Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Ethnographic Study of Britney Spears Changing Fan Base

album cover from here
It was 1999 when the world first got a taste of Britney Spears. Debuting with her first single “…Baby One More Time,” Spears instantly hit the top and began her journey to becoming a pop icon. That was then, but now, a decade later, when technology rules and the trends change as quickly as the technology to support them becomes available, Britney Spears continues to reign as an idol for the pop industry. Britney Spears has been able to withstand the tests of time and remain a pop icon because of her ability to maintain a strong enough fan base for her to be successful. The main point of my ethnographic research was to look at how Britney Spears’ fan base has changed since she debuted in 1999 to the present in hopes to find out what makes Britney such a legendary pop icon.
(sorry about the lyrics on this video. It was the only video that had the embedding code, and it just so happened to come with sing along lyrics.)
When Britney Spears first started out on her road to stardom she had an image that differed greatly from the one she has now. In 1999 she was the queen of the “tween” scene. Her debut hit single “…Baby One More Time” was about a girl’s first high school love. However, there was a hint of independence and sexuality that was evident in the name of the song and the music video. Britney’s starting image was focused on her innocence as a young singer from Louisiana, which was evident in the sound of her first album “…Baby One More Time.” This starting album was filled with songs and music videos that revolved around cliché high school romances, but at the same time shows that a girl is growing through those experiences. In my first field notes I listened to songs and looked into the lyrics to get an ear for the sound of Britney Spears’ music in the beginning. Based on what I interpreted in her first album, it seems that Britney’s initial fan demographic was middle school, pre-teen girls who could connect with her songs about first loves and middle/ high school romances. Even her music videos are focused more on middle school or high school places and events.
From 1999 to 2009 Britney Spears grew up, got married, got divorced, had some kids, went in to and out of rehab, saw her life fall apart, picked up the pieces, and made a few more chart topping albums in between. Releasing a total of six albums in ten years, there is an obvious change in the sound, as well as the intended audience, in her songs. In a brief summary of the characteristics of a few songs from each of her albums, the songs become more seductive, sexual, and up-beat, building up to her newest album. Her songs aren’t the only things that are maturing, but her fan base as well. After doing some field notes on her most recent and popular fan sites, it seems that her music no longer rules the high school “tween” scene, but has instead evolved into the club and dance scene of the twenty year old college student. Especially in her most recent album “Circus,” there is much talk on her fan sites about the creativity of the song “If You Seek Amy,” which, when broken down into the sounds, is heard as “F-*-*-* me.” From her album “Toxic” and her more recent ones, the “music itself” is more sexual and seductive, as well as the content (Arnett pg. 254). The music videos to promote these songs go along with this theme also. Currently her fan sites seem to be dominated by females in the demographic range from late teens to late twenties. As a member of her currently intended audience, I can agree that her music is definitely meant for the clubs, where the bass and electronic beats make it a sound that transmits energy to the listener.

photo from here
By looking at how her music now compares with her music when she first started, it is clear that Britney’s intended fan base has changed as a reflection of her change in music style. In my interviews with college students, they made the point that Britney’s music appeals to a much older age group than in the past. Websites like myspace and facebook that have groups or affiliated fan sites that a user can subscribe to show that Britney’s fan base seems to be around the age of people in their twenties. Since myspace came out before facebook, and facebook has more registered fans, it can be assumed that Britney’s fan base has been growing. It seems that Britney’s strategy for holding on to her queen of pop crown is to let her music grow along with her fans. Basically, the pre-teens who sang along with “…Baby One More Time” in 1999 are the same college students that dance to “If You Seek Amy” now. What has made Britney Spears into the pop icon she is now is her ability to change the sound of her music with what is in demand at the time, which allows her to hold on to the fans that have grown with her, as well as the up and coming ages who enjoy the new sounds (Volkman pg.88).
There is a detail that I noted about Britney Spears’ fan base that holds as true now as it did when she first came onto the music scene; her musical appeal is dominant in females, with very few male fans. Through interviews and some casual conversation, it has become clear to me that men never associate themselves as Britney fans, however they listen to her music. This holds true to some females even, they like to listen to Britney’s newer songs, but they do not identify themselves as fans. While conducting my ethnographic research I had to ask myself “what is the definition of a ‘fan’?” I think that an interesting thing about analyzing the success of a musical artist now is that their popularity is not a reflection of the size of their fan base. An interesting thing to look into would be to look at the how the definition of a “fan” has changed over time.
I think another aspect of Britney Spears that has helped her maintain her pop status is her ability to be more than just a singer, but also an entertainer. Her popularity lies in her music videos as well as her songs, especially for her male supporters (Andsager pg.33). Something I often pondered while researching Britney was how much of her life, her music, her career, is being determined and manipulated by the people who work behind the scenes (Burnett pg.72). Britney has managed to always be in the spotlight. After some of her earlier albums you’d expect her to start to fade, after her entry into rehab and marriage problems you would have expected her to stop making music, but somehow she keeps coming back. Whether it is the support of her fans or the scheming of her representatives, Britney has found the key to withstanding the changing times and holding on to her pop crown.
(Word Count: 1,179)

photo from here

photo from here
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Works Cited
Arnett, J. “Sounds of Sex.” Sexual Teens, Sexual Media: investigating media’s influence on adolescent sexuality. Laurence Earlbaum Associates. 2002. Pg.254
Burnett, Robert. “The Global Jukebox: the international music industry.” Routledge. 1996. Ch.5. pg.72
Volkman, Laurenz. “Reading and Teaching the Popular ‘Empowerment’ by Madonna and Britney Spears?” Towards a Dialogic Anglistics. LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster. 2008. Pg.81
Andsager, Julie. “Seduction, Shock, and Sales: Research and Functions of Sex in Music Video.” Sex in Consumer Culture: The Erotic Content of Media and Marketing. Routledge. Ch.3. 2006. Pg.31
Lowe (Ch.4) in Music Scenes
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