If you happen to be in the Boston area, I’ll be giving a talk at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society. If you’re not, it will be webcast live and will be available on their website soon aftewards. Here is the abstract:

Entertainment industry professionals have generally related to their audiences in terms of economic (market) exchange while fans have generally related to one another in terms of social (gift) exchange. In the case of music, audience members have long exchanged albums, mixtapes, bootlegs, and friendship with one another while exchanging little but money for product with musicians. The internet has enabled audiences to connect with one another, to share music, and to become visible to and interact directly with artists in new ways. As a consequence, music industries, like all entertainment industries, are forced to rethink how they work. I argue they are increasingly pushed toward models of engagement with audiences that integrate social and economic exchange. This talk will address how this happens in the innovative case of independent Swedish artists and music labels and raise questions about how new systems of value and reward may be developing.

More information, including info on how to RSVP (required if you want to be there in person) is available here.  

I hope to see some of you there!