Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more information on Handbook of U.S. Latino Psychology

Understanding Representation Jen Webb

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
International Journal of Cultural Studies
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Condry, I.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Cultures of Music Piracy

An Ethnographic Comparison of the US and Japan

Ian Condry

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USAcondry{at}mit.edu

In 2003, the US recording industry, hoping to change what some view as a ‘culture of piracy’, initiated lawsuits against its own consumers. What is this culture of piracy and what is at stake in trying to change it? In this article, I take an ethnographic look at music file-sharing, and compare the situation in the US with Japan, the second largest music market in the world. My findings are based on fieldwork in Tokyo, and surveys and discussions with US college students. By considering the ways social dynamics and cultural orientations guide uses of digital media technology, I argue that a legal and political focus on ‘piracy’ ignores crucial aspects of file-sharing, and is misleading in the assumptions it makes for policy. A focus on fan participation in media success provides an alternative perspective on how to encourage flourishing music cultures.

Key Words: ethnography • fan cultures • file-sharing • internet • Japan • music • piracy • US

International Journal of Cultural Studies, Vol. 7, No. 3, 343-363 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/1367877904046412
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 International Journal of Cultural StudiesHome page
L. Yang
All for love: The Corn fandom, prosumers, and the Chinese way of creating a superstar
International Journal of Cultural Studies, September 1, 2009; 12(5): 527 - 543.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 SociologyHome page
J. Rutter and J. Bryce
The Consumption of Counterfeit Goods: `Here Be Pirates?'
Sociology, December 1, 2008; 42(6): 1146 - 1164.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 J ECON GEOGRHome page
A. Currah
Hollywood versus the Internet: the media and entertainment industries in a digital and networked economy
J. Econ. Geogr., August 1, 2006; 6(4): 439 - 468.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]