POSSIBILITIES OF NETNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH OF YOUTUBE USERS INTERESTED IN SERBIAN MUSICAL HERITAGE

Abstract

Netnography is research methodology that embraces a variety of methods and analytical approaches, which can be applied in evaluating users’ reactions to content posted on different social media. These reactions can be simple symbols, or short formulations expressing liking or disliking through various comments. Marketing research has broadly analyzed user behaviors and their reactions to content on the Internet, with no research related to music content. However, the number of studies devoted to analyzing user comments about music on the YouTube platform, even globally, is almost negligible, which is surprising today as recent music research is increasingly turning to listeners.

In this study, netnography of YouTube users interested in music, more particularly, Serbian musical heritage, is presented. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine this topic in an interdisciplinary manner, combining marketing and (ethno)musicological methods and research paradigms. Also, this study offers some new insights into possibilities of applying netnography in analyzing user reactions to various forms of music content on the Internet.

Two music examples representing Serbian musical heritage were selected and analyzed as short “case studies”: one dedicated to Serbian Orthodox worship and the other related to the traditional music. These examples are: Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom composed by Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac, and traditional song from the area of southern Serbia “Sazdade se crni oblak” (“Dark clouds have gathered”). The choice of liturgical music was motivated by the fact that religion, as a topic, is one of the most common stimuli for discussions and commenting in online communities, and these discussions are often emotionally charged. It is interesting to consider how different reflections on religious music, emotions and other topics are intertwined in this case. The other chosen example, a traditional song related to the area surrounding Bujanovac (southern Serbia) and Kosovo Pomoravlje, also prompted numerous and varied comments from users of the YouTube platform.

Netnography of users of the YouTube platform shows that most reactions to selected “sample” of the Serbian music heritage represent the opinions, feelings and impressions of users, as different responses to the recording, while a smaller part of the reactions is directed to providing different information as well as general conversation. Users reactions are mostly positive and commendable, although there are also negative ones, but to a much lesser extent. In addition, there are reactions colored by national and religious views, which does not come as a surprise, given the subject matter of the selected YouTube videos.