Jordi López-Sintas

Scale and periodicities of recorded music consumption : reconciling Bourdieu's theory of taste with facts

Recent data show that middle class consumers have an omnivorous pattern of consumption or tastes, contrary to Bourdieus predictions of a snob pattern of consumption. To explore the implications of Bourdieus framework for omnivorousness further, we make use of the anthropological view of consumption to analyse Spaniards’ musical tastes and consumption. Results showed a variety of omnivorous patterns of musical consumption associated with upscale consumers: a higher position on the social ladder was linked to more omnivorous tastes and greater use of technologies that free the consumer from fixed periodicities in music consumption. We found that different types (economic, social and cultural) and levels of capital do configure subjects’ structural constraints and hence, their tastes in musical genres and the technological media used to consume them. Consequently, the combination of all three types of capital helps to explain the omnivorous consumption (elitist but inclusive as well) of upscale consumers.

A contextual theory of accessing music: Consumer behavior and ethical arguments

Previous research into the ethics of accessing information goods using alternative means (the informal economy or social exchanges) has failed to study the moral arguments used by music consumers to justify their behavior or explain actions they considered to be (un)ethical. To fill this gap, we conducted a study from the perspective of music consumers in which we grounded a theory that would explain and predict individual arguments and behavior. Our findings suggest that the morality of accessing culture depends on the social, economic and cultural context in which an individual has been raised. Interestingly, this contextual aspect interacts with economic and cultural resources, affecting the moral arguments used to justify behavior. Lastly, we describe a model that explains variations in the contextual theory in regard to accessing music and that predicts consumer behavior in other countries that can be classified in either of the two contexts delineated in our research.

A Social Theory of Internet Uses Based on Consumption Scale and Linkage Needs

The authors analyze the understudied relationship between social class and Internet-in-practice in the Spanish social space in order to develop a social theory of Internet use based on the concepts of scale of consumption, technological, social, and information linkage needs of individuals, and Bourdieu’s suggested homology between the social and consumption spaces. The authors test their theory with interdependence methods of analysis, which are suitable methodological instrument for relating Internet uses to social structure through the concepts of scale and linkage needs. The authors’ theory suggests that, since Internet uses are socially structured, the first-level digital divide may be reduced but will not disappear, and Internet uses will continue to differ (second-level digital divide). The theory not only explains Spaniards’ Internet use and more recent empirical findings but also proposes answers to critical contemporary social questions regarding the use of digital technologies and the digital inequality debate.

Young people’s leisure patterns: testing social age, social gender, and linguistic capital hypotheses

ABSTRACT We analysed young people’s leisure activities in order to identify their leisure habitus, discover how they combined activities into leisure patterns, and examine how leisure patterns were socially structured. We argue that the effects of age, gender, and language on how young people’s leisure patterns are structured are mediated by social class. We found that leisure practices could be classified in terms of three habitus: the frequent leisure habitus, the cultural activity habitus, and the social vs. entertainment habitus. The different combinations of these three leisure habitus by young people resulted in four patterns which we refer to as social, omnivorous, entertainment, and religious leisure patterns. The association of leisure patterns with indicators of social position suggests that, as predicted by our theoretical framework, age, gender, and language effects are diminished once we take into account the mediating role of social class. Young people’s leisure practices are therefore socially differentiated, with young immigrants forming a vulnerable group that should be the particular focus of youth leisure policies.

Social leisure in the digital age

The fact that leisure is a social activity is recognized by individuals in this study as well as by researchers both past and present. However, free-time activities differ in their social dimension. Since digital technologies alter the meaning of leisure activities, they may also affect their social properties. In order to examine, within the constructivist/interpretive paradigm, the social properties of digital leisure activities, the authors analyzed the narratives of 30 users of home-based digital technologies for leisure purposes. Their results suggest that digital leisure activities have social properties which differ from those of traditional leisure activities. The social properties of digital technologies transform the meaning of leisure activities, creating interconnected leisure spaces where it is possible to be socially connected and available.

Home-based digital leisure

ABSTRACT The introduction and domestication of the information and communication technologies –ICT, in the home has transformed leisure activities Now, those technologies have an important role on leisure of households’ members and the transformation in leisure activities and experiences is a necessary issue to explore, because we actually know little about these changes and transformations. Leisure at home has a digital aspect we called here as home-based digital leisure. In this article we expose some aspects from a study developed under a constructivist and interpretive perspective, analysing 30 informants narratives that explain leisure activities undertaken during informant’s free time at home, using any kind of digital technologies in different households of Barcelona, Spain. Analysis was conducted under thematic analysis to construct and interpret texts, looking for patterns, creating categories and properties to find themes and elements shared in order to describe and interpret how digital technologies have transformed home-based leisure activities. Main findings show how individuals use available technologies for home-based leisure activities, how traditional leisure activities are changing, how domestic leisure and individual and household maintenance activities overlap, and how the appeal of traditional leisure activities has changed in the home when digital leisure activities are performed. Changes brought about are qualitatively different from those produced by radio and television devices, digital technologies increase the exposure to different experiences and allow people to control them. Technologies consumption for leisure is no longer homogeneous within household members due to the nature of ICT and Internet, narrative led us to report how our informants have greater freedom regarding their choice to do home-based leisure activities with more satisfaction given a decrease in time and money costs. Findings can be used for the design and development of home leisure technologies and services. There is an opportunity to go deeper and find more information about digital leisure in other areas of people’s life, considering social connections and according to the evolution of digital technologies, devices and applications.

In and out of everyday life through film experiences: an analysis of two social spaces as leisure frames

Abstract The new information and communication technologies have made it possible to view films in different spaces. Using the symbolic interactionist framework as a frame of analysis, we interpret the meaning of the two experiences of viewing technology-mediated films in the home and in the cinema. We conducted field research during the first half of 2009, digitally recording 16 interviews with research participants living in Barcelona (Spain). The interviews were transcribed verbatim with the help of voice-recognition software. Reports from our research participants indicate that individuals considered only the cinema experience to be a true leisure activity, while the home experience was interpreted as a routine recreational activity. Therefore, the meanings of the film-viewing activity were associated with the symbolic properties of the frames of interpretation. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings for the home as a unified centre where shared meanings are co-produced by family members.

Home-based digital leisure: Doing the same leisure activities, but digital

Abstract The introduction of the information and communication technologies in the home has transformed free-time leisure activities. Adopting a constructivist and interpretive perspective, we analysed 30 individual narratives in order to describe how digital technologies have transformed home-based leisure activities. The findings show that the changes brought about are qualitatively different from those produced by previous technological devices. The digital technologies have not only increased exposure to different experiences, they also allow people to control those experiences. The consumption of experiences is no longer homogeneous among household members and individuals now have greater freedom regarding their choice of home-based leisure activities. The findings of this study, suggest that digital leisure has transformed home-based leisure, can be used to understand home-based leisure technologies. Further studies are required to explore home-based digital leisure in other areas of people’s lives as digital technologies, devices and applications evolve.

The Opera Experience: Performing a Vibrato with the Audience

Abstract Audience development is a key issue in the cultural sector, so opera house managers and policy makers need to understand how and why opera goers enjoy an opera. Our research, which investigates opera enjoyment, is framed in the social constructivist paradigm and draws on interview data collected from 15 informants. Results suggest that certain pre-conditions are necessary to be able to enjoy an opera, mainly, being cultivated and actively acquiring a liking for the genre. As for strategies to prepare for an upcoming performance, some respondents approached it as a ‘special day’, while others viewed it as a ‘cultural experience’. For all our respondents, the experience was an emotional one. We conclude the article by discussing the implications of the results of our research.

The Social Network Gamer’s Experience of Play A Netnography of Restaurant City on Facebook

We address the subjective experience of social network gamers playing Restaurant City, a game hosted on Facebook. We adopted a netnographic approach to studying the culture of transient Internet communities shaping the player off-line communities. Fieldwork was conducted over the entire life span of the game (3 years). Data were analyzed using a qualitative thematic approach and the software EdEt. The results describe the evolution of the gaming experience through online interaction and its importance in everyday off-line life. Players were observed to play an important role in the production of social meanings associated with gaming and with the gaming community online and off-line. We discuss the implications of our findings regarding how the gaming process is a far more complex scenario than envisaged by a business vision based on acquisition, retention, and monetization.