ABSTRACT

In this chapter, an analysis of the Russian social networking site VK is placed in contrast to the previous chapter on Spotify. If Spotify has developed as closely aligned to the music industry, VK has a history of being seen as a threat by the same industry. The centrality of music on the site is made possible by illegal file-sharing and there have been several music piracy lawsuits from major record labels filed against VK. But what are the distinctive features of VK as a site for music, and what possibilities for music use are facilitated through these? Starting from a discussion of earlier research on file-sharing and recorded culture, the chapter examines how music, possible to consume both through file-sharing and streaming, is organized and arranged within VK, and pinpoints how the site’s interface and architecture structure music in personal archives, on users’ walls, and in music communities. Significant for VK, and discussed here, is the overflow of recordings – including many different versions of the same song, live performances, as well as official and unofficial covers. This overflow presents a clear break with fixity and original recordings, aspects characteristic of recorded culture.