Trending Now: Social Media’s Role in Maintaining the Relevance of Jazz in the 21st Century

Published

14-3-2024

Type of Work

Conference Presentation

Abstract

Jazz as a genre has arguably moved between popular culture and high art over the past century, yet in the digital age, there is a move to firmly tether jazz into popular culture formats, particularly through social media. This paper explores the role of social media within dissemination practices between jazz artists and audiences as a crucial element in maintaining the relevance of jazz in 21st Century digital cultures. Increasingly short-form video formats, such as those characteristic of TikTok and Instagram Reels, are used by artists in diverse ways to express their brand, showcase new works and skills, promote tours, and communicate directly with audiences. However, such formats contrast with the traditionally long-form nature of jazz music, in turn encouraging new forms of creativity. Drawing on case studies, this research analyses the content of short-form videos by prominent jazz artists on social media. In this paper, we argue that in using social media platforms as part of their public-facing profile, musicians can both take advantage of - and be challenged by - the affordances of social media to capture and retain audience attention, and further maintain the relevance of jazz in popular cultures in the present.

Citation

Foran, S., & Istvandity, L. (2024, March 4). Trending Now: Social Media’s Role in Maintaining the Relevance of Jazz in the 21st Century. Jazz Futures Symposium, Australian National University. https://rsha.cass.anu.edu.au/events/jazz-futures-symposium

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