Crossing the Transmedia Frontier: The Growing Trend of Transmedia in Music Festivals in the United States
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Date
2011-06
Authors
Fisher, Alyssa
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Abstract
This study documents and explores the emerging trend of music festivals that
are incorporating transmedia narratives into their programming. Through a study of
music festivals, the concept of transmedia, and the emergence of a transmedia aspect to
music festivals, the reader will gain a background to the field. I will then expand with
three case study festivals: Midpoint Music Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio, Treasure Island
Music Festival, in San Francisco, California, and South by Southwest, a music, film and
interactive media festival in Austin, Texas. Through attendance, observation, and
interviews of those associated with the festivals, a few trends emerge. This study serves
to document these trends, and the place of a transmedia festival in a wider culture of
media-consumer interaction. As media becomes more personal and interactive, it plays an increasingly
constant role in our lives. A greater level of accessibility to multiple mediums has
created a more technologically savvy world, where the general populous knows how to
engage with and operate technology with ease and even an intrinsic ability. This allows
for information to be shared on several levels, through a variety of mediums and at
different points of depth. With this wider range of synonymous data, media producers
have been able to supplement mainstream content, like film, with alternative content,
such as viral Internet videos, websites with exclusive photograph and interview content,
and products such as books, magazines, and director’s notebooks. This change in consumer culture is reflected in many areas of media consumption, including media
festivals around the country.
The inclusion of what Henry Jenkins calls a ‘transmedia narrative’ into culture
has been well documented, especially by Jenkins. On his blog, Jenkins regularly
discusses the changing culture and transmedia’s contribution to those changes,
including effects on Hollywood, video games, education and music
(http://www.henryjenkins.org). Transmedia centers around a larger narrative of the
culture, event, or organization that is being represented through mediums. Transmedia
specifically builds upon one medium- whether that be a music festival, a movie, or a
comic book- and adds in any other form of media: video games, books, mobile phone
applications, toys- products that will inspire the customer to engage with the narrative,
and interact with the media. While transmedia was traditionally more of an engagement
initiative among movies, video games, etc., it has become more widespread and widely
defined as an everyday encounter between life, media, and branding. This new media proliferation into consumers’ lives allows for brands such as
music festivals to expand their programming and their footprint. In this study, I explore
how festivals are using transmedia to engage audiences, and ways in which they are able
to financially support these new ventures. Some programming trends that arise include
social media integration, digital documentation and sharing on the Internet, art
installations, and interactive media elements during the festival. Financial support
often comes from corporate sponsors looking to reach a new target audience, and larger umbrella organizations who run the festivals. The study of these trends and the music
festivals that are leading them reveals a new way to festival through transmedia
integration and audience engagement.
Description
63 p. A Master’s project presented to the Arts and Administration program of the University
of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master’s of
Science in Arts Management.
Keywords
Music festivals -- United States, Transmedia, Treasure Island Music Festival, MidPoint Music Festival, Interactive media, Interactive multimedia