ABSTRACT
Global social media have become the site for the converging interests of media conglomerates, the world’s largest computer software company and the major music companies, along with the hundreds of millions of internet users who have adopted them. As such, the development of these services throughout the seminal period 2005–2010, is at the heart of the transformation taking place within the media and communications sector. The exploration of the components of the global media and music nexus, both from a corporate and a user perspective, gives insight into these transformations and thereby the characteristics of the processes associated with media globalization. It reveals how this nexus embodies a corporate/user duality. On the one hand, the historical, political, and economic examination gives insight into the corporate perspective—the tendencies and factors central in the development of the global social media environment. On the other hand, these services facilitate opportunities for user activity. These opportunities are being utilized by the group of electronic music practitioners in this study. This duality is what facilitates a new space for global mobility. In contrast to traditional audiovisual spaces, this space enhances the potential of the global social media users’ opportunities to operate, and communicate, within the media and communications infrastructure. These corporate services have come to play a role in allowing music practitioners to connect with music scenes, fans, and other practitioners locally and internationally. At the same time, this duality also facilitates extensive possibilities for commercial and corporate activity within these services, i.e., monetization strategies.
