Fandom...why I don’t feel like a total dill.

I came across this very inspiring piece about fandom by two American university educators. Katherine Larsen teaches at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and Lynn S. Zubernis is associate professor of counsellor education at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Together they wrote a book titled Fangasm, about their adventures into the world of Supernatural Fangirls.

The women ask a great question in how can two mature, very educated women get caught in something like a fandom? They discuss how being involved in a fandom changed their personal and professional lives. They write about the development of their interest, venturing to the site of their fandom and most of all finding a legitimate research subject that incorporates their fandom.

These women are totally inspiring. I am looking forward to reading their book and watching the television series Supernatural.

Supernatural Fangirls How the cult sci-fi show turned two academics into experts on fandom—and crazy stalkers (no copyright infringement intended).

By Katherine Larsen and Lynn S. Zubernis

How did two academics researching the culture and politics of fandom wind up getting escorted off the set of a TV show by no-nonsense security guards? It was a long road from our university offices to that Vancouver hospital parking lot. Neither of us ever set out to study fandom. Neither of us even knew that a field called “fan studies” existed. We’re both professors, but our research interests weren’t exactly in pop culture. Kathy’s background is in British literature—old British literature. Lynn is a psychologist whose research reflected her experience as a clinician.

Everything changed when we fell in love with Supernatural , a sci-fi television show about two demon-hunting brothers whose family business is “saving people and hunting things.” We arranged our lives around air dates of new episodes (and then downloaded them the next day so we’d have something to tide us over until the next episode aired). We spent every spare moment reading fan fiction, downloading photos, watching fan videos, and immersing ourselves in every aspect of fandom. We emptied our wallets to buy DVD sets and collectibles and tickets to fan conventions. When we were together, we babbled in our secret fan language, to the consternation of family members who clearly thought we had lost it.

Our first Supernatural convention was the first time we felt like bona fide researchers. It was also the first time we felt like dangerous stalkers.

There were times when we wondered if they were right. Some people buy sports cars when they’re having a midlife crisis. Some people have affairs. Some start drinking. We fell for a television show. Fandom, for both of us, had been a refuge in the past in times of crisis—from the raging hormones and constant doubts of adolescence to the terrors of grad school statistics. It had provided a welcome respite during some rocky patches in both our lives, and now, as midlife loomed, we were both in need of a refuge once again, as well as a place to figure ourselves out for the second time. Who were we now, after defining ourselves as partners and mothers and professionals? What did we like, want, need, desire? What made us laugh, tugged at our heartstrings, turned us on?

Turns out we needed Supernatural.

Why Supernatural? Solid writing, an intricate mythology, scary monsters both literal and metaphorical. A story of love, loyalty, and family. An emotionally intense relationship between the main characters that generates enough chemistry to power a small city. Two very hot actors. Wasn’t that enough?

It probably would have been, but there was more. We could relate to the Winchester brothers. Both are damaged heroes who have put their own needs aside to save others. They feel deeply but show little. Putting our own needs aside and swallowing emotions was something we had both done too—for partners, children, career. Add to this the Winchesters’ appeal to anyone who’s ever felt like they don’t quite “fit in” with the rest of the world. Maybe your imagination takes you places that nobody else goes. Maybe you don’t fall in line with society’s expectations of what it means to be a man or a woman, or you’ve experienced difficulties that set you apart. Maybe you just happen to have the specifications of the USS Enterprise memorized, or can rattle off every detail of the last episode of Doctor Who. Sam and Dean Winchester don’t fit in either. They’re outsiders—but they’re also heroes. And they’re what we all recognize as family.

Rationally, we could certainly account for the appeal of Supernatural. But falling into fandom is like falling in love, and we weren’t necessarily operating rationally. These decisions—if they can even be called decisions—are made with the gut (or lower), not with the head. We were simply hooked.

We were also a little ashamed. By most people’s reckoning, we were spending far too much time, effort, and money on what was a frivolous and ridiculous pursuit. And we were puzzled. Why had this show become so important to us? In response, we did what came naturally—we turned our obsession into a research project. Surely people would stop objecting if we could demonstrate our serious academic interest in fandom (as opposed to our interest in Jared Padalecki’s biceps or Jensen Ackles’ impossibly green eyes).

We were certain there were perfectly good reasons why we seemed to have left some of our good sense behind us, we just needed to find them. Some of what we found seemed plausible, but none of it reflected our own experience. We couldn’t find ourselves—our fangirl selves—in the research. Some theories hinted at frightening levels of pathology. Were we about to go off the rails at any moment? The research seemed to suggest we were just a slippery slope away from believing that the Winchester brothers were secretly besotted with us. That was alarming enough, but pathology aside, none of the research resonated with us or seemed to adequately explain why we felt the way we did. Clearly we were going to have to forge our own path. So we decided to write a book. We would figure out what being a fan was all about, and we would get it right!

Our first trip to Vancouver to attend a small convention of Supernatural fans was the first time we were made to feel like bona fide researchers, basking in the warm glow of our academic credentials. It was also the first time we were made to feel at various times like crazy fangirls and dangerous stalkers.

As researchers, we had set up interviews with the convention organizer and the director of the film that was screening at the convention. We felt important, being invited “behind the scenes” at the convention and breezing off to brunch with the director. We carried voice recorders and note pads. We took notes and asked “serious” questions about the perception of fans from the producers’ side (this was way before the advent of Twitter). The organizers, the director and the gathered fans called us “Dr.” and regarded us with something like respect.

Then the official convention ended and we shifted into fangirl mode, piling into a van with several other fans for a tour of past Supernatural filming sites. We giddily took pictures of the place where Dean almost cried and Sam fought with a demon, before winding up at midnight floundering around in the dark without a flashlight, searching for the site of a highly emotional scene in which Dean reveals a pivotal secret to his brother. We finally found the right bit of fence, beside the right river and stood at just the right angle to take photos we knew had no chance of coming out in the dark. We posed in the same positions as the actors and re-enacted bits of dialogue from the scene. We touched the fence we knew they had touched. We had entered fan nirvana.

Flushed with triumph, we stumbled back up the wooded path to the van only to be met by a Vancouver policeman wondering what we were doing there.

Officer: Is there a problem?

Us: No.

Officer: It’s very late.

Us: We were looking for a fence ...

Officer: [skeptical silence]

Us: From a television show … where something happened …

Officer: [sighing and holstering his flashlight] Oh. Fans.

Slightly chastened by that experience, we shifted back into academic mode the next day when we joined a woman who lived in Vancouver and was familiar with the ins and outs of finding current filming locations. Through a series of fortuitous misunderstandings that might have been misrepresentations (neither of us would have called them outright lies) we found that day’s filming location, a small suburban hospital. Neither of us were brazen enough to think we could ever talk to any of the cast, but figured speaking with crew members might be possible and might even yield more insights into fan/producer interactions. They were, after all, the ones most likely to interact with fans who showed up to watch filming. (This was of course a category we actively separated ourselves from, presenting business cards, wielding those voice recorders, and trying as hard as we could to look blasé about the fact that we were on the Supernatural set and in such close proximity to the people we fanned so hard.) We figured they would be happy to talk to us.

We were wrong. In the middle of a conversation with one crew member who was on the verge of spilling some juicy gossip about her time working for a different show, a call came through on her walkie-talkie. Someone was coming down to speak to us. Great! Perhaps we’d get to talk to some more crew members!

When studio security arrived it was clear they were not inviting us to sit down for a chat over afternoon tea. They were banishing us. We were told to leave immediately and to talk to no one. We were even followed into the hospital parking lot to make sure that we vacated the premises forthwith.  Somewhere along the line we had been miscast as the “wrong” kind of fans, the kind we were trying to argue were media stereotypes, the very stereotypes we were seeking to dispel. We were shocked—we were academics! Couldn’t they see that?

The next morning at the airport we presented our passports to the U.S. Immigration official, who asked what we had been doing in Canada. Typically, Lynn said “pleasure” while Kathy simultaneously declared the trip to have been all about business. This engendered a raised eyebrow and a long conversation about what we had been doing, and eventually an explanation of fans.

Official: Fans? [Making whirly motion with his hand].

Us: No, like fans of television shows, movies, bo–

Official: Oh! You mean crazystalkerchicks!

Us: [with sighs of resignation] Yeah.

It was just that kind of weekend.

Katherine Larsen teaches at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and is the co-author of Fangasm.

Lynn S. Zubernis is associate professor of counselor education at West Chester University of Pennsylvania and the co-author of Fangasm.

It’s Friday…the real and unreal fan experience

This week @lyndahere's bootlegged videos were retweeted by Alan Doyle (of his sister’s performance in St John’s), Bob Hallett and Dean Brody at the Dean Brody concert in St John’s, Newfoundland. It now seems that @lyndahere's life as an illegal bootlegger and pirate has been validated. However, there is yet to be any of her bootlegged videos retweeted of Alan Doyle or Great Big Sea by either Alan Doyle, Bob Hallett or Sean McCann. It raises the issue of musicians and artists using fan experiences to promote their concerts and their music.

There were many things that pointed to @lyndahere perhaps not being a genuine fan including her own admission in a recent blog post. As many fans and I have noticed and pointed out she seems to be permanently fixed in the same position, in the front row of every concert and constantly being in the right place at the right time coincidence at Great Big Sea and Alan Doyle performances announced and unannounced. Now Alan Doyle and Bob Hallett's appearance at the Dean Brody concert were bootlegged and links distributed via social media. The appearance or the possibility of an appearance was not shared by @lyndahere with all the fandom until after it happened.

I don’t think having a ‘professional’ bootlegger and photographer at a concert is a good idea for many reasons outlined in this blog other than the fact it is illegal. For example, @Lyndahere has bootlegged Russell Crowe’s Indoor Garden Parties in Newfoundland and New York quite a few times. Fans don’t have to buy a CD or download the music from Itunes or in any other form. All fans have to do is set up an account on YouTube and have all the free live music they want. A lot of the legal music is loaded up in a range of pirated forms.

Fans can download the bootlegged live music distributed by @lyndahere on mp3 players for free. So they don't have to buy music, go to concerts or buy merchandise to be included in the fandom and participate in social media. Bootlegged videos and piracy supports non-paying fans in fandoms nicely. And much of it being fostered by @lyndahere. That is based on personal experience (Although I have bought CDs, DVDs and concert tickets on two continents).

Musician and artists social media feeds include photographs and live recordings from fans. If musicians and artists are going to use fans to publicise their cause then it should be a genuine fan experience, not one pretending to be a fan and one who by their own admission is not a fan and has declared it in their blog.

There are some very talented fans in the audience taking photographs and bootlegging Great Big Sea and Indoor Garden Party concerts or at any concert for that matter. Their work is distributed on social media by the fans and the musicians and artists themselves. All fans who are interested in taking photographs and videos should be given the same opportunities to participate and have their contributions recognised and shared if they want to. A great way to reward fans for going to concerts. Musicians and artists can deny fans and professional photographers access as Russell Crowe has done at his indoor garden parties. There are those who do the right thing and apply for a license and been denied. Then the musicians and artists such as Russell Crowe use a 'professional' bootlegging, photographing fan to publicise an event. This is unfair in my book.

If the fans don’t photograph or bootleg a magic moment then who really cares? Having magical moments not shared but talked on social media and in the news are good publicity for the next concert. Like a famous Canadian musician once said along the lines of fans really don’t need to see musicians dribble down their front shirts or make stuffs ups which everyone does occasionally. 

In the past Canadians such as Alansis Morrissette, Barenaked Ladies and Bryan Adams have been at the for front of the anti piracy movement in Canada as Canadians are some of the worst music pirates in the world.    

The first article is from the Huffington Post about Canadian music piracy in 2012. It states there have been few prosecutions in Canada. In December 2013, the following year a Canadian man from Manatoba was prosecuted and fined for illegally distributing pirated music CDs. The article is copied below. It is not a problem unique to Canada but highlights some action currently been taken.

From the Huffington Post on Canadian music piracy....Music Piracy Canada Among the Top Countries for Unauthorized Downloading by Daniel Tencer on 20 September 2012. (no copyright infringement intended)

Canadians may complain about high internet bills, low download limits and too few choices for providers, but that certainly isn’t stopping people from illegally downloading songs like crazy.

A new study of BitTorrent users has found that Canadians are fourth in the world for unauthorized music downloads on the popular BitTorrent file-sharing network. Only the U.S., Britain and Italy rank higher, but on a per capita basis, Canadians download more unauthorized music than any of those countries.

On a per-person basis, Canadians downloaded nearly two-and-a-half times as many unauthorized songs as Americans in the first half of 2012 (23.95 million in Canada, versus 96.68 million in the U.S.).

The first-ever Digital Music Index from analytics firm MusicMetri  found the most pirated piece of music in Canada in the first half of 2012 was the Kanye West and Jay-Z album Watch The Throne.

But expressed as a percentage of total sales and downloads, the most pirated piece of music in Canada was the Hedley album Storms — suggesting that Hedley fans are the most likely to download pirated music.

Overall, the study found that about three billion songs and albums were downloaded through the BitTorrent network in the first half of 2012.

Music piracy has been the target of numerous lawsuits in the U.S., some of which have resulted in huge fines for downloaders Canada has had few such lawsuits, but it has seen at least one lawsuit against unauthorized downloading of movies, which appears to have been abandoned.


The high rates of intellectual property piracy in Canada have been a source to tension between the US and Canada  with the U.S. pressuring Canada for years to toughen its approach to piracy.

And, as the MusicMetric study itself has shown, it's fairly easy to tract computers that connect to file sharing networks.

Music Industry Cheers Piracy Conviction of Manatoba Man December 20 2013 in the Edmonton Journal. (No copyright infringement intended).

WINNIPEG — The Canadian Recording Industry Association says the conviction of a Manitoba man for music and video piracy is a huge step in the fight against illegal recordings.

Raj Singh Ramgotra of Winnipeg pleaded guilty this week to dozens of charges related to criminal copyright infringement. He was given a two-year conditional sentence and must pay $550,000 in fines and restitution.

“This really is a banner day for the Canadian music industry and for artists and record labels across the country and around the world,” association spokesman Richard Pfohl told a talk show Friday on Winnipeg radio station CJOB.

“This is one of the largest — if not the largest — verdicts against an offender in history.”
Ramgotra, 36, was arrested in 2008 after an extensive RCMP investigation into Winnipeg-based Audiomaxxx.com.

Pfohl said Ramgotra was technically savvy and was shipping an estimated 10,000 bootlegged CDs and DVDs a month from his operation.

“He had a website where he would burn these CDs — none of which he had licensed, all of which he had stolen — and sell them for $3.99, which obviously directly undercut legitimate sales,” Pfohl said.

“At one point he was one of the largest sites in the world for physical piracy.”

When the RCMP busted Ramgotra, they seized five 12-burner CD and DVD burning towers, computers, hard drives, commercial CD printers, colour copiers and other office equipment, Pfohl said.

He also said that Ramgotra pulled in nearly $2 million from his operation, so “that’s money that came directly out of the pockets of artists and record labels.”

The association says the victimized artists included Shania Twain, Nelly Furtado and Jay Z.

Pfohl explained that music and video theft has moved on to where individuals download their own material from illegal sites, so there’s no longer the need for a middleman to physically burn and pirate CDs.

That’s changing how the recording industry fights copyright infringement, he said.

“Our main focus now is ... licensing new legitimate online services, so frankly, even if you were inclined to, it doesn’t really make sense to go to the piracy. Nowadays there are dozens of legitimate music services out there that can do everything from give you an a la carte download ... to streaming on demand.

“There’s no excuse to go to the pirated stuff.”

Consumers who use a site they know to be illegal are liable as well, Pfohl pointed out, although authorities in Canada don’t as a rule go after them the way the United States tried to do.

“At the end of the day, you always want to go up to the big fish. It’s the equivalent of taking down the big drug dealers as opposed to trying to get the end users. That’s not the way to go.”

Pfohl believes Canadians are getting the message about illegal downloads and realize they can get more music than they ever have been able to and do it at a reasonable price point.

“We’ll never be able to stop piracy 100 per cent. There’s always going to be someone who says, ‘You know what? I don’t even what to pay five bucks a month. I’ll just take it for free.’

“But I think we’ve got the average consumer to realize: ‘It doesn’t make sense to put myself at risk.”’

Sean McCann Part 4 Endings and New Beginnings...

Over the past couple weeks Sean McCann and the Great Big Sea members have gone their separate ways and now heavily involved in their own projects. A lot has been said by the fans on social media and a statement was made on Alan Doyle’s own blog. In a recent interview “Helping Himself” by Tara Badbury from The Telegram published on the 25 January 2014 just before the release of his new album “Help Your Self’ Sean McCann has elaborated on why he left Great Big Sea, what the future holds and his new album. This is my response to that article. Some from fans are published on the site.

Sean McCann gave a number of reasons for leaving Great Big Sea. However, the main one seems to be his contribution was getting lost in the business that is Great Big Sea. While sad he is just one of many musicians to leave a band due to creative differences. It is unfortunate they couldn’t resolve their differences. Sean says “When I was the most useful and the most happy in Great Big Sea was when I could contribute songs and we did a lot of work, but that faded way over the last five or six years. The stuff I was interested in went away”.

“Making the decisions to leave GBS was one of the first steps, he says, in his new life philosophy, which inspired his latest project: a concept album called “Help Your Self” produced by Joel Plaskett”. Sean talks a lot about how he made his new album. While lots of people on social media have responded well to it I am still unsure after seeing the first film clip. There are many things I like about his new music including the sound of the music, his journey of help your self, the do-it-yourself aspect of his music, his collaboration with Joel Plaskett and the greater involvement of fans on social media. However, to be honest there is one thing I am not particularly fond of is one of the images of a woman flashing her boobs in front of me and a bit of swearing. To me it is so old hat. Many fans will disagree with me, but I guess it will shock a few old time Great Big Sea fans out of their comfort zones about what to expect from Sean McCann in the future.

Sean talks honestly about the music industry, the branding of Great Big Sea, making money and leaving the financial safety net. There is a perception by many fans, that musicians and bands are there just to make music, share stories and to entertain people. Talking about making money from music is often seen seen as a dirty word. Although 99 percent of the time is obviously about making music and to have the music heard, musicians and bands have to make money. It is a fact of life. Making music costs money. This time he has decided to go alone without management and a publicity machine, a brave step indeed.

Sean openly and honestly talks about his drinking in the interview “The very first step in the journey McCann says, was giving up drinking, just over two years ago. I never went to AA or anything, I just did” he says.” Then it was like, why was I so unhappy that I would drink too much? How do I get out of that? I like to talk through stuff but I am a better communicator in songs and lyrics”. I was surprised by the honesty in his comments on his drinking and how it influenced his life and creativity. A fan kind of gets the impression there is a fair amount of drinking going on in the Great Big Sea and St John’s world from social media and having personally been to St John’s. I remember reading an interview with Alan Doyle a little while ago about the culture of drinking that he was involved in and how hard it was for those who didn’t drink to be with drinkers. So I imagine for Sean McCann it must have been a rough road giving up drinking in his world. From personal experience it can be a rough road being an occasional drinker in any world.

“I worked really hard on the box set, that was my whole year, and that part of the process when I decided, you know what? When you start making boxed sets we’re checking out. I still have a hard time with it, and some days I still can’t believe I’m leaving that financial safety nest, but  I want to find something else I can do”. I was a bit disappointed with his comments on the  20^th anniversary Great Big Sea boxed set. While I didn’t buy the boxed set I know people who did and they received a lot pleasure from it and still do. I bought the Great Big Sea XX CD and it gives me a lot of pleasure and in particular the traditional folk songs, many of them sung by Sean McCann.    

During the interview Sean McCann sheds some more light on his departure from Great Big Sea. There was a lot of speculation as to the reasons why amongst the fans on social media during the days that followed the announcement on Twitter and Facebook. Much of it occurred as a result of the release of a song, his parting gift on SoundCloud. For me it was great to read “he was in a good place, happy and fulfilled” and to know what the future holds for Great Big Sea and Sean McCann. Many fans are still coming to terms with the changes and challenges Great Big Sea now faces, Sean’s words will now bring closure for those hoping for a Great Big Sea reunion.

Although going to a concert is preferable, I have been playing some of the music available on his official YouTube and Sound Cloud site. I love the music Sean McCann plays on his own with his guitar or in a band and the stories he tells. He totally blew me away. There is also a collection of black and white legal film clips of Sean McCann and his guitar playing a small intimate venue in Quebec which I just love on his official YouTube site. On his official YouTube site is a wonderful special produced for CMT (XM sounds) loaded up just before the beginning of Great Big Sea XX. He was in a different place back then even though he was doing his own thing. Once again it was great for fans to read in this interview “he was in a good place, happy and fulfilled” today. All the best Sean McCann.

                                           

Pic from Twitter  @jancarson65 Great Big Sea at the @CPHolidayTrain show @alanthomasdoyle@greatbigsean Superfun night (no copyright infringement intended).

The following article in The Telegram in St John's made the announcement that Sean McCann was leaving Great Big Sea. I am currently looking through fan photos from the Great Big Sea XX tour of Sean McCann to form the basis of a photo essay. (no copyright infringement intended).

Sean McCann leaves Great Big Sea by Tara Bradbury published in The Telegram in St John's on November 15 2013. (No copyright infringement intended)

Sean McCann has announced he will leave Great Big Sea at the end of the band’s 20th-anniversary tour.

McCann posted messages on his Facebook and Twitter accounts early Thursday afternoon.Sean McCann of Great Big Sea said Thursday he will be leaving the band “with nothing but love in my heart.”

“This will be my last tour with GBS and I fully intend to enjoy every f--ken second and leave the stage with nothing but love in my heart,” he wrote. “So come out to say goodbye and save the last dance for me.”

McCann, who was in Orillia, Ont., Thursday night for a Great Big Sea concert, declined to say anything further about leaving the band when contacted by The Telegram, but said he'd comment in the new year.

The band was flying in the afternoon to Orillia, Ont., where they performed Thursday night.

Great Big Sea was formed in the mid-1990s with fellow musician Darrell Power, who left in 2003 to spend more time with his family.

The band grew to become one of the province’s biggest exports and, a year ago, released “XX,” a greatest hits compilation celebrating their 20-year career, available with a DVD. The collection took two weeks to go gold.

McCann, like Doyle and Hallett, has a successful solo career, and has released two records: 2010’s “Lullabies for Bloodshot Eyes” and 2011’s “Son of a Sailor.” He told The Telegram last year, while promoting “XX,” that he wasn’t ready to give up playing music.

“I’ve got some sore hips and sore knees, but the energy and passion is still there,” he said, laughing.

According to Great Big Sea’s website, the band will spend the next six weeks playing around Ontario and the eastern region of the United States before finishing the current leg of their tour at Moncton’s casino on New Year’s Eve.

Tbradbury@thetelegram

A response to @lyndahere’s latest blog post on Between The Rock…the OZIGP.

“That way, if viewing said images offends any delicate sensibilities, said offendees can simply Cease and Desist before arriving at that disconcerting juncture. I’m reasonably sure they will be able to survive the one view- of Alan with which I began this part of the blog”. Between the Rock January 2014.

I have just read @lyndahere’s latest blog post about Russell Crowe’s Indoor Garden Parties at Coffs Harbour in Australia Part 2 23 January 2014. It is on the eve of Murray Foster’s Cocksure Lad’s CD Launch in Toronto which she has informed us she is attending via Twitter, flying from St John’s, Newfoundland to Toronto. She is staying overnight before returning and attending another concert in St John’s on the following night in the hope of seeing Alan Doyle. @lyndahere uses her blog as an opportunity to attack the fandoms once again when the issue of appropriate conduct at concerts is raised on social media.

I have decided to respond to her blog post via this blog as she doesn’t take too kindly to any discussion that doesn’t support her own views and behaviour. @lyndahere to me seems to exist in a magical world where she is entirely right regardless of the country she is in, what the laws say, the venues say, the fandom say and most of all the musicians and artists she professes to love say. After providing a detailed list of her self-indulging concert going across three continents that gives her a sense of entitlement and establishes herself as the big name fan, there comes an attack on the fandoms, followed by the tantrum chucking and name calling to anyone who makes a suggestion or criticism that her conduct is not wanted by either the fans or the musicians and artists involved.

In this blog post @lyndahere refers to a discussion on social media about the ethics of photographing and bootlegging at the concerts in the fandom a ‘stink’ and those that raised it ‘stinkees’. Time and time again individuals within these fandoms, not just the Russell Crowe fandom but others too, have raised the issue of appropriate conduct at concerts, bootlegging and photographing have been bullied into silence all because they have a moral and ethical conscience and want to do the right thing by the musicians and artists. Calling fans ‘stinkers’ and ‘stinkees’ is the stuff of little children and their playground world. It is outright rude and would do nothing to endure Alan Doyle to new or other fans, and in particular Russell Crowe fans.

“My course of action was then to get a few photos and videos of any new songs (and Alan’s song, since people who have no clue about him or his solo career will watch anything connected to Russell Crowe) if I could do so discreetly enough as not be seen thereby trigger a “She’s got a camera so I get to use mine too!” avalanche of souvenir-photo-seeking from fellow audience members. Which I did, by hiding my camera down low on my knee, in full view of every single person on the stage but out of sight of the audience members Spirit of the Law, Not Letter of the Law”

I am wondering why she thinks Australians shouldn't take photographs for personal use at an event in their own country? Are they not entitled to a souvenir photo as Americans and Canadians have done before her? And there lies the problem for musicians and artists. @lyndahere has a hundred explanations for justifying what she does travelling the world photographing, bootlegging and writing reports. There is one rule for her and one rule for everyone else. I find these justifications interesting because she is personally alienating many people who are and could be fans due to her uncompromising conduct in concerts and online including myself. There are many ways for people to say no and for someone who professes to know these musicians and artists on stage presence intimately, @lyndahere is not reading their body language on stage or their social media responses particularly well.

I have made this point before in previous blog posts about what a ticket means but @lyndahere doesn’t seem to get it. The price of the ticket and venue holder’s requests does not include the right to photograph and bootleg performances. Russell Crowe, Alan Doyle and Great Big Sea do not have to inform her not to take photographs and bootlegged videos. She has stated she understands this in this instance. She knows the rules and procedures for taking photographs and recordings. It isn’t about asking permission from the theatre. It is her responsibility as a ticket holder as I understand it, to apply for permission through a license to record and take photographs and respect their right to say no. If @lyndahere applied for a licence in accordance with law then she would know what the musicians and artists wanted and not second guess them.

As @lyndahere states and others have stated Russell Crowe can be very particular about cameras and taking photographs. That is his right. These are his concerts in his adopted country. However, as @lyndahere has shown in the past it doesn’t matter what the musicians and artists want. She totally disregards it anyway and does exactly what she wants because well @lyndahere knows best.  And this time fans chose to speak up and say photographs and bootlegging should be taken with permission from those involved. Fair enough. There are no rights for ticket holders beyond admittance to the concert. @lyndahere has in the past photographed and bootlegged the Indoor Garden Party concerts to death, choosing to put up entire shows and take hundreds of photographs. Most musicians and artists don’t seem to mind people taking a couple of photographs and even a video for personal use. However, @lyndahere takes an excessive amount. I have also heard they are making a movie of the Indoor Garden Parties. And despite the fact @lyndahere would have known this she chose to ignore it.

@lyndahere informs us she has put photographs of the first concert up only because of pressure placed on her by the Russell Crowe fandom. I would love to know where this pressure came from as it seemed she was having a great time with all the Russell Crowe fans who went to Australia from around the world on Twitter and Facebook. She totally ignores me and is not interested in anything I have to say. I am wondering if there was nothing said by the musicians and artists and it were business as usual, then why were there bootlegged videos and photos taken from her kneecam as her tweets and blog posts indicated. The rumour about photographs and bootlegging to me seems to be started by some Russell Crowe fans more, to take the pressure off themselves for producing the goods, rather than any concern about the wellbeing and wishes of the musicians and artists. From the photographs @lyndahere did take she didn’t seem to be in a good position although close enough to Alan Doyle right at his feet as usual. She would have had a stiff neck at the end. Again there are many reasons why @lyndahere did not take photographs and bootlegged videos these concerts, including not doing the work, being told not to take photographs and bootleg as bootlegging is also illegal as it is in other countries.

“I am not a Russell Crowe fan. But then, I’m not an Alan Doyle fan, either, though I expect only a few – the few that matter the most to me- will comprehend the Truth of that statement”. And the cryptic double meaning world of @lyndahere goes on. But if you’re not a fan then why hog the prime ‘Alan Doyle can see me position at every concert’?. Why not give it to some other fan? @lyndahere clearly states in the blog she is not a fan of either Russell Crowe or Alan Doyle and only the people closest to her knew exactly what their relationship is. She could have fooled me. As I have said before in previous blog posts @lyndahere is not the first fan to imply there was a relationship with those musicians and artists they admire and love where there was none. Although I could have told people she wasn’t really a fan, more like a fan scorned. Being a fan isn’t a dirty word as she implies. Fans and fandom are words that have many meanings, with many layers and are constantly changing. They are continually being constructed and reconstructed by the people who participate in them. And that is what makes this all fascinating to me. 

A solution to bootlegging from The Boss

Bruce Springsteen is one of the most bootlegged musicians in history.

On the eve of his South African and Australian tour Bruce has put forward an idea to help combat bootlegging and give fans greater access to his music.

There will always be fans who are more interested in just living in the moment at a concert and enjoying the music than bootlegging even for personal use in the future.

It will be interesting to read about the results of this experiment and whether fans prefer a professionally filmed concert or a bootlegged one. I know I would.
   
Springsteen to give online access to his gigs by Bernard Zuel in the Sydney Morning Herald published on the 20 January 2014. (no copyright infringement intended).

One of the most bootlegged artists of all time, Bruce Springsteen is giving fans the chance to get an instant live recording of his concerts.

Springsteen, who begins his Australian tour in February, has flagged the possibility of people being able to buy USB wristbands which will give them access firstly to the concert and then, 48 hours after the show, a download of that concert they can keep. It may even be possible to skip the concert and just watch or listen at home a few days later.

The program will begin with three shows in Cape Town, South Africa, from January 26, the first time Springsteen has played in South Africa. It may extend into the Australian and New Zealand tour, which begins in Perth on February 5 and ends in Auckland on March 2.

The offer was revealed by Springsteen in an interview with the American National Public Radio network where he explained that he wanted to use the web for greater interaction with his fans.

"I'd like to make things more available through the Internet," he said. "As a matter of fact, I believe on this tour, we're starting to do something like you can come in, you can buy a band, you can get a copy of the night's show. So hopefully we're gonna do that at a really nice quality level."

Springsteen even seemed to give his approval to some kind of bootlegging, adding in the interview that not only did he think "the Internet has become our friend" but that "I think we live more in a [live favourites with a laissez faire attitude to fan recordings] Grateful Dead touring idea, that everything you do is recorded now. And that's OK with me, you know."

Springsteen's new album, High Hopes, which includes several tracks that have only been available to fans until now on unofficial bootleg recordings, was released in Australia on Friday.

While it was too late for this week's ARIA albums chart it has already debuted at number one in Britain, the 10th time he has had a British number one album.

Some professional reviews of the OZIGP...

Here are some reviews of the Australian Indoor Garden Party in Australia for those interested...

Russell Crowe's Coffs Harbour 'Indoor Garden Party' a big hit ABC News 13 January 2014

The actor Russell Crowe's Indoor Garden Party at Coffs Harbour has been met with critical acclaim from those lucky enough to get tickets to it.

The sold-out show included performances by Mr Crowe, his Les Miserable co-star British actress and singer Samantha Barks, Canadian musician and actor Alan Doyle and the American actor Scott Grimes.

One of those at Friday's opening night and the Sunday night show was Coffs Harbour local Kym Terhedde who said the audience left the Jetty Theatre buzzing with excitement.

"It was a variety performance, there was poetry, there was some Irish Beatbox harmonious singers, piano playing, a guy sitting on a wooden box just banging on a drum," she said.

"They did speak about themselves, where they were from, and Russell (Crowe) made them perform in their local accents.

"I came out my heart was racing, it was just exciting."

Ms Terhedde said the shows she saw were warm and informal evenings, of music, song and poetry.

"The crowd loved it, there was a lot of interaction with the stage performance, it was very uplifting, it was quite an exciting show, very exhilarating," she said.

"Much of it was sitting watching and a lot of handclapping but at the end everyone had to get up and sing and dance for the two encore songs.

"People were buzzing when they walked out of the place."

Tonight is the final show in the run.

To be continued...

@lyndahere again disrespects the wishes at OZIGP (AGAIN)

The first concert of the Australian Indoor Garden Party is less than ten hours old and @lyndahere is circulating photographs and bootlegged videos on her YouTube site Between The Rock.

A request was made by Russell Crowe and the cast of the Australian Indoor Garden Party not to take photographs or make videos.

@lyndahere could not resist taking her penis out of her pants (ie turning her camera on) and exposing herself. In typical fashion the requests and rules of others do not apply to her. Her great aim in taking these videos and photographs was to send a clear message to the performers she did not respect them or their wishes (and to attention seek) rather than show a real interest in the music and enjoying the concert.

It is such a shame many fans who attend and don’t attend do not respect these wishes not to take photographs and videos. And they didn’t mean from a kneecam. I don't think this is particularly funny as indicated in her tweets to Russell Crowe, Alan Doyle and Samantha Barks.

She recorded new music that was not yet released. What a spoil sport. I won’t be watching any of her videos or viewing her pictures. I hope others take a stand and place the interests and wants of the performers over her need to attention seek.

@lyndahere wrote

@alanthomasdoyle @russellcrowe “I’m over blaming me when it was you” – this is a perfect pop song. Now how do I get it out of my head. 11 January 2013
@alanthomasdoyle OK no new music but grand music. And a gorgeous view neither my kneecam nor my know can resist (video on youtube attached) 11 January 2013
Another lovely new song, this an @russellcrowe/@scottgrimes co write about an amorous Mom and Dad (video on youtube attached) 11 January 2013
@russellcrowe @alanthomasdoyle @samanthabanks @calfolkmusic on guitar w. Alan Doyle (video on youtube attached) 11 January 2013
Direct from the (disobedient) kneecam; Future chart-topping @russellcrowe /@alanthomasdoyle co write @samathabanks (video attached on youtube) 11 January 2013

Cyberstalking is now socially acceptable or is it?

I found this article titled “Cyber stalking is now socially acceptable" by Emilia Millicent published in The Local Sweden’s News in English. The article makes some really interesting comments about relationships, cyber stalking, and social media and in particular on Facebook and Twitter.

The commentator asked the question“Cyber stalking... Have I done it?” and responded “I think we may have all slipped up to varying degrees (because it's easy!)”.

Although I shouldn’t speak for everyone we have all looked up information on people we know for example, searching family history, old boyfriends, classmates or friends that moved away and we want to get in touch with. It is information that is shared in a public place, on the Internet and social media. Years ago prior to the Internet people did the same thing using the library using old records and it was called researching. Since the evolution of computers and the Internet researching has attracted a more sinister name of cyberstalking. 

The commentator makes some interesting comments about cyberstalking and personal relationships. Unlike the commentator I don’t have a problem with reading people’s social media pages whether I have met them or not for a range of reasons. Social media and the way we use it tells a lot about us and the people we want to know about, possibly interact with and make friends with. Others will always remain strangers. It is well documented companies research social media pages before employing people so it is important what we record on our social media sites. It also important for our future record because once something is on the Internet it will be there for years to come and may affect our life’s opportunities. But these activities are not described as cyberstalking. 

I check out the social media pages of celebrities and a range of people I don’t know, yet follow as well just to see what they are like, whether we share the same interests and are going to have something in common. The structure of some social media pages like Twitter doesn’t send a follower all the information they post so I go to the home page occassionally. Sometimes I notice I have not received a post from someone I follow for a while and I wonder if they are okay. Usually they are off contacting someone I don’t follow or having a break. I don’t get offended if someone unfollows as people change their interests and meet other people and move on. That is fine with me and reflects real life. If people don’t want people to read their pages then they should not display them in a public space. I block all people who spam me with product information.

“Twitter is its own ball game, where people play fast and dirty. Comments fields, meanwhile, are battlegrounds for moralists, sexists, homophobes and any and all types (insert selected group of people here)-phobes to lock horns. Some nasty comments on my previous columns have left me very upset, but the nice ones (and the constructive criticism) plus the email from one reader telling me to "soldier on in defiance of the trolls" kept my chin up.

So maybe I shouldn't dismiss social media as a fabricated alternate universe, because it can dictate our moods so much while it also open up the floodgates for potential abuses. And that's it, isn't it, they make it easy to spy...”

When I first wrote this blog I researched cyberstalking and other types of stalking to find out what they were so I would have a clear idea. It can be frightening receiving attention not wanted and from someone who wont take no for an answer. So from my understanding there needs to be an element of nasty intent. So when I read this article I couldn’t believe they were in relationships where their partner found it acceptable to read their emails and texts messages. In my culture it has always been highly offensive to open and read snail mail as in letters. Any letter addressed to anyone opened or unopened. So why now is it different and socially acceptable to read Email and text messages? Does the same protocol apply to reading and responding to posts?

As I spend more and more time on social media what constitutes stalking and cyberstalking and acceptable behaviour varies and is less clearly defined. Although they are basically illegal it is now obviously becoming more socially acceptable in places like America. Not only for celebrities but also for ordinary people in relationships as this article shows. However, because people are able to engage in stalking and cyberstalking without legal and moral or ethical consequences doesn’t make it right.

Cyberstalking is now socially acceptable by Emilia Millicent published in The Local Sweden’s News in English on 9 May 2013(no copyright infringement intended).

A night out with an ex-boyfriend who stalked her online for two years leaves love columnist Emilia Millicent with questions about what the limits are, now that information is everywhere.

I woke up in his bed. Ouch. Head pounding, mouth dry. Thankfully I was still clothed. I rose gingerly, followed the sounds in the kitchen.

"Good morning."

There are times in life when a gin and tonic becomes two, or even three, or, as it did on that recent evening of debauchery, four plus a bottle of wine and really dodgy music choices on the playlist.

Despite being in pain, and feeling a bit embarassed, I was intent on savouring every last bad breath and jolted brain cell. This is a good lesson, and the final one in this long drawn out ridiculous affair, I told myself. This hangover is your final lesson.

Catching up with the ex is always hazardous territory.

Our separation was less than amicable. He dumped me via email. From my email. Confused? Well, said boyfriend (good looking and wildly successful with no outward signs of being a total mess of insecurity) used to read my emails regularly. He would also check my Facebook and at times, if he had been away on a business trip, go through my text messages.

Once it all fell apart people would ask me "Why didn't you leave?" and I would tell them the truth. I found his behaviour so utterly illogical that it just had to end. It would be illogical for it not to end. I was utterly convinced that he would one day realize how pointless it was.

What I failed to communicate with him was how pathetic it made him seem. How it took my head-over-heels enamouration with him and crumpled it up into a soggy mess of hurt feelings and yesterday's news.

In short, it was unsexy. Frightfully so.

Yet he persisted. And persisted. And persisted. And one day, he read an email I had sent to a girlfriend where I told her that something had to give. I couldn't stand his racist mother, I couldn't stand the fact that he never read books, I couldn't stand the fact he never stood up for me, I couldn't stand the fact that while he told me early on that we should be open about what we needed in the bedroom, he met any feedback from me with days of sulking.

I said mean things.

He found this email lament, copied select parts, and sent me an email from my own account to my account with the subject header "I want you out in two days". I didn't go home that night, nor the next. I spent two years licking my wounds, turning every aspect of our relationship over and over, examining them, trying to see what we did wrong, and, crucially, what I did wrong.

Almost three years later, on a trip home to the UK, we meet up. One gin and tonic turns into three. He has just been dumped by the girlfriend that came after me. She took the dog with her.

He tells me they had "trust issues" from the long-distance start of their relationship, before she moved to be with him. He tells me he had to check her email to see what she was up to.

I'm appalled. Did he learn nothing?

I can't believe that I spent months, years!, trying to figure out what mistakes not to make again - what were my dealbreakers and what were things I had to improve on when sharing your life, truly sharing it, with another person. He, on the other hand, has just repeated his mistake.

I feel sorry for him.

Like Sisophys pushing his rock up the hill only to see it tumble down again after every turn, my ex is repetitive to the point of self-destruction.

So when I wake up the morning after, I savour my hangover, because it's symbolic of the emotional hangover he left me with.

Back in Sweden, I can't shake the image of him checking on his new girlfriends' emails. As though it's not a problem!? Is this the new norm? Should we all be triple checking that we've logged out of every email and social media account there is when you leave your lover's house in the morning? What happened to trust?

Is cyber stalking the new black?

So I do what any serious researcher does before putting ink on paper - I ask my friends on Facebook what they think about modern technology and what it's done to love?

"Passion killers!" writes a childhood friend. "Ban smartphones and tablet computers in bed!"

An American friend goes on to say how amazing she thinks it is that you can check up on people before you go on a date with him. I find this behaviour rather freakish. Like stalking has become socially acceptable. I have never googled (TM) someone before a date. It kinda defeats the purpose of getting to know someone, I think.

A friend of mine who has built a life for himself in the US pitches in.

"Three years ago I became Facebook friends with a girl from my gym bootcamp class. I'm marrying that girl five weeks today."

No one, however, mentions cyberstalking the person you say you love. Maybe one does not talk of these things openly?

IRL, however, I get tidbits of info from friends. One friend obsessively keeps track of her new boyfriend's likes on Facebook. But she is wise enough to know she has a jealousy problem and has gotten professional help for it. Another friend, who just dumped his girlfriend, gets this blank look on his face one night when we are having dinner - then starts checking her whereabouts on Instagram.

Just defollow her, I say. Maybe it's an age thing (he's six years younger) but the idea had never struck him. As though defollowing someone would add insult to injury, where I would see it simply as undramatic self-preservation.

I'm also just amazed that people think social media is the real world... Although maybe... I suppose they stretch into the real world, I mean they affect us.

A friend of mine wouldnt stop saying "It should have been me it should have been me" when the wedding pictures of her long-term university boyfriend appeared in the news feed of Facebook. They'd broken up seven years previously, but something about switching gears (and she left him) and having to rewrite her entire life (she also moved country) left her feeling very torn. A Sliding Doors kind of moment where one decision rewrites your entire life.

Twitter is its own ball game, where people play fast and dirty. Comments fields, meanwhile, are battlegrounds for moralists, sexists, homophobes and any and all types (insert selected group of people here)-phobes to lock horns. Some nasty comments on my previous columns have left me very upset, but the nice ones (and the constructive criticism) plus the email from one reader telling me to "soldier on in defiance of the trolls" kept my chin up.

So maybe I shouldn't dismiss social media as a fabricated alternate universe, because it can dictate our moods so much while it also open up the floodgates for potential abuses. And that's it, isn't it, they make it easy to spy...

Cyber stalking... Have I done it?

I think we may have all slipped up to varying degrees (because it's easy!). I once searched for my name on a boyfriend's computer because I was so frustrated that he couldn't express his feelings. I doubted his feelings because I had (this was right after the BIG breakup with stalker boy) such a need for affirmation. I felt like shit when the search dug up love poems penned about me. I felt I invaded his privacy totally and I regret it.

I vowed never to do it again.

Such a transgression would, you'd think, make me less judgmental of my ex's behaviour. Well...yes, but also no. The problem is that he was, and still seems to be, incapable of feeling bad about it. There is no shame and no remorse and therefore no real possibility of redemption.

I once said: "Listen, I truly understand the instinct to go looking for information when your relationship hits a rough patch, but you'd check up on me even when we were doing really well, when we were really in love. Why'd you do that?"

The answer left me convinced that him dumping me was the best thing that could have ever happened to me, and made me realize it had basically been a psychologically abusive relationships.

"Because when you love someone that much, you need to know what they are thinking."

Scotsgirl-in-Stockholm Emilia Millicent moved to Sweden two years ago.

Fandom an unexpected journey...

Dear Readers

I have changed the name of my blog to Fandom An Unexpected Journey to reflect the subject matter of fandoms and the direction I wish to take in the future. I hope to make this blog more of a legitimate blog about fandom. This decision was due to the range of search terms appearing on my blog statistics and the number of people visiting.

However, Lynda and her piracy and bootlegging will continue to be of interest as these activities affect the fandom. I hope you will continue to drop in in the future.

Liz Smith

In the beginning...18 months ago...

This is the story of an American woman @Lyndahere following a Canadian musician/singer Alan Doyle and the band he plays with Great Big Sea from Newfoundland. It is a story of a woman who has followed the singer/musician and the band for over 12 years writing, photographing and filming about her efforts with little regard for the privacy and rights of the singer/musician and band or the integrity of their work. The aim of this page originally was to raise awareness of music piracy, stalking or “criminal harassment” laws, copyright and privacy laws in Canada, and to raise awareness of the obsessive fan behaviour associated with Alan Doyle, Great Big Sea and other celebrities in Canada. Hopefully Canadian news and current affairs shows will also pick up this research and do stories to raise awareness of some the issues facing their artists around the world.

My first introduction to Great Big Sea was through the Australian actor Russell Crowe. I followed Russell Crowe on Twitter and he regularly talked about the Canadian band Great Big Sea and the singer/musician Alan Doyle. The movie Robin Hood introduced me to the brilliance of Alan Doyle and Great Big Sea. To be honest I fell in love with them through watching illegally recorded videos on Youtube and most probably those of @lyndahere. I saw an illegally downloaded recording of the song ‘Where I Belong’by Alan Doyle about his native Newfoundland and I was a fan. I have since bought albums, gone to concerts and met the members of the band. I also listen to other Canadian bands such the Barenaked Ladies and The Once Band and a range of other music.

But for every fan like me won through illegally recorded poor quality homemade videos how many are lost and how much money do artists lose. I don’t particular enjoy videos of live recordings where women scream and talk and love the sound of their own voice more than the artists they pay to watch. They continually breakdown and the sound is poor and I am out of there. I have become fussy about what I watch with limited time and money. It is has only recently that I have begun to gravel with the moral and ethical implications and the impact that illegally recorded videos can have on creative artists including financial lose. It is not just financial lose but spending time away from their family and their children as they have to travel more. In my research I found that Canadians are the biggest computer pirates in the world. The fact that Canadians are among the biggest computer pirates in the world downloading billions of dollars of illegal material including music makes Great Big Sea’s success with traditional music more remarkable.



In the seven months since I started this blog I have read a lot articles on the Internet, books and viewed other sources. They have included information on subjects that arise for example ticket scalping, trading in bootlegged material, cyberbullying, blogging, the paparazzi and others stated in the original introduction on music piracy, copyright and stalking. I have also included some responses to posts on Twitter from @lyndahere.

I have recently started reading research articles on celebrity worship syndrome and different types of fan behaviour including trolling, fandom, groupie behaviour, bootlegging in the movies, and phone hacking. Some topics for example, how musicians communicate with fans via social media such as Facebook were started and I have to return. I have also explored a range of resources including songs, photographs and some very old yet fascinating articles from magazines like the Rolling Stone, Time and the New York Times that provide a historical context for examining fan behaviour. Recently a range of rock and roll stars have released their biographies which provide a look at fan behaviour from their point of view some of which I am currently reading.

The topics are endless as well as fascinating. While the initial blog was started to raise awareness of negative fan behaviour it has extended way beyond that. It has extended way beyond the fan behaviour of @lyndahere with her words and actions inspiring further research only for me to find that she is part of range of people who are involved in my opinion a range of behaviour not always positive towards musicians and celebrities they profess to love. I want this story on the record.

In the ten months I have written this blog the philosophy of what I wanted to write about has changed as I have explored music piracy and in particular bootlegging. I believe it is okay to video record some songs in a performance for personal use or to put them on Youtube. I have seen many fine bootlegged videos by fans on Youtube. What I disagree with is the same person travelling around filming entire concerts and putting them up on Youtube week after week without getting a license or permission from the musicians and artists concerned and with little regard for the content or quality of the video. I don't believe putting bootlegged videos in competition to concerts professionally filmed for specials and promotions presents any musician or artist in the best possible light no matter what the reasoning is. I believe in educating people about what they are watching and working towards a sustainable music future for the musicians and artists themselves and the fans. I hope this blog has achieved this in particular educating and raising awareness about music piracy. Thankyou to all the people who visit the blog.

Oh...and nothing replaces seeing a band live...in particular my favourite group of Canadian guys Great Big Sea...

It has been a year since I started this blog. I have learnt a lot about the world of music. Perhaps the best thing I have done was to travel to Newfoundland and see Great Big Sea in front of their home town. The visit gave me a greater appreciation of Newfoundland and the music tradition that comes from there. This blog has never been about Great Big Sea, their music or Newfoundland. It is my journey as a music fan through the world of music and the fans that I have come across. Many of whom have brought much pleasure and knowledge to my life as Great Big Sea and Newfoundland music has. Much of what I learn't therefore has remained private to protect those people. It has also been about raising awareness of music piracy and bootlegged live recordings mostly through using education and research. I am not against the regular concert goer who records a couple songs but the amateur professional bootlegger that videos the same music endlessly with little regard for quality or quantity or the wishes of those involved.

Update
Wow I have nearly reached 100 posts on my blog. I have really enjoyed researching and writing it. Most of all I have learnt a lot about fans and fandom. My focus recently has been on what other fans have written and those whose jobs it is to review concerts for a living. Mainly because of other commitments in my life and also they are interesting too and are part of the story. Being a fan in today's world requires us to be skilled researchers if we are to get a full and an interesting picture of what is happening with our favourite musicians and artists, the events they are involved in and to participate in the fandom. To participate fully in the fandom requires knowledge. Much of our knowledge is fed directly to us through the main methods such news services, social media and the musicians and artists themselves. Or we can go out and find the real story. So much of the real story now is shared by fans themselves. I am interested in what people write and how they present the information to the public using other methods other than bootlegged videos for example slide presentations that let the images do the talking. I am always interested in a full and inclusive story rather than a partial biased story. I will return to all the things that make fandoms wonderful and not so wonderful in the near future when time permits.

Update number 2

A lot has happened over the last couple of months for Great Big Sea and their fans. The Great Big Sea XX tour rolls on throughout Canada and the US and is slowly coming to an end. The last announced concert is in Canada on New Year’s Eve and should be a wonderful finale. Alan Doyle’s documentary Boy on Bridge premiered on CMT in Canada and band member Murray Foster made comments on Twitter about illegal downloading and the impact of YouTube on music.

The big announcement however, was original Great Big Sea member Sean McCann has decided not to tour with the band anymore. The announcement left many fans disappointed. Fans flooded social media sites thanking him for all the pleasure he has brought us and the music he has shared. It was obviously a very difficult decision for him to make, in particular since he has a young family not to travel anymore. As fans we will miss Sean, wish him all the best and will continue to support him in whatever decides to do.

With Sean McCann leaving Great Big Sea and the rest of the members taking an extended vacation to pursue other interests I am also thinking about the future of my blog. Any fandom culture is constantly changing with the events that affect the creators of the fandom and in our case Great Big Sea. As a member of the fandom it also impacts on my blog. Not all Great Big Sea members feel as strongly as others about such issues as bootlegging and music piracy of their music.

Musician’s and artist’s thoughts and opinions on topics like piracy and bootlegging are also constantly changing as we found out with Murray Foster's comments on illegal downloading and the role of YouTube in music on Twitter. His perspectives are different now than when he was a young musician playing in a band called Moxy Fruvous. Many fans think because a musician or artist takes one particular stance on a topic like piracy and bootlegging their opinions are not allowed to change over their career. Murray was very brave to state this considering what a hot topic piracy and bootlegging is in our fandom. In Great Big Sea all the members feel differently about this at least in public anyway.

My opinions changed for a brief period on piracy and bootlegging and gave me an opportunity to explore why people pirate. When Alan Doyle’s Boy on Bridge documentary aired in Canada on CMT, @lyndahere took the moral high ground and anti piracy stance for once saying she would not pirate it. She was rewarded by Alan Doyle on Twitter. However, her bootlegged videos have never been acknowledged and responded too by Alan Doyle, Bob Hallett and Sean McCann.

Shortly afterwards @lyndahere announced on Twitter her friend in St John’s Canada had a recorder that was always ready to record anything @lyndahere@cristinatownie DVR? Please?MT @erinsulley Tonight @OutoftheFogTV bring you an interview with @alanthomadoyle and @bobhallett circa 2010. However, @lyndahere would not be doing the dirty deed herself because she was on the road in America and Canada following Great Big Sea. Another pirated copy of an Out of the Fog TV appearance by Alan Doyle promoting his solo album Boy on Bridge in 2012 was uploaded on her Youtube site AndPassionateKisses.   

Piracy and bootlegging isn’t something that appeals to me but I do enjoy watching some personal homemade videos of people’s experiences. I basically can’t be bothered with illegal downloading, the ethical and legal consequences, the poor quality of sound and the risk to my computer. Legal material is cheap for me and the money goes to the musicians and artists. It is interesting though why people pirate. I don’t want to do it even though I will not be the coolest kid on the block. My blog will continue to focus on bootlegging and piracy even though some of the members of Great Big Sea have relaxed their stance for the time being. As @lyndahere warned she is always ready to record whatever with little regard for the consequences of the actions for those involved including herself.

Liz Smith