The World of SoundCloud

‘Cyberspace is an alternate geography that needs to be seen, witnessed, and experienced in order to exist’ (Barnes, 1997, p.1). In my previous blog, I began my exploration into the social sound world of SoundCloud. This is a social sound platform where anyone can listen to or create sounds to share them with anyone in the world. The presence of power and its different modalities were found and examined through the eyes of a new-found member – myself. This week, I was able to find the connection between SoundCloud and the idea of ‘maps’. In this week’s BA1002 lecture, Dr Victoria Kuttainen expressed that maps are both mirrors and shapers of place and space that reflect how we see the world, or “our” world.

The purpose of a traditional map lies chiefly in navigation and in helping cultures determine new trade routes. Today, the term ‘map’ also refers to representations of various ideas and concepts. Maps allow people to understand, inform and shape how we act in a conceptualised space and place. Pamela O’Connell’s article in the New York Times mentions that we need maps not just to navigate but to define and control new territory. Virtual spaces include strategically constructed infrastructure with imposed rules of conduct.

Image 1: Walker (2015)

Wood et al. states that ‘every map is a purposeful selection from everything that is known, bent to the mapmaker’s ends. Every map serves a purpose. Every map advances an interest.’ (2006, p. 4). Drawing on the notion that ‘every map serves a purpose’, SoundCloud as a ‘map’ serves to allow musicians to promote their work, and for listeners to engage with them. As I travel through the simplistic and intuitive design of the site, it is easy for users to gain access to various pools of sound contents. Gaylene Barnes in ‘Passages of the Cyber-Flanuer’ reveals that cyberspace travelling is essentially a labyrinthine reality which produces a poetic and mythic experience of space. (1997, p.2).

The community of SoundCloud is ethnically diverse but similar to Spotify, it caters more towards a younger audience. Due to my interest in hip-hop, I have only focused on that particular genre and have entered into its own ‘world’. Through engaging with other hip-hop fans, I realised that I have entered into a small, specific community and was unable to engage with the other ‘worlds’ on SoundCloud. Social spaces are the products of particular ideologies and practices combined in a dynamic relationship. You should use the map that best serves your purpose. My purpose of engaging in SoundCloud, is to critically analyse the social space while discovering my own interests as well.  

References

Kuttainen, V. (2017). BA1002: Our space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, lecture 2: Power. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

Wood, D., Kaiser, L. W., Abramms B. (2001). Seeing through Maps: Many Ways to See the World. Oxford, UK: The Internationalist Publications 

O’Connell, P. (1999). Beyond Geography: Mapping Unknowns Of Cyberspace. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/30/technology/beyond-geography-mapping-unknowns-of-cyberspace.html