O consumo de música e as relações entre gosto e prática: um estudo no gênero musical do metal

Abstract

Music consumption is a sociocultural phenomenon that can be studied from a perspective that relates taste and practice, especially in the context in which listeners develop their preferences due to the various interactions carried out within the scope of a music scene. Having the metal genre as the essence of the study, we sought to understand how the mutual constitution between taste and practices imply music consumption, and how this process is internalized and externalized by consumers located in a music scene. The thesis was structured in the format of articles. In Article 1, an integrative literature review was carried out to elaborate a conceptual framework, which describes taste internalization and externalization practices. It is pointed out that the learning process in view of the formation of a regime of taste is guided by active listeners and/or digital platforms. In this way, taste is judged based on the listener's experiences, which improves their ability to appreciate and makes them a different being in a music scene. This individual can carry out performances of taste: within virtual communities; by ritualizing musical practices; or when attending appropriate aesthetic spaces. The modus operandis described in the conceptual structure conceived in Article 1, was empirically analyzed in Articles 2 and 3. For this, listeners of the metal genre in Brazil were interviewed, also observing some social interactions that occurred in digital environments. Article 2 points out that the taste regime causes listeners to become involved with the sound, visual and verbal dimensions of the musical style, leading them to a process of listening and appreciation that updates the meanings attributed to the (sub)genres of the metal music. As the listener develops cultural skills to judge and express taste, this individual becomes able to assess the position of music critics, bands and the public in the metal scene. In order to distinguish themselves socially, listeners elaborate codes that make explicit the specificity of the taste for consumption of the metal genre. In turn, Article 3 characterized the practices of externalization of taste, and the results were arranged in three distinct sections. In virtual communities, listeners express their taste for: routine posts and associated content; consumption of reaction videos; the display of possessions in virtual media; and the reproduction of artistic covers and collaborations between musicians on the Internet. As for the externalization of taste through vocal performances/via musical instruments, learning guided by a tutor or through self-taught instruction enables the listener's musical practice, followed by: search for technical improvement; joint practice with other musicians; and influence of instruments and equipment in this process. With regard to the spaces that foster the metal scene, taste is manifested in consumption practices guided by social interactions between listeners and artists in the field, considering participation and consumption in concerts and places linked to the metal scene.