Back to consumption and production? Prosumers negotiating the WMG lockdown on YouTube

Abstract

Abstract There is a growing body of literature that explores the increasingly blurred divide separating production and consumption. Within this stream of work, digital environments are commonly depicted as sites of consumer empowerment, participation, co‐creation and prosumption, the intertwined process of production and consumption. Yet, in response to the mounting commercial and legal pressures, Web 2.0 companies pro‐actively regulate prosumption, deploying advanced technological devices and innovative contractual arrangements. Exploring the case of Warner Music Group lockdown on YouTube, we investigate the role of a content‐sharing platform in (re)formatting prosumption. We draw from prosumption theory and Ritzer's “prosumption continuum” to highlight how shifting arrangements of rights and content regulation shape prosumption of corporate content (in our case music owned by record labels). In contrast to the studies emphasizing the blurring of the line between consumer and producer, we illustrate how prosumption can also be transformed (back) into more conventional forms of consumption and production. We highlight several mechanisms that make this process of “de‐prosumption” possible despite considerable consumer opposition, and consider the implications facing prosumers of corporate content. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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