Understanding Transmedia Music on YouTube through Disney Storytelling

Abstract

Transmedia storytelling has been integrated into contemporary society through social media, where influencers have enabled the building of worlds. Within this environment of human-interaction, fiction and converging social realities have become an essential tool to tell stories. On YouTube, storytelling has expanded to music, where cover videos take on great relevance. The aim of this study is to understand the transmedia music phenomenon due to the impact of music on the platform. To this end, we applied a methodology that stemmed from Grounded Theory principles in the analysis of 300 Disney animation song covers in three stages: (1) deductive and inductive codebook development; (2) social network analysis; and (3) statistical test. The results showed that youtubers highlight specific audiovisual codes from the film and cultural industries. Furthermore, we observed these productions often display configurations that expand the original story through performance, location, costumes, make-up, among others. We argue that, on the digital sphere, a sustainable transmedia music paradigm is developing, where performers construct more meaningful and valuable stories.

Online prosumer convergence: Listening, creating and sharing music on YouTube and TikTok

“…Currently, recording a video with a smartphone and uploading it to YouTube is relatively simple. Users may participate creating music videos, experimenting with the whole prosumer process (Vizcaíno-Verdú et al, 2021a), beyond corporate influence and effectiveness, brand image, and engagement (Park et al, 2018). This means that users try to self-express their identities through music in a social, digital and global environment (Smith & Secoy, 2019).…”

“…Although on YouTube videos are usually recorded and edited outside the platform to share it with other users among a multitude of storytelling options (Vizcaíno-Verdú et al, 2021a), on TikTok a further development occurred. On this platform a user without musical skills, e.g., playing an instrument or singing, can employ someone else's audio to create their own content.…”

Tiktokers y objetivación sexual de género en retos musicales

“…En nuestro caso, sobresalieron composiciones pop y reggaeton. De hecho y, tal y como apuntábamos sobre el proceso de análisis y la dicotomía femenino/masculino, introducimos la posibilidad de incorporar las varianzas de género y orientación sexual desarrolladas en el seno de la cultura (trans)mediática, donde la narración adquiere nuevas vías para la expresión individual y colectiva (Vizcaíno-Verdú et al, 2021).…”

“…Concepciones heterogéneas acogidas a espacios donde el tiempo y el espacio no tienen límites. Si bien, hoy, la hipercreatividad transmedia ha generado un mapa de nuevos vídeo-musicales distribuidos por plataformas que rompen con el concepto narrativo del antiquísimo videoclip (Vizcaíno-Verdú et al, 2021). Con solo quince-sesenta segundos en formato vertical, TikTok ha propiciado un nuevo espectro de creaciones y retos musicales donde se construyen megarelatos con múltiples significados.…”

Cross-Cultural Storytelling Approaches in Tiktok's Music Challenges

“…Following a personalised 'For You' feed comprising a recommendation system built on user preferences and interactions, TikTok has created new ways of relating and storingtelling through music (Vizcaíno-Verdú et al, 2021). The platform offers a space for performance, relying especially on music, gestures, and choreographies to tell stories.…”