CfP: TikTok–Music–Cultures: Perspectives on the Study of Musicking Practices On and Through TikTok

TikTok–Music–Cultures: Perspectives on the Study of Musicking Practices On and Through TikTok
International Symposium hosted by the Department of Musicology, University of Vienna
May 26 – 29, 2022

Deadline: 01.04.2022

In a deterritorialized and digitally interconnected world, a vast number of interrelations between physical, virtual, multilocal and multimedia spaces have been developed and established as an inseparable part of our daily life. Just as the use of digital media and devices transforms our daily life, it also influences our musical practices. In addition to musicians employing social media and other digital technologies to represent and market themselves, other stakeholders also participate in the discourse on digital music practices. This has enabled performers to construct new mixed and virtual identities, as well as to make the interrelation and interconnectedness between physical and virtual multi-local spaces increasingly clearer. This appropriation of the virtual worlds, along with the development of new virtual platforms, provides new spaces to develop new forms of musical practice. TikTok is an example of this process.

TikTok is a smartphone application aimed at creating and sharing short videos, and currently one of the fastest growing social media applications worldwide, offering an interaction space for different music and video practices. TikTok has not only become an inseparable part of contemporary popular culture, but also operates as a portal into the social, political and cultural spectrums of everyday life. The platform not only attracts attention of teenagers and people of all ages, but has gained interest among the academic community.

The investigation of a deterritorialized multimedia musicking such as TikTok offers a large number of theoretical implications, while possessing practical and methodological challenges.

  • Corporality and Vocality

  • Digital Inequalities

  • Digital intersectionalities (gender, class and race)

  • Fandom

  • Identity and Community

  • Internet- and Youth Cultures

  • Marketing

  • Methodological and theoretical perspectives

  • Multimediality / Transmediality

  • Musical expressions

  • Musical memes

  • Politics and Activism

In order to understand 1) how people create and disseminate forms of sonic and visual creativity, 2) how people stage performances and build (artistic) identities and communities, 3) how people engage in the production and circulation of content, and 4) how people experience and perform gender, class and race on and through TikTok, we welcome contributions from scholars who are interested in issues pertaining to musicking practices on and through TikTok from a variety of analytical perspectives addressing (though not

exclusively) the following:

We strongly encourage active participation from women, BIPOC, young researchers, people of the global south, and people who are members of underrepresented sociopolitical groups.

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

  • Individual paper abstracts should be within 250 and 300 words. Presentations should be 20 minutes with 10 minutes for questions.

  • Panel or roundtable abstracts about specific topics should include a 300 word general abstract and 250 word individual summaries. The panel or roundtable should have a duration of 120 minutes.

  • Workshop proposals should specify an objective, and pedagogical approach or method along with an abstract of 350 to 500 words. The workshop should have a duration of 120 minutes.

  • Performance demonstrations or innovative and experimental presentation formats should have a proposed duration of max. 90 minutes. These proposals should be a maximum of 500 words and include information about the format and content of the session.

DEADLINES FOR SUBMISSION
Proposals and abstracts should be sent by April 1st, 2022 to: tiktokcultures.vie[at]gmail[dot]com

Each abstract should include name and surname, brief biography (100 words), institutional affiliation (when applicable), email, and technical requirements. The program committee will select proposals via a peer-reviewed process and notify participants of their acceptance by April 8th, 2022.

LANGUAGE
Proposals and papers may be submitted and given in German, English or Spanish. The presenter is asked to provide a translation of the paper in English at the symposium for the sake of wider understanding.

PUBLICATION
A publication based on selected presentations is planned as a tangible outcome of the symposium.

HOST INSTITUTION
The symposium will run in a hybrid format. In-person activity (subject to the developing situation of the COVID-19 pandemic) will be hosted by the Department of Musicology at the University of Vienna. We kindly ask you to inform us of your preferred modality (online or in- person). However, we encourage in-person participation to facilitate a more fruitful academic exchange.

CONTACT
Organization team: Juan Bermúdez, Ylva Hintersteiner, and Emma Schrott
E-mail: tiktokcultures.vie[at]gmail[dot]com

CFP, NewsHelene Heuser