We examine two “producer-oriented” audio distribution platforms, SoundCloud and Bandcamp, which have been important repositories for the hopes of musicians, commentators, and audiences that digital technologies and cultural platforms might promote democratization of the cultural industries, and we compare their achievements and limitations in this respect. We show that the emancipatory elements enshrined in SoundCloud’s bottom-up abundance are compromised by two elements that underpin the platform: the problematic “culture of connectivity” of the social media systems to which it must remain integrally linked and the systems of intellectual property that the firm has been increasingly compelled to enforce. By contrast, it seems that Bandcamp has been relatively stable in financial terms while being at odds with some key aspects of “platformization,” and we explore the possibility that some of the platform’s apparent success may derive from how its key features makes it attractive to indie musicians and fans drawn to an independent ethos. Nevertheless, we argue that even while in some respects Bandcamp acts more effectively as a cultural alternative than does SoundCloud, Bandcamp is also congruent economically and discursively with how platforms capitalize on the activity of self-managing, self-auditing, specialist, worker-users.

This is the editorial introduction to the MeCCSA PGN 2014 Conference Special Issue.

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Most films depicting DJs and their attendant culture-whether documentary or dramafeature predominantly masculine points of view. Girl, a full-length documentary focused on legendary hard house/trance DJ Sandra Collins as well as six other women-identified DJs, offers a unique collection of feminine voices and experiences, making it an important contribution to the history of EDM and the study of DJ culture. Part wish-fulfillment, part confessional, part documentary and part cautionary tale of the push and pull of excessive partying of touring life, Girl covers a lot of ground. Filmmaker, visual artist and actor Kandeyce Jorden notes that it was an enthusiasm for dance music and culture that inspired her to direct this film. Early in the film's narrative, Jorden states that were she not a filmmaker, she "would secretly want to be a DJ". Later in the film she expresses a yearning for Collins' seemingly carefree life as a DJ: "she never made lists, she never returned phone calls … being in the moment … was starting to feel like a drug". It is no surprise then that, alongside Collin's narratives, there is a prominent foregrounding of the director herself and the resultant changes to her life experience in the wake of touring with Collins. With regards to structure, the film breaks down into two sections. The front matter outlines Jorden's background: Jorden narrates via voiceover, first introducing herself before describing her relationship with her film director partner and their success collaborating on a short film together. After marrying, Jorden stayed home to raise their newborn son while her husband pursued a burgeoning career. She describes feeling a need for more in her life than "just being a mother". When her husband was hired to write and direct a film about a female DJ to be produced by Paul Oakenfold-which never materialized-Jorden expresses jealousy of his "hang outs" with Oakenfold, complete with access to glamorous Reviews

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