Thesis(Ph.D. (Communication Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Digital technologies are increasingly revolutionising music consumption patterns
globally. Consequently, there is an emerging culture in which online tools have
become primary platforms for music consumption. In this postmodern era, digital
technologies make music easily accessed, consumed and shared, thereby providing
a seemingly global recognition to artistes beyond their immediate geographical
market. As a result, artistes sometimes distribute their music for free with the
intention to reach potential consumers. Equally, these technologies also allow
consumers to illegally access and share music freely without financial compensation
to the artistes. At the same time artistes also sell their music through different online
stores to generate revenue. Alongside these developments, there are challenges
with access to the Internet in South Africa with older adults and those in rural areas
being disadvantaged, and the cost of Internet curtailing what youths can afford to do
online. This then prompts critical questions: How do older adults and youth listen to
music? Where and how do they access music? How does the new digitalised music
affect their music consumption? What are the implications of all these to the social
capital and social lifestyles of youth and older South African adults? Also, how has
the digitalisation of music impacted on the political economy of the music industry in
South Africa? In what ways do the illegal and legal downloads of music benefit or
disadvantage local artistes?
From a critical theorisation of an emerging ‘download culture’ and a discussion of the
postmodern technological turn, this study examined a case study of South African
youth and older adults’ music consumption pattern. Through a survey of 202
university students in a rural South African university and 100 older adults from semi rural areas of Limpopo Province in South Africa, the study examined the ways youth
and older adults access and consume music. It explored music sharing habits and
opinions about piracy in a culture where music has become instantaneously
shareable. Apart from findings from this study, new knowledge and a contribution to
communication scholarship is presented here with a proposal of new theory of
‘download culture’. Fundamental to this study is the implications of download culture
for the creative industry, predominantly, its impact on the South African music
industry. The data show that this cohort of South African youth are not different from
youths globally, where music is accessed through mobile cell phones. This study
also reflects that many older adults do not access digitalised music due to socio economic conditions and challenges of technology access. Nevertheless, the social cultural impact of this has repercussions on the cultural well-being of this vital group
in society. Although internet access challenges persist, a critical concern is the
blurring distinctions about the legal and illegal download of music. / National Institute for the Humanities and Social
Sciences (NIHSS), in collaboration with the South African Humanities Deans Association (SAHUDA)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ul/oai:ulspace.ul.ac.za:10386/4236 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Kgasago, Tshepho Justice |
| Contributors | Oyedemi, T. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | xvii, 277 leaves |
| Relation |
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