| This dissertation examines the experience of popular music fan activity (fandom) as being driven by an impulse towards participation and direct involvement with the music or musicians, a seemingly universal desire among music fans. The impulse towards participation and interaction takes many forms, ranging from learning a musical instrument to reading interviews with performers and celebrities in order to learn about them. The practices studied here reorient popular musical performance and musical consumption so that the general public is invited to take part directly.;My dissertation studies in depth the electronic "noise music" scene and the practice of writing and reading music fan fiction on the Internet. These fan activities fall into a liminal space between emulative practices and more passive music consumption. I analyze the noise music scene, both globally and locally in Denver, as an example of a radically participatory activity that rejects notions of musical competence, celebrity, and professionalism in favor of a chaotic and egalitarian ethos. Music fan fiction, by contrast, encourages creative participation through the deconstruction of celebrity identity, using the flexible and artificial nature of musical celebrity as an avenue for writing original works of fiction that feature music celebrities as characters. Music fan fiction writers and readers often do not participate directly in the world of popular music beyond attending concerts and poring over interviews and videos, but instead create an alternative space in which they can share their stories and discuss both the bands and the fan fiction community.;I approach these two practices from both a theoretical and ethnographic framework, including interviews and surveys of participants. I begin with an explication of the historical relationship between fans, celebrities, and the media before examining my case studies in greater detail. In both case studies, I find that these activities have a symbiotic yet often conflicted relationship both to technology and to the music industry. Finally, I explore how new online technologies are facilitating fan participation and creativity while also enabling the music industry to make greater use of fans as a resource for promotion. |
