The Affordances Of Repackaged Popular Music From The Past *** De betekenis en waarde van

232 Pages·2017·2.2 MB·English

The Affordances Of Repackaged Popular Music From The Past

***

De betekenis en waarde van opnieuw aangeboden populaire
muziek uit het verleden
ISBN: 978-90-76665-30-6

Publisher: ERMeCC – Erasmus Research Centre for Media, Communication and Culture
Cover design: Leon Pals
Printing: Ipskamp Printing, Enschede

© 2017 Simone Driessen
The Affordances Of Repackaged Popular Music From The Past

***

De betekenis en waarde van opnieuw aangeboden populaire
muziek uit het verleden

Thesis

to obtain the degree of Doctor from the
Erasmus University Rotterdam
by command of the
Rector Magnificus

Prof.dr. H.A.P. Pols

and in accordance with the decision of the Doctorate Board
The public defense shall be held on

Thursday 29 June at 11.30 hours
by

Simone Maria Robert Driessen
born in Roermond
Doctoral Committee:

Promotor: Prof.dr. M.S.S.E. Janssen

Other members: Dr. M. Duffett
Dr. H.J.C.J. Hitters
Prof.dr. S.L. Reijnders

Co-promotor: Dr. J.M. Engelbert
Acknowledgements
Over the past years, many people have contributed to this thesis, and I wish to express my gratitude
for their encouragement, inspiring stories, patience and endless optimism.
First, I would like to thank my supervisor Susanne Janssen, for giving me the opportunity to become
a PhD-lecturer in the Media and Communication department, her inspirational guidance, and
continuous faith and support throughout the years. It has been a great pleasure working with you. I
was very lucky to have Jiska Engelbert as co-supervisor. Jiska’s personal and academic support,
encouraging advice, and endless enthusiasm and faith have helped me through this intensive, yet
amazing, period.
I also want to thank those that have shared their stories with me as interviewees for this thesis.
Without them, it would not have been possible to write this dissertation. Also, I’d like to thank
Manuela Tecusan for proofreading this dissertation.
I had the pleasure of working together with a great group of lecturers in the Department of Media &
Communication, to conduct research in the company of ambitious peers at the Erasmus Research
Centre for Media, Culture and Communication (ERMeCC), the PhD Club and RMeS, and to have
had the help of the amazing support staff team of the M&C department. Many thanks to all of you!
I would particularly like to thank Etienne for being my Jedi-master in academia, life and
lecturing, and Rian, Yosha, and Anouk for being the most cherished companions in this PhD process.
Arno, Amanda, Abby, Emy, Janna, Leonieke, Niels, Pauwke, Qiong, Rhythma, Ruud, Rens, Rashid,
and Sharon: thank you for being great company in the office, at conferences or at coffee dates, and
your valuable advice and feedback on research or teaching.
Thank you Karin, Irena, Ivo, Jenny, Marleen, Maurice, Mitzi, Rosadinde, and Sofie for being
there, keeping me grounded, and distracting me when needed.
I am grateful to my parents, sister, and my dearest nephew and niece, Thimo and Amber, for
their encouragement and love.
Finally, I would like to express gratitude to the person who actually deserves a book of thanks: Leon,
all I can say is thank you. Your continuous support, patience, words of encouragement and wisdom,
and love have made this thesis a possibility.

Thank you all, for everything.

Table of Contents
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 11
1.1 Retromania ..................................................................................................................... 12
1.2 The value of retromania: The case of Top 2000 ............................................................ 14
1.3 Aims of the thesis ........................................................................................................... 16
1.4 Research questions and case studies .............................................................................. 18
1.5 Thesis structure .............................................................................................................. 20
2. Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................. 23
2.1 Taking the mainstream music audience seriously .......................................................... 23
2.1.1 The meaning of mass culture in everyday life ........................................................ 24
2.1.2 The active music audience ...................................................................................... 26
2.2 Mainstream music defined ............................................................................................. 29
2.2.1 Synthetic and organic mainstream music ................................................................ 29
2.2.2 Contextualizing mainstream popular music ............................................................ 31
2.3 Repackaged popular music ............................................................................................. 32
2.3.1 The rockumentary and nostalgia TV shows ............................................................ 36
2.3.2 The tribute band ...................................................................................................... 37
2.3.3 The popular music reunion ...................................................................................... 38
2.4 Affordances of repackaged music in everyday life ........................................................ 41
2.4.1 Mapping the field: Music and the life course .......................................................... 42
2.4.2 Making sense of the self through repackaged music ............................................... 46
2.5 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 49
3. Research Design and Method ........................................................................................ 51
3.1 Methodological considerations ...................................................................................... 51
3.2 Collecting meanings on repackaged music in life-course narratives ............................. 54
3.2.1 Interviews ................................................................................................................ 55
3.2.2 Qualitative content analysis .................................................................................... 60
3.3 Sample and participant selection in the different cases .................................................. 63
3.3.1 Sampling and recruiting in the one-off reunion: The Big Reunion ......................... 65
7
3.3.2 Sampling and recruiting in the survival act: The Backstreet Boys ......................... 66
3.3.3 Sampling and recruiting in Doe Maar’s recurring reunions .................................... 67
3.3.4 Implications of the sampling and recruiting process ............................................... 68
3.4 The analysis of data ........................................................................................................ 69
3.5 Aca-fan or fan-academic? .............................................................................................. 71
3.6 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 73
4. Reading the Big Reunion in the life course .................................................................. 75
4.1 Case study: The Big Reunion ......................................................................................... 77
4.2 The Big Reunion: Modes of repackaging ...................................................................... 80
4.2.1 The TV series .......................................................................................................... 80
4.2.2 The live dimension: The one-off reunion concerts ................................................. 83
4.2.3 Making sense of the Big Reunion phenomenon ...................................................... 85
4.3 Method ........................................................................................................................... 88
4.4 Results ............................................................................................................................ 91
4.4.1 A nostalgic reading of the Big Reunion .................................................................. 92
4.4.2 Being ironic, yet defending mockery ...................................................................... 97
4.4.3 Questioning the reunion formula ........................................................................... 104
4.5 Conclusion and discussion ........................................................................................... 107
5. How Continued Engagement with the Backstreet Boys Features in Long-Term
Fans’ Narratives about Their Life Course ..................................................................... 111
5.1 Case study: The Backstreet Boys ................................................................................. 112
5.2 Repackaging the Backstreet Boys ................................................................................ 116
5.3 Method ......................................................................................................................... 119
5.4 Results .......................................................................................................................... 122
5.4.1 Developing the self and one’s skills by being a fan .............................................. 123
5.4.2 Helpful and healing in times of transition ............................................................. 126
5.4.3 Feeling (more) connected to the band and fandom ............................................... 133
5.5 Conclusion and discussion ........................................................................................... 137
6. Exploring the Meaning of Doe Maar’s Recurring Reunions in Its Fans’ Lives ..... 143
8
6.1 Case study: Doe Maar .................................................................................................. 144
6.2 Repackaging Doe Maar: The recurring reunion ........................................................... 148
6.3 Method ......................................................................................................................... 151
6.4 Results .......................................................................................................................... 156
6.4.1 Reflecting on the younger self .............................................................................. 157
6.4.2 Reliving the 1980s ................................................................................................. 161
6.4.3 Doe Maar as a coping mechanism ......................................................................... 166
6.5 Conclusion and discussion ........................................................................................... 172
7. General Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 175
7.1 Scientific contribution: Taking repackaged music seriously ....................................... 175
7.1.1 Popular music fandom ........................................................................................... 179
7.1.2 Repackaged music in the life course ..................................................................... 181
7.2 Discussion and future research ..................................................................................... 182
7.3 Recommendations and practical implications .............................................................. 184
8. Bibliography ................................................................................................................. 189
Appendices ........................................................................................................................ 207
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 213
Samenvatting .................................................................................................................... 219
Portfolio ............................................................................................................................. 225
List of publications related to the PhD project .............................................................. 229
Curriculum Vitae ............................................................................................................. 231

9