience to fully appreciate the art form. However, in actual practice, each indie singer positions himself as “indie” artist according to his individual motive and purpose. Some indie singers declare they want to release the music they enjoy themselves independently because they realize their particular sound would not fit into the commercial market. Some indie singers brand them as “indie” currently only because they haven’t reached mainstream recognition. Acclaimed indie singer such as Deserts Xuan (張懸) is signed by Sony Music and has reached mainstream recognition but she continues to insist her music is “indie” in spirit. The term “independent music” is in fact an umbrella term that encompasses music artists of various methods and principles. There is rarely an indie 23.

(24) singer who fits all four factors cited by critic Ma as what define “indie music.” What qualifies as "independent" sways with each era and each artist. As a result, I will analyze my research data according how the singer chooses to define himself as “independent.”. 2.1.3 Roles of Independent Music Industry The term “independent music” can be first defined by its method of production, release and promotion. With advancing technology of such as Apple’s GarageBand and PC’s Ableton, what used to cost millions to produce two decades ago can be performed on home computer with extremely lost cost. This drastic drop in the cost of music production allows the democratization of music producing and gave birth to a new wave of independent musicians in the past two decades. In the book Pirate’s Dilemma by Matt Mason (2009), he opines that the end of top-down mass culture is creating opportunities and freedom for everyone in the world. The sub-culture trend started with Punk movement in the 70’s, which is an angry outcry against the rigid, established mainstream values and lifestyle. With each subsequent generation of sub-culture such as hip hop in the 1980’s, grunge in the 1990’s, indie music industry in the 2000’s and DIY movement today, these subculture eventually crossed over to the mainstream and successfully added its values and style to mass culture. The once monopolistic top-down mass system is facing competition from a bottom-up approach, which is turning mass culture into a more personalized, less centralized value system. Independent music sector symbolizes a new market structure in which individuals can produce, distribute and promote his 24.

(25) music freely. An individual is able to bring his personal, original and inventive style of music to the larger audience. With the booming of independent music sector, the rigid boundary between mainstream and independent music markets 30 years ago has become blurred. The rise of social media has allowed independent singers to gain success by connecting with their audiences directly, bypassing the authority of traditional media. In the book American Independent Cinema by Geoff King (2005), the author argues the booming of independent films in the U.S. since the 1980's represented a challenge to Hollywood. Subsequently, elements of indie films have been embraced and adopted by mainstream movies to a large extent. Formerly indie distributors such as Miramax and New Line became attached to Hollywood studios, while prominent indie talents (actors and directors) have moved on into mainstream market. According to the essay "Hou Hsiao-hsien New Cinema's Individual Concern and Artistic Spirit" (侯孝賢“新電影”的個體關懷與藝術精神) by China scholar Liu Yu-fong (2015), Hou's films are primarily concerned about artistic, experimental and philosophical principles, thus entirely ignoring audience-friendliness, entertainment values and commercial values. While art-house films and commercial films have been witnessing cross-pollination since the 1980's, Hou is quoted as declaring "I see arthouse film as an experimental lab. We experiment and develop innovative and adventurous film language here while mainstream films adopt the most successful elements from us." Independent music sector models its role after the independent, art-house film industry sector. It specializes and encourages music with diverse, experimental and 25.

(26) innovative styles. This sector of the music industry functions as the experiment lab for innovative musicians to experiment cutting-edge sounds. When a particular style of music becomes popular or acclaimed enough in the independent sector, it then gets adopted by mainstream music label and is introduced to the general music audiences for consumption. Independent music sector attracts mostly music critic, avid music lover and music aficionados and is in nature an elite market. The mainstream music industry serves the general audience with run-of-the-mill taste who simply demand entertainment value and catchy sound. A great example would be music artist Madonna who has enjoyed four decades of success and is known for her chameleon image change and shifts in music styles. Although often misunderstood as a talentless, sexy star who uses scandal to sell her products, Madonna is in fact an intellectual who stays updated with the latest underground music trends and chooses her mutating music styles wisely to complete her each stage of changing persona. Laura DeMarco’s article “30 years of Madonna: How the Queen of Pop used controversy, MTV and a talent for reinvention to craft one of the most successful careers in music history” printed in the Plain Dealer newspaper (2013) delineates each stage of Madonna’s music and image to constantly reinvent herself. In José I. Prieto-Arranz’s essay “The Semiotics of Performance and Success in Madonna” (2012), the author dissects and analyzes the magnetic live performance and music/image change in different era. Madonna’s major move of borrowing from the indie sector came with her 1998 album “Ray of Light,” which recruited young, emerging European producers to help her fashion an album of ambient, trip hop and house music songs. As 26.

(27) Rollingstone magazine’s music critic Rob Sheffield points out in his album review (Sheffield, 1998), this album introduced European ambient techno sounds as different from the traditional “dance music” to the American and global mass audiences. The success of this well-executed, stylish electronica album resurrected Madonna’s career from the debacle of “Erotica” in 1992. After enjoying a first decade as a pop star of romantic ballad and dance numbers, Taiwan’s reigning pop queen Zhang Hui-mei (張惠妹) ventured into edgy, innovative music with her alter-ego Amit (阿密特) to explore rock and alternative music style, finding greater acclaim in this past decade. Zhang achieved this feat by hiring independent producer Adia (阿弟仔) and indie songwriter such as Sandee Chan (陳珊妮) and Hush to deliver the fresh sounds she desires. Zhang has used this alterego to release album twice: "Amit" (阿密特) in 2009 and "Amit 2" (阿密特 2) in 2015. She won a Golden Melody Awards for Best Mandarin Female Singer with "Amit" in 2009. (Chen & Lin, 2016) Besides Zhang Hui-mei, pop diva Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) is probably the most popular female pop star of the past two decades. She went through a similar career trajectory as Zhang. Tsai started out as a sweet young female songstress singing sweet ballads, winning the moniker "young guys' killer" (少男殺手) in her early years. In attempt to move into a more mature and artistic image, Tsai moved into dance and electronica sounds since the album "Dancer" (舞孃) in 2006. In recent years, Tsai has become a pop star with suave image makeover and cutting-edge sounds. Her "Muse" album in 2012 incorporates elements of progressive house, techno, and trance while the album "Play" (呸) in 2014 experiments with elements of underground electronica 27.

(28) styles such as dubstep and trap music. She has cemented her status as Taiwan's supreme dancing songstress who is capable of borrowing cutting-edge sounds from the independent music sector and then sell it to mass audiences. Her music video for the song "Play" won the Red Dot Visual Design Award in German in 2015 and received a nomination by Berlin Music Video Awards in 2016. (Yiu, 2016) The practice of mainstream, established artists to borrow and adopt elements of innovative style/technique from fresh, younger talents in order to reinvent themselves and stay relevant has been a time-honored tradition in art history. This strategy could be described in different terms in different era. Since the booming of independent film and music since the 1980's, this practice has been discussed by many scholars as "mainstream" adopting "independent" elements in order to satiate audiences' eternal thirst for something innovative and fresh. With the innovative approach of creating in independent sector, some established mainstream singers have made foray into indie style music after establishing mainstream commercial success. Taiwanese singer-songwriter Joanna Wang (王若琳) started her career singing cover of nostalgic old songs as dictated by her record company Sony Music. Feeling misrepresented and manipulated, she ditched the oldies routine and made foray into experimental rock later in her career and found acclaim and confidence as an artist (Huang, 2010). Singaporean songstress Tanya Chua (蔡健雅) started out as a singer packaged by mainstream record company (Universal Records) but switched route to releasing albums independently, scoring three Golden Melody Award Best Female Mandarin Singer (金曲獎最佳國語女演唱人) award in the end. (Chen & Lin, 2016) 28.

(29) Apart from production/promotion method, the non-commercial nature of independent music sector allows musicians to express their ideas more freely through music and broadened the musical palette drastically. Most mainstream commercial music is characterized by love songs with contagious melody and easy-to-digest lyrics, aided by glamorous album art and photos. Independent music, on the other hand, is capable of exploring much more diverse musical genres and content. Independent music sector serves to accommodate music that functions as social, political and ideological discourse, which is not welcomed in the ballad-ridden commercial market. Acts such as Sheng-Xiang Band (生祥樂隊) -- Lin Sheng-Xiang won the Jury Prize at the Golden Melody Awards for his double-album “Besieged Village” (圍莊) in 2017-- and LTK Commune (濁水溪公社) who use music to communicate their social critique to audiences have had little commercial success but are treasured by media critics and fans as the consciousness of the society. (Chen, 2016) Indie punk band Fire EX‘s (滅火器) song “Dawning Light of the Island” (島嶼天光) became a symbolic anthem during the Sun Flower movement in 2016. (Ren, 2014) According to Bleu & Book, the single most popular music video from Taiwan region on YouTube in the year of 2016 is "Hip Hop Country Emotion" (嘻哈庄腳情) by southern Taiwan grassroots hip hop group 911 (玖壹壹), with the total view tallying 60 million. 911's two other music videos also entered into YouTube Taiwan's year end top 10 chart in 2014 and 2015. (Bleu & Book, 2017) Bleu & Book also points out the role of indie music sector to speak out for society’s marginalized groups. The other independent music band that enjoyed 29.

(30) overnight success in 2016 is No Party For Cao Dong (草東沒有派對) which excels in grassroots electronica. While 911 uses hip-hop to critiques the society in sarcastic tone, the latter wails about existential anguish and malaise for Taiwan's displaced youngsters. Both indie sensations serve as spokesperson for the disenfranchised youth of Taiwan. No Party For Cao Dong's meteoric rise in recent years enabled it to beat out former indie crossover power force MayDay (五月天) to win the Best Band Award at the Golden Melody Awards in 2017. Clearly, independent music industry excels in expressing the anger of society's marginalized groups who feel ignored by the mainstream. This music sector is also enjoying impressive economic profit by serving this under-represented consumer base.. 2.1.4 Taiwan Independent Music Subgenres Taiwan’s independent music industry accommodates diverse, innovative music styles not welcomed by the mainstream commercial market. In the article “2010 Taiwan Independent/Non Mainstream Music Year End Ranking,” Pixnet blogger iamnomoh ranks 10 top Taiwan indie bands that can serve as reference to the diverse music styles Taiwan’s indie music market offers. These albums include: post-hardcore with The Hindsight band (光景消失), British rock with Mary See the Future band, fusion jazz with Timeless Fusion Party (無限融合黨), acid jazz with Soft Lippa (蛋堡), funk/alternative rock with Fun People band, urban folk with Dadado Huang (黃玠), punk and blues with 88 Balaz (八十八顆芭樂籽), orchestra black metal with Manjusaka (曼珠沙華), alternative rock with Wavelight band (波光折返), and electronica with Empty Space on a Chessboard (棋盤上的空格). (iamnomoh, 2011) 30.

(31) In the StreetVoice 2017 Year End Report, the website released data that the site’s music is divided among the following genres in terms of market share: 43 percent in pop, 19 percent in folk and singer/songwriter, 12 percent in both Rock variety and world music, 9 percent in R&B/Swing, and finally 5 percent in electronica. (StreetVoice, 2017) Chart 1. StreetVoice 2017 Year End Report Music Genre Chart. (Source: StreetVoice 2017 Year End Report.) Even though pop genre continues to dominate StreetVoice's music repertoire, the yearly report's other chart points out that the top five fastest growing music genres on StreetVoice in 2017 include: world music, singer/songwriter, hip hop/rap, rock, and then electronica/dance respectively. Pop songs actually become the least growing 31.

(32) genre on StreetVoice in 2017, indicating that StreetVoice is indeed a music platform that caters to the niche market of indie music subculture fans with discerning taste who scorn pop music. Chart 2. StreetVoice 2017 Year End Report Top Five Growth Genres Chart. (Source: StreetVoice 2017 Year End Report.). 2.1.5 Artists as Entrepreneurs In Jeremy Wade Morris’ essay “Artists as Entrepreneurs, Fans as Workers” (2013), he points out the increasing integration of social media into music making and marketing has changed the roles of an artist. While social media has make the access of music release and exposure opportunity accessible to independent musicians, the pressure for artists have surged drastically as they take on additional duties such as art work curating, self-release, self-promotion, live performing execution, promotional content production by themselves. Artists have become cultural entrepreneurs who 32.

(33) must operate and oversee their own entire business enterprise. While the access to digital distribution and promotion in the current digital era is provided to indie musicians for free, the work of executing these distribution and promotion tasks must be carried out by indie musicians themselves. The independent music ecology also consists of other roles including at least but not limited to: administration assistant, event/performance booking assistant, fan page editor (小編), graphic designer, publicity photo photographer, and behind-the-scene photographer. A fan page editor (小編) is a professional hired to manage and curate the content of an indie musician’s flagship fan page. While most of the indie musicians who aren’t yet making profit with their music work manage their fan page by themselves, the role of a fan page editor illustrates how tasks in indie music sector can become industrialized if it starts to turn profit.. 2.1.6 Roles of Audience In Roberta Pearson’s essay “Fandom in the Digital Era” (2010), he argues that relationships between producer and consumer have become reconfigured in the digital economy. The rise of digital era has strongly impacted the role of fan, empowering and disempowering, blurring the lines between producers and consumers. Social media creates symbiotic relationships between singers and individual fans, giving rise to new forms of cultural production. In Patryk Galuszka’s essay “New Economy of Fandom” (2014), he investigates the five new roles that fans play in digital age: sponsors, co-creators of value, stakeholders, investors, and filters. These roles are new types of relationship between 33.

(34) fans and artists, which constitute a “new economy of fandom” in social media era. This new economy of fandom can be defined as a new infrastructure in which empowered fan communities use the democratizing powers of social media to communicate and collaborate with artists, without the mediation of music label. The emergence of this new fandom economy inevitably leads to redefining what it means to be a fan. In this new economic structure, fans are no longer passive consumers of cultural products but rather active co-creators, investors and filters. Fans cannot really consume without working. They are demanded to actively participate in the art work production, release and promotion process. The popularity of fundraising websites in Taiwan to help raise fund for the release of independent music albums illustrates the role of fan as sponsor, stakeholders and investors. Since its inception in 2012, Taiwan’s premier fundraising website Flying V has successfully funded 52 indie music projects, including ShengXiang Band’s (生祥樂隊) award-winning double-album “The Village Besieged” (圍庄), Echo Band’s (回聲樂團) 15th anniversary tour, Chthonic’s (閃靈) 2015 tour, and Ilid Kaolo’s (以莉·高露) second album “Beautiful Moments”(美好時刻). In the essay “The Practice of the Independent Record Label in Taiwan - A Case Study of White Wabbit Records” (Tai, 2005), author Tai Yun interviews key figures from Taiwan’s trademark indie label White Wabbit Records to investigate the mechanism of Taiwan independent music. He proposes that indie music production method has the qualities of low capital and high autonomy. Indie musicians enjoy higher freedom in both their music works and promotional activities. At the same time, indie music audiences also aggressively seek out the music they desire rather 34.

(35) then being fed information by mainstream media. Tai’s theory of audiences actively seeking out the cultural products coincides with what Hibbett (2005) states in “What Is Indie Rock?” that indie music is a product that specifically caters to niche audience. It therefore demands both specialized knowledge and active information seeking on the part of the audience.. 2.1.7 Democratization of Music Production and the Media The rise of digital music production since the 1980s cuts the formerly exorbitant music production cost down, democratizing music production and allowing everyone with interest to participate in making music. Since Facebook’s introduction into Taiwan in 2008, it has become the dominant platform of networking with friends and exchanging information, providing an additional platform for information apart from the traditional media. While independent music in Taiwan already has three decades' history, it’s fascinating to examine how the rise of social media influenced the new generation of indie musicians since the once monopolized power for information transmission is now given to everyone for free digitally or on the Internet. In the chapter “Popular Music, Independence and the Concept of the Alternative in Contemporary Capitalism” by David Hesmondhalgh and Leslie M. Meier (2015) from the book Media Independence: Working with Freedom Or Working for Free? they state that what has happened to indie and alternative music is symptomatic of a broader relationship between musician and recording company. They argue that digital music production technology has given birth to “democratization” of popular music 35.

(36) production and therefore led to a boom in the indie music sector. Nowadays, the authority to produce and release pop music or indie music has been taken away from mainstream music label and given to every ordinary person who has the interest to pursue it. In Jien Miao-ru’s essay “The Production Politics of Taiwan Independent Music” (台灣獨立音樂的生產政治) (2013), the author offers a data table for us to compare the production and promotion and release amount of both mainstream music companies and indie music labels in Taiwan.. 36.

(37) Chart 3: Taiwan Mainstream Record Companies and Independent Music Production Method Comparison Table. Album production cost Promotion fee Published album number per year. Mainstream. Indie Music. Indie Music. Record Company. Indie Label. DIY. NT$ 250,000 to. NT$100,000 to. NT$200,000. NT$200,000. NT$500,000 or. Several thousands.. less. Less than 10K. 100-150 albums. 100-150 albums. (the whole indie. (the whole indie. sector). sector). NT$ 2-5 million NT$ 3-30 million. 700-800 albums. Chen Wei-ru (陳瑋儒) Serena Zhang (詹冠纯) William Chen (陳. Avery Huang (黃. 鈺羲). 榮吉). Joan Lin (林明蓉). Cliff Huang (克里夫). My interviewees. Terry Lee Leung (梁永泰). Art Kuo (郭宏治). classification. Yu Su-ying. Tony Huang (黃偉. 謙). 豪). Annie Chen. (于蘇英). Ｍike Chang (張之. Ichun Tao 小陶. (小實). (陶逸群). Abnormal Trendy Illusion (異常流行幻象樂團) Thirteen Band (拾參樂團) 37.

(38) Huang Wei-jie (黃瑋傑) Accusefive Band (告五人樂團) Palette Band (調澀盤樂團) Party Sense Band (派對紳士樂團) (Source: Jien Miao-ru’s essay “The Production Politics of Taiwan Independent Music" (台灣獨立音樂的生產政治) (Jien, 2013)). One notes that Jien has further divided indie music production into labelsponsored and DIY home made albums. She cited a survey that Taiwan’s indie bands have grown from 600 bands in 2009 to 1500 bands in 2013. Her theory about the “production politics” of Taiwan’s Independent music points out the fact that one doesn’t need to break one’s bank account to produce an album of music to share with audiences. In addition to the democratization of music production/distribution, the emergence of social media also allowed many indie singers who have no access to mainstream media to promote their music by themselves. According to the article “Lin Sheng-Xiang’s 20 Years’ Career: the Near Dark Moments that 7 Golden Melody Awards Could not Shine on” (林生祥出道 20 年—7 座金曲獎也擦不亮的臨暗時刻) by journalist Fang Hui-zhen published in the authoritative Reporter (報導者) news website (2017), Lin went through a career low 38.

(39) phase since 2003 and could not even get any opportunity to perform live for fee in 2009. “I don’t even know why. I already won seven Golden Melody Awards and I couldn’t even support my family and kids. How ironic?!” The emerging of social media in Taiwan since 2011 provided access for indie musicians to promote their music for free. “My friend helped me set up Facebook account. I started managing my work, posting content on Facebook everyday. I reclaimed all the lost fans during these past six years.”. Section Two. Music Marketing on Facebook Facebook marketing has been utilized in all sorts of companies, including music industry. As A.M. Kaplan and M Haenlein state in the essay “Users of the World, Unite! The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media” (2012), Facebook allows the musician to establish the image of pop icon and also to promote their music by creating a conversation and interaction with fans and consumers on. In the essay “Online social networks and insights into marketing communications” (2007), AS Acar and M Polonsky argue that marketers are able to identify consumer tastes and likes, which is essential in creating market segmentation and targeting and positioning strategies. In the book Music, Social Media and Global Mobility: MySpace, Facebook, YouTube by OJ Mjos (2013), he examined the relationship between media, communication and globalization, investigated electronic music producers’ use of the global social media, such as MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter; illustrated the 39.

(40) significance of emerging connection between social media and music in a global context, and explored the aspects of production, distribution and consumption among electronic music producers as seeking for audiences' attention through social media. Britney Spears is one of the most successful female recording artists in contemporary music. In the essay “The Britney Spears Universe: Social Media and Viral Marketing at Its Best” by A.M. Kaplan and M. Haenlein (2012), they analyze how Britney Spears and her team create and maintain her celebrity brand image by using social media applications to communicate around the pop icon. In the essay “Korea Observer. From B2C to B2B: Selling Korean Pop Music in the Age of New Social Media” (Oh & Park, 2012), Oh and Park argues that K-pop industry establishes a new way of communication between artists and their fans in the entertainment product promotion by making use of social media such as Skype, Facebook, and YouTube. Other researchers have joined to analyze the K pop phenomenon. In the essay “Social distribution: K-pop fan practices in Indonesia and the 'Gangnam Style' phenomenon” (Jung & Shim, 2014), Jung and Shim argue that Kpop industry implemented social media marketing by forming partnerships with social media companies like Facebook and YouTube. YouTube has begun to act as an important role in live broadcasts of concerts and showcases for famous singers. It is apparent that K-pop industry is making use of the live broadcast functions of social media in order to approach potential overseas consumers. For instance, Psy’s HAPPENING concert in Seoul’s Sangam World Cup Stadium on 13 April 2013, was streamed live through YouTube in an estimated number of more than 120,000 "watching now" audiences. 40.

(41) The article “Seven New Trends in Digital Music Development 2016” (2016 年數位音樂發展的七個新趨勢) by Blow editor (2017) delineates strategies about how to maintain fans in the digital music era. It discusses tactics including: building playlist, exclusive release, Safe Harbour laws implication, the emergence of YouTuber and Live Streaming non-talent celebrities, Amazon’s entry into the digital music market, and the emergence of Greater China or pan Asia digital release system. It investigates and analyzes the new trends in digital music market and how they affect the efficacy of music marketing. (Blow editor, 2017). Live streaming as a new technological tool has slowly caught on with consumers. According to StreetVoice 2016 Year End Report, the top three live streaming music events hosted by the site in 2016 all passed one million viewings. These top three StreetVoice live streaming events include: Ma Yuen and Hush's "Singing Novice with Therapeutic Poet" (馬頔 + Hush 唱作新銳與療癒詩人) with 1,645,278 views, Hao Zhen and Zhao Zhao with "So You Can Listen to Folk this Way" (郝雲 + 趙照民謠原來可以這麼聽) with 1,508,056 views, and Chen Chushen with Faith Yang with "Feel the Heat underneath the Iceberg" (陳楚生＋楊乃文感受冰山下的火熱) with 1,024,293 views. (StreetVoice, 2016) Finally, one concludes with theories about the psychological motives of why consumers wish to participate in the various functions of social media. A study “The Use of Social Media for Artist Marketing: Music Industry Perspectives and Consumer Motivations” (Salo, Lankinen, & Mäntymäki. 2013) addresses the question of why consumers use social media especially in relation to music consumption and how music industry companies could refine their social media efforts by matching 41.

(42) company strategies with consumer motives. This study investigates the psychological motives for consumers in participating in social media activities regarding music product. As a result, this study found five motives for social media participation: (1) access to content, (2) sense of affinity, (3) participation, (4) interaction, and (5) social identity. For music marketing personnel this study offers a detailed social media strategy that corresponds with components of consumer motives for participation in social media featuring music entertainment.. Section Three. Word-of-Mouth According to the article “Networked narratives: Understanding Word-of-Mouth Marketing in Online Communities” (Kozinets et al., 2010), one of the marketing means through social media is viral marketing, a relatively new phenomenon and has been discussed in the literature under a various terms such as word-of-mouth, buzz marketing, stealth marketing, and word-of-mouth marketing. It is defined as electronic word-of-mouth through the use of social media applications as a form of marketing message transmitted in an exponentially growing way (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2011). It is a phenomenon that consumers mutually share and spread the information, which initially sent out by marketers to stimulate on word-of-mouth behaviors (Van der Lans et al. 2010). To create a viral marketing epidemic three conditions need to be fulfilled which is the right message to the right messengers in the right environment. (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2011). According to the book “Social Media Marketing” by T. L. Tuten and M. R. 42.

(43) Solomon (2015), social media provides a “horizontal revolution” in which information no longer flow from big companies or governments down to the rest of us. Today, each of us communicates by a click on a keypad and information flow across people. This new method of communication is performed by interconnected networks of people and communities enhanced by technology. Social media featuring its user-generated content and two-way interaction has been taken as the alternative platform for artist advertising or music advertising. Users love to use social media because it allows people to participate in producing and passing on the content. Social media platform users don’t get paid to contribute their content. However, they benefit from earning the respect and recognition of other users. This creates a reputation economy where the value that people exchange is measured in esteem as well as in dollars. The number of likes on social media and reviews on amazon.com carries equal power as the best album ranking published by traditional media. Central to the module of integrated alternative marketing is the concept of wordof-mouth (WOM) marketing, which seeks to allow consumers to try out the product for free and then disseminate positive word-of-mouth willingly. One huge advantage WOM marketing has over traditional form of advertising is that the conveyed messages are not seen as paid and possibly exaggerated advertisement but as true testaments from other satisfied customers. The other study titled “Effects of Word-of-Mouth Versus Traditional Marketing: Findings from an Internet Social Networking Site” by M. Trusov, R. E. Bucklin and K. Pauwels investigates the effect of word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing on member growth at an Internet social networking site and compare it with traditional marketing 43.

(44) vehicles. Because social network sites record the electronic invitations from existing members, outbound WOM can be precisely tracked. Along with traditional marketing, WOM can then be linked to the number of new members subsequently joining the site (sign-ups). Because of the endogeneity among WOM, new sign-ups, and traditional marketing activity, the authors employ a vector autoregressive (VAR) modeling approach. Results from the VAR model shows that WOM referrals have significantly longer carryover effects than traditional marketing moves and produce substantially higher response elasticity. This study confirms the fact that Word-of-Mouth marketing is far more powerful than the traditional media advertising. (Trusov, Bucklin, Pauwels. 2009) Trusov’s WOM theory explains why the word-of-mouth generated by social media can overpower the authoritative reviews written by professional critics published by traditional media. Facebook’s algorithm system shows you the posts and opinions of a network of friends with similar lifestyle and education background. It would be far more accurate if you wish to know if you will like a movie. Social media has emerged as the most efficient way of marketing because in contrast to possible political/social slant of traditional media, social media represents more honest wordof-mouth from the consumers. According to the essay “The Rise of Social Media and Its Impact on Mainstream Journalism” by Nic Newman (2009), the rise of social media and its participatory approach caused a historical shift of news transmission from institution-to-audience towards audience-to-audience directly. The option of exchanging news and opinions with like-minded friends on social media greatly challenges the way news was fed to 44.

(45) consumers by corporation before. In Robert M. Entman’s article “Framing Bias: Media in the Distribution of Power” (2007), agenda setting, framing and priming are regularly practiced by news institution according to their political affiliation and esthetic slant. Traditional media are known for their obvious news slant which seeks to influence the distribution of power in the society. Most readers can discern the slant of traditional media and would choose to avoid reading the media they dislike and favor online media or social media opinion instead. In the book Social Media Marketing by Tracy L. Tuten, and Michael R. Solomon (2017), they argue that when social media marketing first emerged, the focus was on organic participation; the media itself was free. Nowadays, social media have developed complex algorithms to customize each person’s experience. Social media is about relationships. Social publishing allows every normal person to share knowledge and experience with people. Participation and interaction are what draw audiences away from traditional media towards social media. However, the democratic nature of public opinion expression in the social media era can be used as well as abused. Word-of-mouth, which by definition means honest, sincere feedback from audiences, can be manufactured too. The Taiwan internet term “internet army” (網軍) refers to someone who is sent by a group with political slant under an anonymous identity to post content favorable to that group in a public forum. This is a strategically planned move used to simulate the word-of-mouth effect that could have been performed by non-paid audiences voluntarily. 45.

(46) In the essay "Is This a Fake Review? Analytics on Types of Opinion Posting and Social Network of Spammers" (這是業配文嗎？網軍的貼文型態與網絡分析) by Lin Yu-ruei (2016), he points out that many of the opinions posted on Taiwan's social media, BBS or forum sites could be fake review orchestrated by entertainment or political institutions as a means to promote their agenda.. Section Four. The Megaphone Effect In the article "The Megaphone Effect: Taste and Audience in Fashion Blogging" (McQuarrie, Miller & Phillips. 2013), the authors state that the Megaphone effect refers to the phenomenon that the Internet allows ordinary people the access to mass audience. Using 10 fashion bloggers as research sampling, the authors offer theoretical account of bloggers' success. Bloggers achieve fame (cultural capital) by publishing their writing and displaying their taste and opinions to the public. Although available data proved that the probability of indie singers to break into the mainstream market is very low, I apply this theory to explain and elucidate the privileged few ones who have achieved the feat.. 2.4.1 Personal Journal to Taste/Crafts Display The authors investigate bloggers to analyze their evolution in stages. Bloggers start from the initial position of an “ordinary” person who post their opinion on the Internet as a form of personal journal. Then their online personal journal becomes a 46.

(47) taste display. When the audiences find it to possess “finely grained vocabularies, opinionated and eclectic evaluations, more unique voices in addition to passionate appreciation,” audience starts to embrace these content by leaving comments or clicking “like” on Facebook.. 2.4.2 Venturesome Taste Display The authors argue that the bloggers’ opinions must be “both good and adventurous” because “an element of bluff” or “flair” is required for taste leadership. This theory coincides with the theory that independent music industry serves as a experimental lab for the mainstream music industry. For an independent singer to grab audiences, their music must be more cutting-edge and experimental in nature for them to succeed. Consumers are looking for fashion guidance that they can’t get from professional and institutional sources (the mainstream). By the same token, audiences do not seek for commercial, comfortable songs from the indie music sector; rather they do know and want to discover unique and innovational sounds from the indie sector.. 2.4.3 From Community to Audience The Megaphone Effect authors also propose the strategies of answering audience comments differ as they moved from musician community into public audience. In the early stage of their career, bloggers are willing to provide all sorts of personal information and answer all of audiences’ questions and remarks. After they acquire larger audiences, bloggers move into a phase in which they avoid answering specific questions and ignore suggestions for posts. As bloggers ignore 47.

(48) their followers more and more to gain autonomy from their audiences’ wishes, it’s perceived they are more worthy of audience because they have established their level of recognition and have distinguished themselves from being an ordinary person. The famed bloggers have established the fact they are persons with distinguished taste who are worthy of audiences’ attention. For example, music acts such as Sodagreen (蘇打綠) and Deserts Xuan (張懸) both started as indie acts and actively answered audience’s comments in their early days. Since they achieved fame, they switched to the practice of sparsely answering audience comments, thereby confirming the fact they are famous, established singers. Indie singer Deserts Xuan (張懸) has evolved from an independent singer with niche audiences to a public figure who is outspoken about social issues. Xuan made a public announcement in 2014 that she would retire from the public eye temporarily. As a result, her Facebook fan page is current in hiatus mode, displaying basic information about the singer and her works.. 2.4.4 Audience Maintenance Practices: Feigning Similarity and Self-Deprecation The authors also propose the theory that bloggers move from curating content to creating content (modeling themselves in photos). The photos they post move from snapshots style in the beginning to professional fashion magazine style image as they acquire more knowledge of the technical aspects of fashion photo shoot. Similar career trajectory happens as independent start out producing roughly made songs and 48.

(49) become more sophisticatedly technically in later stage without losing their flair of cutting-edge sound. After bloggers achieve enough cultural capital (fame and recognition of distinguished taste and crafts), they are able to exchange cultural capital into economic rewards (paid writing assignment and product endorsement) and social capital (social status and access to events previously available only to traditional media's professional critics/journalist). The authors argue that in the current Internet era, ordinary people are able to grab the megaphone for themselves without institutional certification or enablement (the recognition or endorsement of media conglomerate or mainstream music label). The authors also propose bloggers’ strategy in maintaining their audiences after they establish fame. After bloggers become recognized enough, they are perceived as not an ordinary consumer anymore. This poses a treat of losing audience and thus losing their newly gained position. Bloggers actively misrecognize their changed status and deny the fact that they are no longer ordinary consumers. This misrecognition can be carried out by two practices: feigning similarity with the audiences and self-deprecation. They feign similarity with the audiences by mentioning about mundane and ordinary aspects of their lives that downplay the glamor and rarefied status they enjoy now. The example of Deserts Xuan (張懸) will be used to illustrate this theory. Xuan made a public statement in 2014 to announce his hiatus from the public eye. She made the statement that “It’s a pity to drown in the endless act of maintaining fame and the operation of performance. The recognition I possessed before does not belong to me 49.

(50) actually (淹沒在無止盡的維持名氣和運作表演中，真的很可惜。擁有過的矚目，其實不屬於我。) (Xuan’s Facebook, 2014). She aims to claim that she is an ordinary person too and doesn’t enjoy the high recognition she achieved. With this public announcement of hiatus on her Facebook, Xuan chose a photo in which she wore casual jacket and blue jeans to convey visually that she is an ordinary person. Blogger/indie singer utilizes the act of self-deprecation by using a sense of humor to make fun of themselves. This can be accomplished by them complaining about their physical characteristics, bad life habits or their daily life embarrassing moments. For example, indie band Sodagreen (蘇打綠) achieved its career peak in 2016 with the album “Winter Hasn’t Ended” (冬未了) by sweeping five awards including Best Band Award, Best Lyrics Award, Best Arrangement Award, Best Album Award and Best Album Production Award at the Golden Melody Awards. The band announced its three-year hiatus right after this career zenith. The group’s vocalist Ching Fong (青峰) excels in using self-effacing humor to establish rapport with the public. This act of misrecognition is especially important for bloggers and independent singers who attain fame because they move from being an ordinary person to a recognized, skilled professional through their own act of taste display on the Internet rather than through endorsement from traditional institutional source (mainstream media or music label). Famous bloggers and indie singers need to walk a fine line of being an ordinary person and a famous person. Cultural capital can operate in unsuspected method to erase rather than enforce the boundary between an ordinary 50.