Nancy Baym on Changing Relationships, Changing Industries

Entertainment industry professionals have generally related to their audiences in terms of economic (market) exchange while fans have generally related to one another in terms of social (gift) exchange. The internet has enabled audiences to connect with one another, to share music, and to become visible to and interact directly with artists in new ways.

Dr. Nancy Baym — author of Tune In, Log on: Soaps, Fandom, and On-Line Community and Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas — argues that musicians are increasingly pushed toward models of engagement with audiences that integrate social and economic exchange, and raises questions about how new systems of value and reward may be developing.