djsinquarantine

[djsinquarantine]

Tech House Taco Tuesday with Abco, By Team Awesome

Description: https://www.twitch.tv/abcomusic This stream was live on June 16th, 2020 at 5pm EST. During our study, viewership peaked at 232 and remained steady at around 200 for the majority of the stream. The description and the bots in the chat shared a lot of info about Abco and ways to support her including: some of her merch, her soundcloud page (https://soundcloud.com/abcomusic), her spotify playlist, (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4tGqb8UqquHUQOePHQSf7N?si=ct6lP73ZSTuD2uKxYBlqFA) and an encouragement to reach out to Twitch in order to help Abco get a partnership with Twitch. In this stream, all money raised through tips, subscriptions, gift subscriptions, bits and merch will be donated to the LGBTQ Freedom Fund, a bail fund for incarcerated Black LGBTQ people. Abco will be donating to a different Black-led organization every Tuesday for the next few weeks.  

Visual Experience: There was quite a bit happening visually with the stream: Abco was, for the most part, the central focus of the video stream on Twitch and emotes would float across the stream as she played. Video of her would sometimes cut to crazy colorful and geometric graphics that a number of viewers made positive note of. Frank asked Abco whether the visuals were tailored to the stream, and Abco mentioned that she had bought a pack of visual DJ loops and edited the color and shape of some of them, but has been reusing them in multiple streams. For most of the stream, the top left corner displayed chat messages in real-time while the top right was a dog cam and featured their dog laying on the dog bed suspended in a space of cool visuals. Occasionally, when someone would send a “bit emote” or would “cheer,” all paid Twitch-specific features, it would also display across the screen with the viewer’s display name. The very top right header was dedicated to the current time while the top left header displayed Abco’s social media links, all @abcomusic. Her camera angle looked down on her from above, so it allowed us to see her setup and equipment clearly, and it almost felt like being up in the booth with her.

Below the video stream on the Twitch page, there were links to leave a tip, follow Abco on various social media and to buy merch. The chat also had a lot going on visually: most people participated by sharing Twitch emotes. On Twitch, a selection of emotes are free to use, and for this stream, Twitch unlocked their pride emotes, which included heart flag designs for the various identities within the LGBTQ community, including the gay, lesbian, trans and bisexual pride flag emotes. There were also a number of exclusive subscriber-only emotes many users shared, including a rainbow discoball and emotes that looked like Abco’s dogs. Abco’s merchandise and branding is very much centered around her dogs, and it was quirky in an incredible likeable way. She also felt very relatable with her glass of red wine.

Sonic Experience: The stream was largely dedicated to Techno House mixes. Abco played her own original mixes of songs, most of them unrecognizable, save for one which chat participants mentioned used a Duran Duran sample. Other songs incorporated talking tracks. Overall, the music was high-energy dance music that drew influence from 80s synth pop, techno, 90s Eurodance and even R&B. The abco bot dropped links to Abco’s soundcloud where you can listen to her original mixes and well as her Spotify page. 

Soundcloud:https://soundcloud.com/abcomusic 

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2VuXsxH

Technology: Unlike in past streams, Abco’s stream had a detailed list of the equipment in her DJ setup as well as the equipment used for the stream itself. The setup included: 

Pioneer DJ DDJ 1000 (CDJ controller / mixer)

2x XDJ-1000 MK2 (CDJs)

Audio Technica LP120 (Turntable)

Aiaiai DJ Preset TMA-2 Headphones

Macbook Air 2019

KRK Rokit5 (Speaker)

The equipment they used for streaming included a Powerspec gaming monitor, which Abco used to watch the comments, respond the questions, and thank users for donations / bits, a Canon EOS M200 which recorded the stream, a Logitech stream webcam to stream their dog and themselves on Zoom and the Scarlett 2i2 usb interface. Although the stream was mainly on Twitch, Abco used a number of other streaming platforms to share her work.

Social Experience: Holding the attention of a steady 180+ users, the chat was very active and fast-paced throughout the stream. This stream was very focused on raising money for the LGBTQ freedom fund, a bail fund for black LGBTQ incarcerated people. Because of this, it can be reasoned that the stream viewers were members of the LGBT community or allies. Chat participants were very interested in the music and the genres of music that Abco likes to play. In the middle of a flurry of comments about loving a particular track, one user asked Abco about her favorite genre to play during evening sets. To further enhance the social experience, Abco had a monitor so they could keep track of the chat and responded to the user saying that she likes to play techno house for evening sets, but during the daytime prefers to play piano-heavy 90s house music. People were also generally very respectful, welcoming and helpful to one another. One user noted in the chat that they were a first-timer on Twitch and didn’t know how to send bits, and other users instructed them until they figured it out. When Sarah posted in the chat about being a student and wanting to send out a survey, users were nice about her request and suggested she post in the Discord chat to reach a wider audience.

When Courtney first tried to enter the Zoom room, she had difficulty turning her video on even though her microphone was still working. She entered in and out of the room, and that fixed the issue. Some participants, although they made it clear that they were relatively new to Zoom, offered to help her fix the issue and were really sympathetic to her having a little trouble. She found it very sweet. Oh yeah, the people in the Zoom room were also pretty drunk. At first, Courtney was shy, but she warmed up to them a bit after they started talking about home. We all started comparing drinks and shot glasses, while Courtney remarked about her Nalgene. One woman said she was “cute as f*ck” which was really flattering, and it was probably the best compliment ever. A few people were from Great Britain, so we talked about politics and explained the craziness that happened in our relative places. Our conclusion was, “Politicians are all muppets.”

Abco was connecting into the Zoom room and played the music from her stream into her microphone, so the audio was a little shaky from that perspective. Additionally, Courtney had trouble hearing people speak over her stream. At first, Courtney was kind of peeved by it, but then she realized that she usually has to talk over the music during in-person DJ sets anyway. She started to appreciate the memory of her at events with loud music in the past. Abco tells us in the chat how she can’t keep up with two chats and that’s why she hasn’t been active in the Zoom. Courtney saw how focused Abco was even though they generally give off a cool, relaxed vibe. All of us in the room understood how she was juggling multiple activities at once, and when she addressed us in a friendly way, it felt like we were in the VIP section of a club in a select room.

Frank also spent a few minutes in the Zoom call early on in the stream--although he didn’t turn on his mic or video as he was eating and thought it might be weird. He also found the people in the Zoom room to be very very nice and helpful, yet also funny and playful. When he first shared the link to the Google Doc survey, one user by the name of Fexcab said he would only fill out the survey if Frank shared his instagram handle so he could know what Frank looked like. Another individual in the Zoom room by the name of DJ Smark (who I believe was also a mod in the Twitch stream) would go on to encourage Frank to also share the survey in Abco’s Discord server as it was much bigger. He then gave Frank access to the Discord server. Sarah would end up beating Frank to sharing the survey on the Discord server, though. Users did many fun things including dancing to the music, showing themselves rolling around on roller skates (which Abco would go on to mention on her stream), showing themselves baking, and putting on funny hats. It was Frank’s first experience in a breakout Zoom room where the users turned on their mics to talk to one another.

Outside the Zoom room, the Twitch chat and the stream itself were fairly focused on the dogs--in some ways, the event seemed more focused on the dogs than Abco, at least to Frank. The stream employed the viewership points system that Twitch offers. In this system, viewers are awarded points for watching and engaging in the stream in exchange for certain prizes. In this case, prizes included making the dogcam the center of attention for the stream (4,000 points), getting Abco to give the dogs a treat (2,500 points), and getting Abco to pet the dogs (2,000 points). An interesting pattern in the chat was the strong support for the LGBTQIA+ community that primarily manifested itself in the spamming of pride emotes. This is likely largely due to the fact that Abco said that all of the proceeds from this particular stream would be donated to the LGBTQ Freedom Fund. Abco was certainly a significant catalyst for the chat’s high activity as well. She would regularly answer questions posted in the chat, and even share short anecdotes and opinions regarding topics that were brought up. For instance, at one point she talked about wanting to be a roller skating rink dj when she was younger and at another point she shared how she was drinking wine and asked if anyone else was as well.

Liveness: One aspect of the stream that Sarah felt brought about an aura of liveness was Abco’s interaction with the chat feed. Instead of there being a disconnect in the stream between DJ and viewer, Abco was able to re-create the two-way interaction that you would find in a live performance. 

Courtney arrived later to the stream than Sarah and Frank, and she thinks that could have affected her sense of liveness. Although she felt socially engaged in the Zoom room and the chat, she believed her focus on gathering information removed her from the experience of being live this time around. It’s a rookie mistake! 

Perhaps one aspect of the stream that especially added to its liveness is the dynamic and multi-layered social atmosphere and audience interaction. In particular, the Zoom room participants talking amongst themselves, and the audience having the ability to alter certain aspects of the stream through Twitch’s point system are experiences inherently tied to the stream’s present that reproductions (such as a recording) would fail to capture. 

Individual Research Questions: Looking at Abco’s previous broadcasts, Courtney noticed that she wore a FEMME HOUSE t-shirt, which is an organization that LP Giobbi (a DJ that Courtney also listened to this week) founded to amplify the voices of women and non-binary DJs in the electronic music scene. Abco also played for Mesh Fest this past Saturday, a stream put on by Club Mesh, a female producer/DJ trio that are also closely tied to FEMME HOUSE. Courtney wanted to attend this stream but eventually was not able to. It’s interesting to see the connections in the community, especially when women are uplifting each other rather than putting each other down. This relates to Courtney’s inquiry about DIY culture – these women are giving themselves a voice through their online engagement, and this has allowed their message to reach new audiences.

There weren’t too many connections to Frank’s research questions in this stream: there weren’t any cases of people being rude or trolling in the chat that I noticed, and the music didn’t seem to have a noteworthy connection to the stream’s liveness. I suppose I can mention that that last fact might be noteworthy in itself. This might mean that, for some streams, users might show up because of the music but stay for the social atmosphere. In this particular stream, the Zoom room, the emotes, the dogs, and Abco’s interactions with chat messages and Zoom room participants may have been entertaining enough within themselves to make the music much less of a focus for the stream and audience. 

This stream ties to the questions I had about livestreams and community organizing. In this instance, there is a great deal of momentum surrounding the BLM movement, and in the middle of pride month, LGBTQ people and allies are supporting the Black LGBTQ community, including in this stream. Abco pledged to donate all money from tips, subscriptions, bits and merch to a different Black-led organization every Tuesday for the duration of Pride month and this week, it focused on a bail fund for incarcerated Black LGBTQ individuals. Abco’s Tech House Taco Tuesday is one of many streams we have encountered over the last two weeks pledging funds to a Black-led organization, specifically to a bail fund, indicating the widespread support for an end to mass-incarceration and policing.

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Above & Beyond: Anjunafamily w. Jono Grant (2016), By Francisco

Basic Details: This stream was live on June 16th, 2020. It was live on Twitch at: https://www.twitch.tv/anjuna. It featured Jono Grant from AnjunaBeats, a British music company specializing in ‘trance-edged house music’. It had an interesting theme that Jono shared near the end of the stream. According to him, this whole week streams would be a recap of the history of electronic music. Requests would be made for a particular stream on Jono’s social media sites and he would then play the requests while also calling out those who made the requests. This particular stream was featuring music from 2016. During my study, viewers peaked at 2,162 and mostly held steady around 1,800 for the majority of the stream. The stream was broadcast from somewhere in the UK according to a comment made live by Jono.

Visuals: The stream had no digital effects or visuals. The entire stream was broadcast from what looks to be a private studio. Jono seemed to be in his home or in a very familiar location as he walked around wearing only socks and often went off camera to get a drink. A couch, piano, and multiple lamps were seen in the shot as well as a couple golden records on the wall. The bottom left corner had a logo that said “Jono from Above and Beyond”, which seems to be a branch of AnjunaBeats. The bottom right gave info on Jono’s social media accounts. The description featured multiple in depth descriptions related to Adjuna’s branches and sites.

Music: I thought the music was fairly normal house music when I first heard it. It was fairly bass heavy with many drops resolving with a simple, minimalistic drum and bass duo. The chat, however, seemed to be describing the music as trance. This explains why I would later find AnjunaBeats’ musical style being described as ‘trance-edged house’. 

Technology: I couldn’t tell much about the board other than that they are PioneerDJ boards. Jono had a rather professional and extensive set up with 2 laptops and an ipad being used as well as the board. One laptop seemed to be a feed of the stream, but I am not sure what the other laptop or the ipad were being used for. Jono was definitely the most ‘multitasky’ streamer I’ve seen thus far. He spent more time looking at the laptops and the ipad than working with the boards. He seemed to set up the next track and the transition for it, then turn to one of his screens or even walk off screen to grab a drink. I’d like to know what he was looking at. Maybe his social media accounts to decide what request he’d play next? This seems like the most likely case since I now recall he turned to the ipad to call out one viewer who had made a request and call out that the viewer was from Cambridge. Still, not certain what the other laptop was for. Jono also had a mic that he would use about once every 20 to 30 mins to comment on the music and promote something

Social: The community seemed really tight knit. A lot of users in the chat seemed to know more than enough about Anjuna to hold conversations about other djs within it and even what those other djs were up too. Beyond that, a lot of users actively made efforts to support other djs and even other members of the audience. Here’s a couple of examples: during the stream, Jono went on the mic and mentioned another dj by the name of ‘ibluestone’ and how they had not been very active recently because their father was ill. This led a ton of users to express support for ibluestone and their father in the chat. ibluestone was in the chat as well and he expressed gratitude for the nice messages. Another example is that of a user by the name of ‘PACub21’ expressed some sentiments of depression and the rest of the chat responded with equally supportive messages. 

Liveness: The supportive nature of the audience in this stream is probably the most significant message I got from this stream. Once again, if a major aspect of a product’s liveness has to do with how little it can be reproduced and how connected it is to its own present, then the support being thrown in the chat towards individuals going through tough situations at the moment is definitely something that further connects the stream to its own present. If I were to try to watch a recording of the stream a year from now, it would not be the same seeing these messages in the chat. Watching it live and learning about how these people are going through tough situations only to receive support from the audience is definitely more powerful to me knowing that this is happening right now. If I, for instance, were to also be going through a depressive slump, then I might be able to take the words of messages in the chat as support for myself as well. I feel like this would be a bit more tough if I knew these messages were old and had to do with an event that is long past. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me.

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Damien RK Live: Loud for Home Live from France, By Sarah

Description: The stream was live on June 15, 2020 at 5 pm UTC/11 am EST on Twitch. Damien streamed from his apartment in France. The stream peaked at 80 viewers and remained at a steady 65-70 viewers throughout. During the stream, Damien encouraged people to leave tips and be paid subscribers to his Twitch channel. Damien spoke mostly in French, but would speak in English occasionally when referencing specific songs or individuals in the chat. The streaming link was  https://www.twitch.tv/damienrklive. 

Visual Experience: Damien’s “Loud For Home” stream was pretty visually engaging. Although he didn’t incorporate too many digital graphic elements, he had a lighting setup complete with flashing rainbow lights behind him and colorful rotating disco lights. The video stream was framed with orange and purple and on the right side of the stream was a live chat feed from the Twitch chat. Damien’s steam had a “virtual bar” where individuals could type !redeem *name of drink* in the chat and the drink would then appear on the right side of the screen along with their username. Three panels at the bottom of the video stream kept track of the newest follower, latest donor and highest donor.

As he performed, Damien was pretty animated, often jumping around and dancing. He seemed a lot less focused than other DJs during his set, only bothering to adjust the mixer at the transition. Most songs and mixes were by other artists and he would play them one after the other. In between transitions, during a song, Damien would frequently walk off to get another drink, take a sip of his beer and even light up a cigarette and take a drag of it every now and then. The cigarette played an interesting part in the stream: I have seen other streamers drink before but never light up inside and smoke on camera. It certainly rooted the stream in European club culture, as most Americans would probably wait until after their set to go smoke. 

Sonic Experience: As previously mentioned, Damien’s set was mostly made up of mixes and songs by other people played in succession. Damien made efforts to beat match his transitions, but otherwise, he let the songs play out as they were without adding many effects. The music was very contemporary electronic dance music and some of them were remixes of popular songs from the 90s and early aughts. Many of the artists are semi-popular digital electronic artists, but the remixes could have been Damien’s own. Some of the tracks played included

Otherside - RHCP Remix

Dying Day - Prdx Ft Saga

World Out There - D-sturb

Home - Pexxious

Univerze (Extended Mix) - Rebourne & Wasted Penguinz

Sweet Caroline Remix 

What The Hell (Not a Remix) - Avril Lavigne

Damien would also speak into his microphone at frequent intervals, often repeatedly cutting off songs to respond to comments in the chat, comment on the song or mention how drunk he was. Near the end of the set, he cut off Avril Lavigne’s “What The Hell” to address his daughter off camera, saying “ma fille est là-bas, elle est fatiguée” [my daughter is over there. She’s tired.] before mentioning he’d be logging off. 

Technology: Damien RK’s setup consisted of what appeared to be a variation of the Pioneer DJ DDJ 1000, basically an all-in-one CDJ and mixer interface. Next to his mixer he had his laptop, what appeared to be a MacBook pro that he likely used cycle through his songs. On the right side of the screen, Damien must have had a tablet or monitor that allowed him to keep tabs on the chat, as he would often look down to that side when addressing commenters. It is unclear what the rest of his tech setup was, as his front-facing camera only revealed so much, 

Social Experience: For a stream with only 65-80 viewers, the chat was pretty active and fast-paced, almost like streams with upwards of 150 viewers. Many commenters made use of the exclusive subscriber emotes Damien offers in his subscription pack, including a colorful emote of Damien’s face. In the chat, the commenters were often making jokes, especially of the “toilet humor” and “dick jokes” sort (“on veut la baguette”), to which Damien laughed. Of course, it only further contributed to the edm bro energy of Damien and the stream. Mostly the chat was either emotes or  jokes poking fun at Damien or other users. This chat was certainly less focused on the music and more focused on light-hearted humor and engaging with the chat features, especially with the virtual bar, which many users engaged with. With the virtual bar, you could choose between drinks like beer, vodka, cider, whiskey, coca cola and even capri sun. The virtual bar was successful in virtually recreating the culture around drinking that is present in live performance. 

Research Questions: I found that this stream tied well into Courtney’s research question about production value in large vs small streams. Damien puts on streams himself in his own home, and although the production value was not as elevated as some streams per-se, it definitely was a step up from streaming with an iPhone from an empty room. It may indicate that Damien was able to get funding from subscriptions or is himself well-off enough to allow him to have a flashy light setup, DSLR camera for streaming, and multiple screens to track his set and the comments. In terms of my question about donations, Damien’s stream was not organized around a specific cause, and was trying to raise money for himself as an artist through tips + subs.

Liveness: I think the aura of liveness was a bit more difficult to pinpoint here, but it was very easy to see where this stream was able to generate a successful reproduction of liveness, especially through Damien’s interaction with the chat, which allowed him to re-create the two-way DJ-audience relationship found in live performance that can otherwise be lost in some live streams. In addition, the virtual bar was also successful in re-creating the drinking culture found in club and rave scenes.

Difficulties: Native French speakers talk very quickly, and since this was the first French DJ stream I attended where the DJ actually spoke, it was hard to keep up with what he was saying.

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LP Giobbi’s Chicago House, By Courtney

Description: www.twitch.tv/lpgiobbi Leah Chisholm, aka LP Giobbi, is the founder of FEMME HOUSE, an educational platform created to address the lack of representation and equity in electronic music. The organization offers workshops, mentorships, and other professional development resources for womxn and non-binary people to tear down the barriers to entry in the industry. She uses the hashtag #THISISFEMMEHOUSE to promote her streams on social media, and I found her on Instagram. I attended LP Giobbi’s Twitch stream Friday, June 12 at 9 pm EDT, and it reached 195 listeners when I checked and stayed around that number. In the description, I learned that LP Giobbi has 2.5k Twitch followers and links to the online racial justice organization Color of Change, her Paypal for donations, and her merchandise store. She is also sponsored by Echo Echo Wine and has a deal that involves being shipped two bottles of wine paired with a vinyl record. She mentions these links sometimes throughout the stream.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7L5tURts52A1JWtJR7UYYd?si=zzkmeanrSR2xq_l-auUy4g

She has curated the Spotify playlist “FEMME HOUSE,” and frequently updates it. She calls it “a new genre about more than music.” It’s about community.

Before LP Giobbi starts her set, the stream begins with fifteen minutes of an image of the Chicago Theatre with noises of the city in the background. Many people in the chat were from Chicago and appreciated that they tuned in the day that Giobbi was playing Chicago House, as they felt a deep connection to its history and sound. Users begin to congregate in the chat and get hyped up, preparing for round two of listening to LP Giobbi on that specific day (she streamed earlier for her Techno & Coffee stream at 10:30 am PDT). As the countdown clock keeps ticking away, Giobbi begins her first track, an unreleased mix of hers, and I notice that the intro is Sirius from The Alan Parsons Project! She leads us with an animation of bulls stampeding through Chicago and taking down a Racist People Tour Bus. It’s amazing to watch.

Visual Experience: LP Giobbi’s visual presentation is very colorful and fun. Her green screen background simulates a tour bus ride driving us all the way around Chicago’s streets and landmarks. She has animations of a dozen or so loudspeakers at the bottom of the screen and two disco balls spinning at the top of the screen. She also uses animations of the city buildings that slide across the screen and has colorful smoke clouds that fume up on each side. Whenever a user follows or subscribes, it shows up on the screen with a cute Pikachu face. At one point, she has dancing animations of the Cloud Gate as they pass it in the Chicago tour, and it was hilarious! All of these elements give the video a sense of movement and something to look at. They all evoke the feeling that this is Chicago and that it is her home although she is based in LA.

Her performance presence is also really engaging while also being relaxed and carefree. She sings along to the vocals of each track energetically along with some dramatic facial expressions and movements. Some people in the chat commented on her energy, which matched the energy of the music. They also liked her Femme House hat.

I looked through some of her broadcasts today and found these. This first one is from this past Saturday at her Piano House themed stream, and the second screenshot is from this past Sunday at her Gospel House service themed stream. She has different visuals for every stream, and that speaks volumes about her budget and production quality.

Sonic Experience: As the title of the stream suggests, Giobbi mostly plays house, but she also notably plays genres spanning minimal/deep tech, disco, and Eurodance. She uses a lot of what sounds like reverb to create atmospheric effects, and her bass and drum lines have a lot of funk. Giobbi describes her newest tracks as Afro-Cuban infused piano house, and she plays a lot of her own work mixed in with other artists. Her mixes and transitions are really smooth between tracks, and she constantly pitch bends or adds new elements to the sound for a bit of a pop. As she plays Chicago house tracks, she describes the history behind them with references to places in the city. When she plays Frankie Knuckles’s Whistle Song, she talks about performing at the Warehouse and what it meant to her. I liked all the tracks she played and I got really invested in the sound.

Technology: Here’s what she said about her gear: “Yas gear! while djing I use 3 CDJ 2000 Nexus 2's, one DJM 900 mixer where I go MIDI out into a TR8S drum machine and from there I MIDI sync that to a TB3 synth bass and then I have my regular cheap Yamaha keyboard. And I produce in Ableton.” The technology was so perfect, I forgot to even take note of it. No one in the chat seemed to have any issues either. The one issue I had was posting the survey. I whispered to the chat mods and they didn’t respond. I tried posting my link in the chat but it got deleted. I didn’t want to be too pushy either. The chat was moving pretty quickly and my message might have been lost in the shuffle anyway.

Social Experience: Giobbi constantly engages in the chat and continues the line of discussion that’s happening. She talks about the places we visit on the tour of Chicago and asks what burbs people live in by calling out their username. There’s a lot of people that live in Chicago that are on the stream, and it seems like significant amount of engagement comes from people that know each other in the DJ community, but not all. Many people responded to the “where are you from” inquiry with answers like Florida, San Diego, and Tofino. Some users bring up the word “plamp” like I’ve seen in other streams, and she wonders aloud what Camp Plamp is. The listeners respond that Camp Plamp is a way of life and they want her to join their cult in a joking manner. The chat is also engaged in the music, as they repeat lyrics and use LP Giobbi specific emojis like a keyboard, a loudspeaker, and a cutout face of her head. We reached a level four hype train, and many users were focused on maintaining this momentum by thanking listeners who chipped in bits or donations. They also said “choo choo!”. Giobbi’s mom enters the chat and the followers in the chat greet her warmly, and I found it very sweet.

Question: I was interested in Sarah’s question of community engagement and advocacy. Giobbi is very dedicated to sharing good vibes while also making her message of social justice known. On her Instagram, she reflects upon her presence in the electronic music community. As an ally, she founded Femme House to address the lack of representation and equity by combatting inequalities, and she wants to continue making these efforts even more so than she did before.

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Coke Studio Sessions: Nortec: Bostich + Fussible, By Francisco

Basic Details: This stream was live on June 10th, 2020. It was broadcast on both YouTube and a new app that I found on the Google App Store under the name “#BeApp”. The app seems to be specifically designed for streams of digital concerts of a wide range of genres. The home page of the app lists upcoming concerts from artists in the pop, rap, and modern rock scenes. The stream featured two of the more prominent members of the Nortec Collective: Bostich and Fussible. The YouTube stream was live at this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdTm7znxsMSyITjRjy9ddYg. There is also a recording of the stream on that page. The YouTube stream peaked at 128 viewers. The app doesn’t seem to have a live viewer count--at least not one that is easy to find for a new user. So, instead I kept track of the number of shares and likes that the stream got with the peaks being 189 shares, and 27.3k likes (although one might have been able to give multiple likes). The stream was associated with a Coca-Cola sponsored charity cause called “Coke Studio Sessions” which was in support of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

Visuals: There were no digital effects used in the stream. However, the app did employ a system that allowed users to ‘imprint’ text and emojis on the stream’s camera feed by spending points. It’s not certain how these points were earned. The entire event seemed to have been shot either on a handheld camera or a phone which was managed by an off-screen cameraman. The camera feed was vertical which made the viewing experience awkward on YouTube and made me think the stream’s primary focus was the app. The app came with a live chat as well as a small ui on the right side of the screen. There was a donation link in the description of the YouTube stream as well as logos for the Coke initiative and the app in the top right corner. The djs could be seen in front of a large mural and behind a decorated “bar table” thing. The boards were not visible at all. The djs could be seen wearing white masks and bobbing along to the music. They would occasionally look up at the camera and make signals with their hands. It’s unclear what they could see and if this included the chat or the stream feed or if they were simply trying to put on a show for the camera.

Music: The Nortec Collective is very well known and famous for their unique and influential meshing of Mexican Norteño music with techno. I thought the music was really interesting. Something of note is that I also found it to be fairly minimalistic with certain portions of the music featuring nothing more than an electric drum beat and an accordion. The music seemed to be highly connected to the culture behind it as well--more so than other types of music that I’ve studied in livestreams. I’ll elaborate more on that in the social section since it is more closely tied to that aspect of the stream. I should add that it didn’t seem like Bostich and Fussible were mixing on the spot. Instead, it seemed like they were simply playing their biggest hit tracks. I say this because a lot of users were actively recognizing and naming some songs. Although, I won’t exclude the possibility that the djs may have simply been using the same melodies but with a new musical background that they mixed on the spot. I am not sure. 

Technology: It was not possible to see the boards that Bostich and Fussible were using as the camera caused the “bar table” thing in front of them to completely cover their tech. I’ll reiterate that they seemed to either be streaming from a phone or from a handheld camera. This is because the camera was very shaky at the beginning of the stream and was being held by one of the djs. Later on, some off-screen cameraman seemed to take it to a tripod as it became more stable. At the end of the stream, someone picked up the camera and brought it closer to the djs so they could give some parting words. It seemed like one of the djs was regularly turning around to work on something behind him, but once again I’m not sure what it was. 

Social: Most of the people in the chat seemed to have some knowledge of the culture behind the music. This is because many of them spammed cowboy hat emojis as well as phrases and slang terms from within the culture associated with Norteño music. I think this is of note because this manifestation of the connection between a particular kind of music and the culture where it’s from, or that the audience is predominantly familiar with, isn’t always obvious or evident at all. A lot of users in the chat made references to the Pan American Games of 2011 where Nortec Collective’s music was featured. There was minimal interaction between people in the chat. The only exception to this was an instance where one user on the app got annoyed at another for repeatedly spamming that they were from Brazil. 

Liveness: Something interesting that I got from this stream with regards to liveness is the app’s system for imprinting on the stream. As mentioned above, users could spend points to put messages of text and emojis on the screen for all users to see. This made the users uniquely apart of the stream as they had direct control over what everyone else was seeing. The fact that the stream was specifically curated for the app as well as to promote the Coke charity fund makes me think that these aspects of the stream may be other parts of it that are not reproducible. What I mean is that the app’s inception and the charity cause are two events that will eventually lose their ‘presentness’--the app may be unsuccessful and shut down or may become wildly successful and this stream took place before that happened; meanwhile the Coke cause will eventually end and this stream took place before that. This made the stream further grounded in the present. It wasn’t just that the music was being played live by the djs that made it sit in the present. It was also that the charity cause and the app where simultaneously rooted in this particular present as well. 

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La Hora Salvaje, By Francisco

Basic Details: This stream was live on June 9th, 2020. It was live on Twitch at: https://www.twitch.tv/djjuanmasalvaje. During my viewing it, views maxed out at 148. Once again, it was difficult to completely integrate myself into the social atmosphere through the chat, so I wasn’t able to confirm the city where the broadcast was from, but it was definitely in Spain. After doing further research at the end of the stream, I’ve learned that it was also live on Facebook. 

Visuals: Digital effects were at a minimum in this stream. The only parts that were digital were the border around the camera feed and a short animation that played when the DJ wanted to transition between the two camera angles employed here. There was also a small donation goal in the upper right corner. The rest of the stream was simply a feed of DJ Juanma in what appeared to be his personal studio. Later on in the stream he would use a screen sharing feature to talk to viewers about a particular board. The description of the stream featured a uniform theme that included details regarding equipment used, donations, YouTube channel, Instagram account, and the schedule for the week. The stream also had an image of a burrito pop up whenever someone subscribed.

Music: At the beginning of the stream, I thought of describing the music as ‘hard house’ since it seemed like house to me but a lot faster and with stronger emphasis on the beat. However, the chat would go on to describe it as techno and hard trance, which seems to make a lot of sense. Regardless, the music was definitely the fastest I’ve studied so far and it definitely created a much more energetic and upbeat atmosphere than what I had previously experienced. It reminded me of power metal music, but more melodic and electronic. The same sort of vibe was there.

Technology: DJ Juanma has two boards set up before him as well as a mic. The description described his tech as a Pioneer 2000 Nexus 2. He seemed to be fairly minimalistic when it came to his tech. I say this because he was very active with his chat and would regularly share his opinion about random things. At one point, he started talking about a board called the DJM-V10 and how he felt that it was way too much and unnecessarily elaborate and complex--at least for what he was doing. He stated that he had the opportunity to get the DJM-V10 at one point, but opted not to for these reasons. The stream featured two similar camera shots: one wide shot of the studio that showed DJ Juanma’s boards and another close up shot of his face that he employed when he really wanted to emphasize something that he wanted to say.

Social: As mentioned above, DJ Juanma was very active with his chat. He would regularly answer questions and, more importantly, seemed to even prioritize his long rants over the music. He would regularly lower the volume of the music to talk about his opinion on random things like sports fanaticism. Also mentioned above is when he began to talk about the board, he even went as far as to Google an image of it and then put it up on the stream to better describe it. DJ Juanma would also verbally thank any new subs and give fun facts about the tracks he played, challenging viewers to name them. He also pointed out how, despite having over a hundred viewers, only a handful were active in the chat. He joked that the only active ones were the old guys talking about music from the 90’s. All in all, this felt a lot more like a live hangout with DJ Juanma than a digital concert at certain points.

Liveness: Something that’s been consistently drilled into my head when it comes to the question of the liveness of livestreams is that a crucial (perhaps the most crucial) aspect of it is the interaction between the audience and the chat. In fact, although it’s difficult to say whether or not livestreams are better than physical raves and in what aspects, I think an integral part of answering that question would be asking ourselves if the level of interaction between dj and audience that is made possible through the introduction of a chat and various stream elements such as donations and emotes can be matched by physical raves. It seems to me that these are what allows the audience to become a part of the stream so that an individual who is later watching a recording of the stream feels left out as a result of their inability to chat or donate directly to the “present” of the stream. This was all made even more obvious to me through the high level of interaction between DJ Juanma and his audience. One would not be able to give Juanma a new topic to rant about if they were simply watching a recording. 

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UNITED WE STAND. TOGETHER WE RISE! A session of tribute, support, strength, and uplift., By Team Awesome

Basic Details: This stream was live on June 9th, 2020. It was live on Twitch at: https://www.twitch.tv/dj_spen/. During our study of it, viewership peaked at around 110 viewers. The full title of the stream was: ”UNITED WE STAND. TOGETHER WE RISE! A session of tribute, support, strength, and uplift”.

During the stream, promotions were put out in the chat for a United We Stream t-shirt whose proceeds were going to be completely donated to the George Floyd Fund and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The stream was broadcast from Baltimore, US. 

Visual Experience: DJ Spen performs a live set from a room in his home in tribute to the BLM Movement. One camera was positioned behind him while the other was situated in front of him. The name of his record label, Quantize recordings is on a sign in front of him. In the room, the audience can see the artwork and photographs of Black musicians and collectable records framed behind him as a disco ball hangs in the background. DJ Spen was very animated during his set. He would dance, jump and bob along to the music as he played, while still remaining pretty focused on the mixing work he had to do for nearly each track. At times, he would approach the camera situated behind him to sing and dance in front of it. Occasionally, a woman, his spouse or partner perhaps, (MrsDJSpen) would join him in the frame and dance along with him. Although there were no flashy digital graphics or inventive angles like we’ve seen in other streams, DJ Spen’s boundless energy helped keep the stream visually interesting and the audience engaged. Below the video were a few extensions, including links to his Instagram, Soundcloud, and merchandise store. All of his merchandise had the slogan, “DJ SPEN’s Pandemic Praise Party,” with an image of praying hands. A relatively new feature in Twitch was the Hearts Deluxe button on the screen that listeners could click to send hearts (like Facebook Live). However, it was not as active and most audience engagement was spent on the chat. At the very end of the livestream, DJ Spen signed off with an image of George Floyd, to which the chat responded with hearts and “Rest in Peace.”

Sonic Experience: According to an ad from DJ Spen’s Facebook account, multiple djs played with a variety of styles during the stream, although we only caught DJ Spen. Spen’s style was very derivative of black gospel, funk, and disco music. DJ Spen incorporated these styles into house mixes that included elements of soul house, funky house, and R&B. In one track, he overlayed high-powered house beats with Martin Luther King’s “We Shall Overcome” speech, a testament to the Black Lives Matter movement and decades of Black activism that has gained international traction. He played some of his own personal mixes, as indicated below, mixes that he came up with on the spot, and some songs that were more quintessential and easily recognizable. He also made frequent use of loops, and would beat match multiple tracks at the same time to create a new mix. The mixes sounded balanced, with no instances of clipping or peaking and the sound quality through the streaming platform was good. DJ Spen also spoke during his set, often echoing messages presented in the tracks he played, which mixed seamlessly into the music. He said “there is power in a teeny word called US” while he played The Power of Us, one of his own remixes, and “brothers and sisters, no matter what color you are, you are a star,” which added to the strength and solidarity I felt during this livestream.

Some tracks included:

Bad Luck - DJ Spen Bootleg Mix

Funky People - Lissat & Richard Grey

I Can’t Breathe - Roland Clark

Rolling Down A Mountainside - The Main Ingredient

Technology: This stream seemed to be set up in DJ Spen’s living room or personal studio. DJ Spen had a setup that included 4 CDJs, a keyboard, mixer, loop mixer, a microphone and a multi-speaker setup. He would mostly utilize the CDJ and mixer, but on some tracks, made heavy use of the loop mixer to add complexity and rhythm to a track by looping certain phrases or beats. He would also at times speak into the microphone to give statements of unity, peace and justice for George Floyd. There were two different camera angles set up for the stream with one capturing DJ Spen’s back with his elaborate set up in front of him and the other capturing DJ Spen’s front and his decorated wall in the background. In terms of technical difficulties, all three of us experienced a network error and had to refresh the feed and the feed would sometimes stop and buffer before continuing. It is unclear whether this was a problem with DJ Spen, Twitch or ourselves. One other user from the UK experienced constant buffering during the stream as well, but said that it did not take away from the experience overall. 

Social Experience: Viewers in the chat were highly supportive of the stream’s cause. They regularly ‘sang’ along to music (such as when a particular track regularly repeated the word ‘yeah’ to which the chat responded with ‘yeah’ emojis), and also repeated and/or encouraged messages of solidarity and love put out by DJ Spen and his music. Although the chat rules asked that users avoid being critical of both the DJ and the music or else they’d be banned, there doesn’t seem to have been a single instance of someone breaking these rules during our study which speaks to the level of support in the chat. Another interesting moment occurred when DJ Spen’s wife, who was also active in the chat under the handle of ‘MrsDJSpen’, came into the frame to dance along with her husband. When this happened, the chat sent many loving messages such as “YALL ARE TOO CUTE!! <3 <3” and “Go Mrs Spen”. Some people in the chat seemed to know one another with one user by the name of ‘lexie2408’ asking three other users in the chat if their little sister could ‘be added to our group’. It’s unclear what group they were referring to. The mods of the stream were also very welcoming and cooperative with us. Not only did they allow us to post our survey link in the chat, but they also would go on to post it for us near the end of the stream as well when Frank’s stupid ass began having difficulties. There seemed to have been a lot of cell phone emojis in the chat which means a large portion of the viewers may have been watching on their mobile devices.

Liveness: One aspect of the performance that felt particularly rooted in the sense of “liveness” was DJ Specs spontaneous mixes. As a DJ, I understand that to a certain extent, the way a track is played can be planned, but a great deal of experimentation and improvisation happens during a performance, and that was certainly the case in DJ Specs set. Because each configuration of a mix is unique, the ones DJ Spec created by layering multiple tracks and adding / removing certain effects is anchored in that particular place and moment in this particular livestream. Even though the performance is digitally replicable, the stream we attended cannot be 100% replicated by DJ Spec or anyone else in another live streaming situation. In supporting the steam as much as they did, the viewers in the chat created a dynamic between the stream and the viewers’ responses. This, in particular, is a special aspect of personal interaction that wouldn’t be reproduced in recordings of the streams.

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[djsinquarantine]

United We Stream: Live à Ground Control, By Sarah

Basic Details: The stream went live at 5pm UTC/11am EST on Sunday June 7 and the stream lasted for 5 hours. The event link was https://unitedwestreamfrance.fr/stream/united-we-stream-france-4/ and the separate donation link for the stream was bit.ly/faire-un-don-uws. United We Stream’s main fundraising focus was for the platform and the brand. They wanted users to “support France’s club scene” though I became aware, especially with everything going on, of how exclusionary France’s club scene must be (I’ve been hearing a lot about how bad it is in Germany). I was unable to get a count on how many people were in the stream because there was no live viewer tracker and no comments section. 

Visual Experience: Similar to the previous French livestream attended, United We Stream utilized a number of different camera angles (two in front, one behind), and even incorporated some effects like vignetting and desaturating the colors in the stream, live. The DJs performed in what appeared to be a large warehouse, or what could have been a closed food hall. There were tons of stacked tables and chairs behind the performers and what looked like a food kiosk. There was also a wooden structure that looked like the front of an airplane situated behind performers. The Screen space only denoted that the stream was ‘LIVE’ and gave the name of each DJ as they played. The first performer, Cheetah was focused but animated as they performed. They would mouth the words to the songs they knew. Tour Maubourg was less animated but more fidgety in his performance. For both DJs, it was evident from their focus on the equipment that they were actually DJ-ing and that the sets weren’t automated. 

Sonic Experience: The first DJ, Cheetah, a Black-French DJ began their set with Afro-beats / contemporary African club music, which made up a large part of their set. They also played club remixes of contemporary rap / hip hop tracks like A$AP Ferg’s “Plain Jane,” Beyonce’s “Already,” and Rihanna’s “Rude Boy.” There were also French club hits like “Je M’en Tape.” The set definitely had a flow, switching between Afrobeats and Afro-Caribbean Calypso music, to recognizable songs and French club songs, all with the common thing of being sung/created by Black artists globally. Tour Maubourg’s set on the other hand incorporated Ambient and funky house, was definitely more laid back and chill, for easy listening while still groovy and danceable (like Luis Radio’s “Straight Ahead.” The sound quality was excellent, you could tell that they had a pretty professional and well-regulated set up and the tracks were balanced and clear (no muddiness or peaking). 

Technology: The DJs had a pretty all-encompassing setup: There were two CDJs, two Technics turntables, a mixer, and two subwoofers near the table. I assume that the sound was inputted directly into the stream rather than relying on speakers. Both DJs only used the CDJs and I assume the Vinyl was reserved for another DJ that I did not have the opportunity to watch. There were at least three cameras: one behind and two in front. One camera was visible close to the setup and moved linearly across the table with an automated arm. There was also a large mirrored contraption that would create a fish-eye effect when the camera was placed in front of it. 

Social Experience & Liveness: I decided to attend the stream online vs in the app. Because the stream was just a stream on my end, with no interactive component, I was unable to interact socially with the stream and attendees. Because of this, the stream felt very one-way and isolated. But I believe there still remains a sense of liveness even in a stream without social intractability. Similar to the United We Stand stream, Cheetah was able to create spontaneous mixes of songs on the spot that cannot be recreated in another stream, even by herself. This particular stream and that particular mix can be copied ad infinitum, but a totally separate, standalone stream cannot ever fully replicate what happened in this stream. Still, the lack of an interactive component meant losing out on a lot of critical data: where the audience is from, their demographics, how they interacted with and responded to the stream, the music and the artists. Additionally, a result of there being no live chat, I could not circulate the form. The only “interactive” element of the stream, it seemed, was a separate link, as noted, on the Facebook page and website that allowed users to donate to the UWS platform where they have raised 800 euros so far. Perhaps because the is UWS first set of shows ever, they could be experimenting with platforms for streaming, and their next set of streams this week would be interesting to look at for comparison. 

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[djsinquarantine]

Terminal Club Online, By Francisco

Basic Details: This was a digital rave that took place on June 6th, 2020. It was live on Zoom. During my studying it, viewership gradually increased from 9 when I began to 28 by the time that I left. The event was hosted by an organization called Terminal Club Online. During my viewing it, two different djs played: DJ Rival Dealer and Ruiseñor. Both djs were women and the stream was Spanish speaking. For a brief period of time the stream was simultaneously live on Facebook with about the same number of viewers. There was no associated cause. The only ‘ads’ were promotions of the organization’s donation page.

Visuals: The djs only had lighting effects on their cams and no digital effects. Ruiseñor was playing on what appeared to be her patio with plants and decorative lights behind her. Rival Dealer played in what appeared to be her room with the lights turned off and disco-like lights hitting her room floor behind her. Some of the other viewers who turned their cameras on did employ digital effects. This ranged from simple virtual backgrounds to more elaborate effects like digital masks. One individual by the name of Amin Wejebe regularly switched between different effects that included one that made him look like a cow and another that distorted his camera feed. 

Music: This was my first time listening to this particular kind of music. I would describe dj Rival Dealer’s style as either trance or progressive breakbeat as there was a strong emphasis on the beat and the music was slow as well as progressive. Meanwhile, Ruiseñor’s style was much much more experimental. In fact, when she first started playing there was a solid 5 to 7 mins where the music did not even have a beat and was purely ambient and melodic with synth chords in the background. 

Technology: The tech in this event was fairly difficult to make out. Neither of the djs that I watched had the cameras positioned at an angle that gave a good shot of their boards. The only things I noticed when it comes to this is that Ruiseñor was using vinyls. There was no use of mics whatsoever. The djs were muted and were only sharing their computer audio. This was my first purely Zoom based event and it was easy to see some disadvantages. The chat did not have access to many emotes and the camera highlighting made it difficult to have a view of everyone instead of just one person as it would reset my view. However, it has advantages like being able to see other people which may outweigh the limitations. There were no bots, from my understanding, which means that a dj may have to shift attention from the boards to manually mute or kick trolls.

Social: Most people in the event seemed to know each other well. At the beginning, many chat members even congratulated Irma, Ruiseñor, as it was her birthday. Something of note for me during this event is that even though the option of cam was there, very few people actually turned their camera on. This led me to wonder how many people were only using this event as background music. When it comes to my personal focus of trolls and raids, there were two instances where people popped into the event only to unmute themselves and say or play something to overpower the music. The first time around, the troll kept repeating “Hola” as loud as he could until Irma muted and then kicked him. The second time around was a bit more complicated. The troll played various clips of audio from porn while laughing loudly. Irma muted him a couple of times, only to have him unmute himself. Eventually, Irma was able to kick him. The nature of her having to do it manually made me wonder how difficult it might be when more than one troll enter a Zoom call or when the dj is busy playing music and doesn’t have anyone else with mod authority.

Liveness: Something that I learned from digital liveness at this event is just how amplified it can get when people at the event know each other. It becomes so much easier for one to approach the social aspects of the event both as an insider and as an outsider of the group as this often makes people more welcoming, from my experience. Another thing that I found interesting is that people seemed willing to share the experience with family and friends which may also amplify liveness through the introduction of greater social inclusion. During my studying it, I saw two participants bring in family members (one brought in their mother while another brought in their younger sister), and another participant turned on his cam to reveal that he appeared to be at a beach with around 4 friends with him, all watching the stream. 

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[djsinquarantine]

The Magic Stick’s Tacos, Turntables & Tequila, By Courtney

Basic Details: https://www.twitch.tv/magicstickdet I found this stream last minute on EDMtrain from Detroit, MI June 2 at 9 PM CT or 10 PM EDT. My original livestream was an extension of Berlin’s United We Stream in New York, which, for the night was cancelled in solidarity with Blackout Tuesday. I found this club, The Magic Stick, who had been doing livestreams for their listeners since April because of the pandemic in place of their regular local Tuesday night sessions. I first watched Sinistarr’s set, who played a mix of his own music (https://sinistarr.bandcamp.com/), then what looked to be Grant Jackson and Discreet Disco playing together. I didn’t ask many questions, as this seemed to be a small and close-knit community.

Visual Experience: When I tuned in around 10:10, the screen was black for a few minutes while Sinistarr’s set was about to come on. As the music began to play, the screen was unlike anything I’ve seen in a livestream. It was an animation of random emojis rushing towards the screen, which was paired with tracks by black artists. Listeners in the chat interpreted this as a powerful message about media, especially in today’s political climate. I found the visual experience intriguing at first, but then I started drifting off and listened without looking at the screen, with headphones. I was briefly disconnected at 10:14, which was also experienced by other listeners, but I quickly came back again.

Sonic Experience: I found that I focused on the unique sound of Sinistarr’s own music rather than the other songs he played. I first thought it was just breakcore, which used a wide variety of samples and sporadic beats up to 160 or 170 bpm, but it was more specifically drum & bass, which grew out of breakbeat hardcore. Other than that, he played a variety of genres that had different BPMs, which gave his set a very wide range and kept me interested sonically. He also mixed in more popular songs, like Sicko Mode by Travis Scott, Dollar by Steve Spacek, or Mask Off by Future. His remix of F*ck the police was very tongue in cheek. The listeners really responded to this mix of music, which reflected a sort of angry and cacophonous sound in the experimental and popular tracks:

Hail Di King by Dope Ammo & Marvellous Cain - drum & bass

Champion (Dirty Skank Beats Remix) by Ward 21 & Rukus - reggae, dancehall, dub

Cake by Ivy Lab - leftfield bass

Feel So High by OAKK - drum & bass

Kloaking Divide (Fracture Remix) by DJ Krust - drum & bass, jungle

Space by Dizzee Rascal - hip hop, r&b

It’s Time by DJ Rashad - techno

Positive by Mr. Oizo - French electro

Social Experience: Looking through the chat was really amusing because most listeners are familiar with the DJs and are comfortable enough to carry conversation. They talk about their hometown, Detroit, where Sinistarr is from (as shown by the area code in his username sinistarr_303). They also talk about the rest of Michigan, the protests, the pandemic, and the recent floods. My favorite comment was “COPS AIN’T SH*T, MUSIC IS MEDICINE,” which is a sentiment which rang true for a lot of listeners and myself. They even talk about Flint and its water crisis. One user has 505 in their username, an area code from New Mexico, and another guy recognizes this user and starts to converse about streaming from New York and moving back to San Francisco in July. They discuss how Sinistarr was currently in Denver, and how the snow and mountains were really enjoyable. They also talk about “afternoon delights,” (interesting) and sipping amaretto together. Sinistarr comes into the chat and shares a toast of “sippin ammaretta contain all this chedda.” Most people are using their phones to tune in, as evidenced by the use of Apple emojis. 

Additionally, this is the first time I’ve seen the word “plamp” in a livestream, which is a nonsense word typed in the chat about being excited by the presence of a plant, lava lamp, or lack of pants in the DJ’s set. I found that even though none of these elements were physically present, “plamp” was the general vibe of watching this livestream from quarantine. People made wordplays like Detroit Plamp City, DJ Plampistarr, Sgt. Plamperoni, Plamapple energy, etc. which was accompanied by emojis. Since the video was not on, listeners speculated what Sinistarr might be wearing, like a bathrobe and a dookie rope. It was very entertaining.

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[djsinquarantine]

DJ Nev Live, By Francisco

Basic Details: The full title of this stream was “[ESP] DJ NEV Live #TARDEOENCASA30 + NOVEDADES EN DIRECTO”. It was broadcast on June 1, 2020. It was on YouTube as well as Twitch with about the same number of viewers. The link to the Twitch channel is: https://www.twitch.tv/djnevtv/. Although I was not able to ask where exactly the stream was broadcasting from due to the very active chat, I know that it was definitely broadcast from somewhere in Spain (it may have been Barcelona). During my time studying it, the stream’s viewers peaked at 107.

Visuals: The stream was made up of three main blocks. The largest was a camera on DJ Nev. He seemed to be in his room with a few neon lights of changing colors, a desktop in front of him. This block also had a notification showing the top donor of the week and, every time someone in the chat entered an emote, the camera would show the same emote, the same number of times floating up in an animation (pictures included). It would also show a lot more emotes when someone subscribed to the channel. Finally, this same camera showed DJ Nev’s logo on the wall. Another, smaller block in the top right corner of the stream simply showed the camera feed of DJ Nev’s boards. Finally, one last block below that showed a live feed of the Twitch chat. DJ Nev’s social media information and logo, and notifications of the last subscriber, last follower, and last donator were all shown in the border of the stream as well. There was also a bar with a subscriber goal for the day in the top left corner.

Music: DJ Nev played primarily remixed versions of pretty much any popular song in Spanish. But the two primary genres he played were reggaeton, and spanish pop. However, he was also taking requests from viewers. The catch was that, in order to have your request fulfilled, you had to have 10,000 ‘nev points’. These points were earned over time by watching Nev’s stream. This encouraged viewers to keep watching while also allowing those who had watched long enough to be involved with the music. It also made the stream more fun because viewers often sent in joke songs such as childrens’ songs and even karaoke songs which DJ Nev would then attempt to sing.

Technology: I can’t quite tell what brand of boards DJ Nev was using. He was using a mic frequently to interact with the audience including calling out viewers’ names in the chat and welcoming them as well as thanking followers and subscribers. The chat also featured a bot that was regularly commenting emotes as well as links. The bot also had various commands that users could use to, among other things, bring up links, check how long Nev had been broadcasting and even trigger a flurry of emotes from the bot. Finally, DJ Nev also made use of the poll function to allow users to decide when his “old school” session would be broadcast.

Social: Despite not being the biggest stream I’ve attended, this may have been the most socially active. There always seemed to be something going on. From joke songs being played, to Nev singing a karaoke song, and Nev talking to viewers about something or teasing the release of the ‘June session’ (a link to original playlists that DJ Nev would make once a month). The chat was made up of people chatting, commenting on the music, asking Nev questions, making requests, and making jokes. In all of these cases, Nev would regularly respond. All in all, the chat was so busy that no one really responded when I asked them where they were listening from because they were busy with something else. One interesting thing that I found was one girl in the chat who was being very flirty with other viewers and even asking for WhatsApp numbers and asking other viewers if they would come visit her. She would even update the chat on when she was going to the restroom and when she was back. 

Liveness: In terms of liveness, something that I learned from this stream is that the activity of the chat largely relies on the DJ and how they choose to interact with the chat. Again, although this was not the biggest show I’ve seen, it was the most active. I feel this is in large part due to how open the DJ was to responding to viewer requests, questions, and jokes. I think this was also helped by the inclusion of the bot commands to spam emotes (which was the first time I saw this) and the fact that putting emotes in the chat made them appear on screen which just amplified the feeling that you were partially in control of what was going on.

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[djsinquarantine]

AKIRA AKIRA Live Charity Run on MadDecentLive, By Team Awesome

Basic Details: https://www.twitch.tv/maddecentlive Stream began around 8:48 on Sunday, May 31. It should be noted that the stream began 18 minutes late. Akira recognized this saying, “Sorry I’m late guys. I had to set everything up and it’s just me.” Before the video stream began, I received a fifteen second long advertisement in order to financially support the channel. 

Visual Experience: When playing, Akira was more hands-off than other DJs I have seen. He switches to a track and lets it play as he dances a little, then goes back to the board to prepare the transition and next track. During a few tracks, Akira brought up that he was getting thirsty. He eventually left the room unmanned, only to come back without a drink, and he played it for laughs. His demeanor is very laid-back and confident. Akira wore a Mad Decent shirt, signaling that he’s connected to the famous record label that publicized him by putting on the stream. The video’s presentation was modern and minimalistic, only with a green screen that displayed moving bright stars through dark space, a white border and a bar tracking how much money listeners donated to the Minnesota Freedom Fund. Below the video (when streaming from my computer), Mad Decent had a calendar of upcoming streaming events and a leaderboard for cheers, subscribers and chat stats.

Sonic Experience: In light of George Floyd’s murder by law enforcement, Akira, a black DJ himself, played songs written, performed, composed or produced by Black artists only. Rap was heavily represented in the first twenty or so minutes, mostly with a social message. The music overall was characterized by super hard beats with some house music, reminiscent of Chicago House. Akira played quite a few iconic tracks from Black artists across genres. Every now and then, Akira would mention an interesting fact about a particular track. He mentioned how he wanted “to go back to the motherland with some Afrobeats” and introduced people about Afrolatin and Dembow. Akira also mentioned how Pride Month was approaching, and that he wanted to support not only black, but gay culture. Some tracks included:

Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe, Kendrick Lamar

September, Earth, Wind and Fire

I Want to Love You, Michael Jackson

LGBTQ+ Ball music

Eggplant Afrobeat, DJ Flex

Bodak Yellow, Cardi B

1,2 Step, Missy Elliot

Orange Soda, Baby Keem

Savage, Megan Thee Stallion

Going Bad, Meek Mill

Nice for What, Drake

Right Thurr, Chingy

One thing that remained consistent was that the DJ didn’t really play through the entire track before switching it up. He only played at most 1-2 minutes of a song before moving on. I found myself constantly engaged because I recognized the songs and actually danced along to them. His fast-paced song switched added to the energy of the show and prevented it from becoming stale.

Technology: The stream took place on MadDecent’s Twitch channel. The stream was so popular that Akira noted that it had made Twitch’s front page. Akira’s equipment setup consisted of two Pioneer CDJs and a mixer. At the beginning, the gain was too high on the mixer and tracks were clipping, but the DJ quickly had it under control. Akira had trouble with his mic clipping in the middle of the performance as well. Courtney and Frank both had issues with the stream cutting out around the same time. Frank experienced periodical network errors while Sarah’s stream remained consistent throughout.

Social Experience: Viewership peaked early on at 5k. This was in part due to the stream being featured on the front page of Twitch which also led to a member of the Twitch Staff making a brief appearance in the chat. A lot of the chat was political, many “BLACK LIVES MATTER” posts, “FUCK THE POLICE,” people discussing and acknowledging Black artists’ contributions to music history. Feelings of unity, solidarity and community are being expressed: “just reminds me vibes are brought together.” At one point, the stream viewership dropped from ~4,000 to ~2,900 in the matter of a minute or two. This is the point when DJ starts playing music by LGBTQ artists of color. It is unclear if the drop in viewership was related to the change in genre. 

Later on in the stream, a friend of Akira’s appeared on screen wearing a t-shirt that said “Defund and Disarm the Police”. One user commented, “dumbest shirt ive ever seen” which incited a brief verbal fight in the chat. Akira would go on to recognize the discussion saying something along the lines of “y’all stop fighting in the chat.” Akira also noted that “anyone not being respectful in the chat will be kicked out.” This led to some messages, like one that read “don’t expect any intelligent perspective from a twitch chat lmaoooooooo (sic)”, quickly being deleted by mods. Near the end of our study, another user commented “yall listen to trash” which led other users to demand he be banned and also prompted a reaction from Akira. It’s unclear if the user was indeed banned.

Viewers participating in tuned in from across the country and the world. When asked, some viewers noted their location — among them, The UK, Spain, Canada, Minnesota, Texas and Florida. Akira was streaming from LA amid the curfews instated to control protests. He stopped the music at one point to talk about how the city made a last minute call to switch curfew from 6pm to 8pm. Akira seemed to know a user in the chat by the name of DialloRiddle. Akira shouted him out during the stream.

Money / Donations: MadDecent was specifically raising funds for BLM and the Minnesota Freedom Fund. In the top left corner, there’s a donation meter that fills with color (yellow), and the donation link was posted in the chat by the moderator. It increased pretty quickly, within the first 10 minutes, as people began donating and the goal of $100 was met very quickly. MadDecent then increased the goal to $200 and then reached it again in 30 minutes which led to another increase. The largest single donation noted was $100 (user donated at 9:10 pm). By the time we logged off, the stream met their fourth goal of $750 and had created a 5th goal of $1000. Links, including those to other donation funds, by attendees were not allowed and were promptly deleted by the moderator.  

Donation Links posted by the moderator: 

https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

https://donate.tiltify.com/@maddecentlive/minnesota-freedom-fund-mad-decent

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[djsinquarantine]

Forbidden Broadcast by NinjaSkillzNetwork, By Courtney

Description: I listened to the livestream during two DJ sets from 12-2 pm PDT on May 30. The entire livestream lasted until midnight. The total number of listeners is never shown on screen, unlike other broadcasts I’ve watched, but on the Facebook Event, 171 people responded that they would attend. First I watched AVATARA (darkmattersound), a new female DJ from Los Angeles, who played deep techno and melodic house. I came in the middle of her set. After that, I listened to SAYNT (sayntninja), a DJ from Durham, sho played funky, progressive, and deep house, a primary informant for our project in addition to being project manager. The link: https://www.twitch.tv/ninjaskillznetwork/

Visual Experience: AVATARA’s room was covered from top to bottom in brightly colored fabrics, LEDs, and animated spirals. She even had a monitor behind her playing clips from the Japanese anime movie Ghost in the Shell. In the moment, I thought about how much effort she must have put into decorating, which allowed me appreciate her setup even more. SAYNT’s setup was more homey with the lights turned on, a plain sheet in the background, some string lights, and a Jack Burton doll next to his setup. He looks confident and laid-back as he wears his signature hat and graphic tee with a ninja, and I really enjoyed the visuals because it felt like I was there at his home. The video template set by NinjaSkillzNetwork for both artists had animations of ninja shurikens flying across the screen and images of temples, which created a loud visual atmosphere. The energy I felt through the visuals put me in a great mood and allowed me to let loose a little. AVATARA was using her laptop while SAYNT was using both his laptop and a DJ controller. It took some time to transition between DJs because it brought us to a loading screen. Below the video, in the description box, was a link to Black Lives Matter to stand in solidarity due to the recent protests, and periodically, the video cut to a screen with this same message. 

Sonic Experience: There were very few cutouts with the sound because there was a good connection. AVATARA doesn’t really talk during her set, which is something I actually don’t mind! It added to my immersion in the music. Even though she doesn’t engage with the audience overtly, she looks to the camera often. Both DJs played remixes that contained samples of recognizable tunes, with AVATARA’s use of The Girl From Ipanema in Now Jazz (midnight Mix) by Golfos and SAYNT’s use of Shoop in Make Me Wanna by JI & Afterman, which kept the audience engaged. SAYNT doesn’t talk in his set either, but he’s still very enjoyable to watch as he bounces from side to side with the music. He looks at other people in the room and laughs as he’s having fun. Both DJs kept dancing along with the groove in a playful manner. 

Social Experience: The moderators did not push for a conversation in the chat box because it developed naturally through the community of the listeners. People are vocal about their support for Ava, with most comments focusing on the music she was outputting. People discussed outside events, like the space launch that was happening in the middle of the stream. One listener was listening to the stream while simultaneously watching the launch, among other things. There is a zoom room open, but I know that some of them are people that know each other, and I did not feel like having social interaction at the time. I also did not want to intrude on their space, especially since it seems like a close community. Other DJs who are set to perform interact in the chat and support, saying “This is setting the bar pretty high for the rest of us haha great opening.” “Bar’s been set pretty high.” There was no direct acknowledgement of her femininity, just words like girl or miss to address her. People are listening on the phone app and on the computer (use different emojis). There was a lot more of a joking atmosphere when SAYNT came on and listeners made more fun of him. Some people in the chat were discussing about who exactly this “unshaven hooligan” is, like he was not already established in this particular DJ space. One user said, “Unshaven hooligan! Now imagine him in tutu, you’re welcome.” Others asked, “Who’s that muscleman DJ? Man this guy works out, check out his forearms,” in a way friends or close acquaintances would. Another one mentioned how SAYNT was “a pretty good DJ, eh he’s alright) in a way that signals that SAYNT is actually a veteran. Although I was not part of the community, that made me have a good laugh and I felt a little more connected. Users said hi to each other personally and also related to each other about real life. I think one user summed the feeling up perfectly - “When it’s safe to do so, I want this lineup IRL somewhere.”

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[djsinquarantine]

David Guetta / United at Home, By Francisco

Basic Details: This stream was live on May 30, 2020 with the official title being ‘David Guetta / United at Home - Fundraising Live from New York #UnitedatHome #StayHome #WithMe’. It was broadcast on Instagram, Twitch, Facebook and YouTube. The link to the Twitch channel where it was broadcast is: https://www.twitch.tv/davidguetta/. I focused primarily on analyzing the Twitch, Facebook, and YouTube streams. The platform with the most views during my studying it was YouTube with 103, 254 viewers at one point. The stream was created with the intent of raising money for the following: NYC Mayor’s Fund, Feeding America, WHO, and a French organization by the name of Fondation Hôpitaux. I’m not sure what the last organization is for. David Guetta was the only DJ that played. 

Visuals: Each of the three platforms featured different layouts. However, all of them gave the most space to the stream. They also all had a live chat as well as a link to a donation page. The stream itself began with a short promotional video first. It then transitioned to showing David playing on a rooftop in NYC with the skyline behind him. In front of him, multiple screens showed a live feed of a zoom room for the event. David would regularly point to people in the zoom room and say things like “I see you” and “It’s okay to bring out your flags.” The stream would occasionally also shift to another layout featuring a sort of split screen that showed David performing on one side and a highlighted zoom room participant or a recording of a famous person dancing and enjoying the music on the other side. The production behind this stream was evidently very very well funded. The stream featured another donation link at the bottom as well as a revolving highlight of various partners/sponsors of the stream in the top left corner.

Music: David played a lot of his most famous hits including Titanium and Say My Name. The music is, from my understanding, quintessential French House music. Additionally, near the beginning of the stream, David introduced a new track that he explained he had composed the night before the stream in honor of George Floyd. 

Technology: As mentioned earlier, the production behind this stream was very very well funded. This resulted in a very professional setting. It almost felt like I was watching a recording on TV rather than a livestream. David was playing on a stage in front of very complex looking boards. He also employed a mic and headphones like other djs. He was surrounded by a very professional looking camera crew with multiple shots being shown over the course of the show including one shot of a billboard like sign that showed the current sum of donations that David’s event had managed to gather. There were also a lot of party lights. The description of the Twitch stream also included a live twitter feed of David’s page.

Social: According to people’s comments, viewers were watching from all over the world. This included locations like France, Germany, Montevideo, Australia, Mexico, Canada and Argentina. The chat on the YouTube and Facebook streams was fairly one-dimensional. By this I mean that the audience comments were almost exclusively regarding the music or celebrating the events cause. I think this is largely due to the fact that the sheer size of the audience meant that someone’s message would only remain visible in the chat for about 3 seconds. Meanwhile, the Twitch chat, which was substantially smaller, was a lot more pluralistic. For some reason, it also had the strictest mods with many messages being deleted for including symbols that were not approved or for criticizing aspects of the stream--such as one message that simply said, “boring start”, which was quickly deleted.

Liveness: Something of worth that this stream spoke to regarding liveness is that, in terms of audience participation, while a larger audience may amplify how integrated the audience is to the stream, it can eventually hit a point where it is actually counter effective. What I mean by this is that, while an audience of 150 will be much more active and involved than an audience of 10 (both in the chat and through other means), once that audience becomes even larger, like 100k, the people actually lose the ability to be more involved. This is because, as mentioned earlier, a more active chat means that your message will appear for a much more brief moment. This may limit messages to being less lengthy and less original for those who manage to work up the courage to speak up. I came to this conclusion after comparing the Twitch chat with the YouTube and Facebook chats. The latter were much larger and had fewer deleted messages as well as fewer messages that did anything other than praise the music, comment where they were listening from, and praise the stream’s aim of raising funds for the charity organizations. The former was much smaller. It had more deleted messages (despite its lesser activity) as well as more messages doing other things like discussing how to get into the zoom call, criticizing the stream and even getting into minor political discussions that I couldn’t understand regarding French President Emmanuel Macron. 

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[djsinquarantine]

Club Tropisme: 8h de musique électro, By Sarah

 Basic Details: Club Tropisme: https://www.facebook.com/TropismeMontpellier/videos/282534192924641/?v=282534192924641 Stream began at Saturday May 30 at 5 PM  and went until 1 AM UTC+02 in Paris, FR

Visual Experience: The visuals were some of the best I had seen in a livestream. The streamers thought to include many camera angles and frequently cut between them to keep the viewing experience visually interesting. With these varying angles, you could see the performers from the front, back and up above. I was able to watch the DJs as they adjusted their mixers during their sets and could see their equipment in detail. The person in the “control room” adjusting the cuts made use of the cross-fade effect and there were points where you could see the DJs from the front and back (at a lower opacity) at the same time. It really felt that Club Tropisme was dedicated to making the stream a visually engaging experience because they also made use of digital projections that danced across a large screen behind the performers and on top of them (as in, the projection landed across their bodies and setup as they performed). The projections were of, it seemed, digital 3D line drawings that moved (flowed) across the screen. Luca was very focused on the equipment and mixes and Yuki was pretty bouncy and dance-y, especially when it was Luca’s turn to DJ. 

Sonic Experience: Although there were 8 DJs slated for one hour each (Citizen Kain - Greg Delon - Cebb - Luca Ruiz - My Life Djs - Yuki - Peck - Co Inside), the performers included in the free, public version of the stream were Luca Ruiz and Yuki. Each DJ switched off and took over every other song or so. They mainly played very similar-sounding (between the two) contemporary electronic / electro-pop music. Some tracks incorporated African drums. At least three songs had a very blasé talking track over it (a favorite feature among the French, I’ve noticed). Even while the DJs switched off, the transitions were very clean and seamless, an indication that they are pretty experienced with beat-matching, and don’t simply fade out of one song and into the next. It looked as if transitioning onto vinyl from the CDJ and vice-versa helped keep things flow so that one area wasn’t too crowded by the two of them. 

Technology: The stream took place on two different platforms: The extended 8h stream took place on Shotgun Live, and required a 2 Euro entrance fee. The limited stream was live on Facebook for an hour and a half. On Facebook (the stream attended) the options for interaction included a live comment feed and click-able “reactions” (laugh, thumbs up, heart and fire). Though the stream itself experienced no lagging or cutting out, the image quality wasn’t amazing (likely as a result of it streaming to Facebook) and was pretty soft and pixelated compared to other sharper streams. The setup for this stream was pretty expansive: two Pioneer CDJs, a master mixer, a smaller mixer and two Technics turntables with their own mixer. Each DJ also wore corded headphones. The stream’s many camera angles were afforded by having multiple cameras in the room: one in front of the setup, one overhead camera, and a cameraman with a handheld camera behind the performers, allowing him a wider range of motion and angles. 

Social Experience: The social experience was extremely limited in this stream. The Shotgun Live stream was sold out and had presumably many more viewers than the Facebook live stream. The stream recorded only 22 comments total. Most commenters seemed to be from French-speaking countries (likely Paris, the location of the stream) because nearly all comments were in French. The comments were largely emojis or things like “this music/track is great/super cool” among other variations. In fact, it was difficult to pinpoint a feeling of “liveness” at all.

Money / Donations: In this portion of the stream, Club Tropisme did not solicit donations for any particular cause or organization. Anyone who attended the stream on Shotgun Live was required to pay a 2 Euro entrance fee. The club acknowledged that digital streams cannot replicate the experience of in-person raves, and the fee was “to support the staff working behind the stream.” Still, the club made one stream available for free.  

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[djsinquarantine]

Subset “40 Hour Workweek”, By Team Awesome

Basic Details: Subset’s 40 Hour Workweek - https://www.twitch.tv/subsetgetsit/ . Stream began at 12pm EST 5/26. Based on info from the website, the stream is recurring over 4 days (5/25 - 5/29) with various activities and events along with daily themes. Some of the links we found through the stream:

https://thenew9to5.live/40hww

https://www.markwoodyard.com/

Visual Experience: Geometric visuals serve as the background while a DJ performs in a frame in the middle or off to the side. The futuristic graphics shift in color and shape in a loop. The stream also makes use of transparent gifs as live visuals. A cutout of a man twirling fire and juggling is looping around the footage of the DJ performer. As songs accelerate, the background visuals become much more dynamic, mirroring the pace of the music.

The DJ, Mark Woodyard, performs in a bedroom, his DJ setup is out of view in front of him. Strapped around his neck, an electric guitar, and to his right, a mic stand that he will reach for every so often to add vocal looping and some singing to his mix. His amp, bed, and tapestry are in view, a non-traditional and bohemian performance space (and setup!), indeed. As he was performing, he revealed that he was streaming live from Canada, from the Vancouver area. In the top left corner, an artist is painting a mural / portrait live. Their Instagram handle also appears below for people to follow. This livestream makes use of nearly all of the space in the frame, while remaining visually engaging. How a stream makes use of their frame would be super interesting to compare. Below the frame, the streamer's information reveals that Subset is a collective based in Seattle. Not only do they host music streams, but craft and skill workshops as well. Performers, moderators, and participants, so far, seem to be mostly white and male. Participants in the Zoom Dance Workshop included three white women and two women of color.

Sonic Experience: I tuned it at 6pm, the start of Mark Woodyard, aka Mikey’s set. Before Mikey, another dj (who I believe is the leader of Subset) was djing house music while a recording of a woman in a pink cowboy costume dancing played over the geometric visuals in the center--the dj cam was much smaller and filled up only a small portion of the lower left corner. Mikey incorporated a DJ setup alongside an electric guitar and added vocal effects/singing in the mix. Mikey is very animated when he performs — he dances, jumps, makes hand gestures as he dances and sings, and looks into his camera (as if he is looking at the audience) making his set all the more effectual. He also made various facial and hand expressions that at times seemed purposefully humorous. He seamlessly transitioned between his tracks and his announcements with vocal tracks manipulated with heavy reverb. He sang about plugging his social media accounts with rich vocal harmonies that, in some instances, doubled the guitar lines.

He plays sort of Calypso and reggae music, as well as pretty loop-heavy contemporary house music with funk influences, definitely with an emphasis on dance. In his set, he has also included remixes of songs by popular artists, including a Bob Marley song and MIA's paper planes. On his website, he is referred to as a “human jukebox,” because he created genre-bending covers that showcase his vocal range and eclectic style across many eras and styles.

Mikey had an hour long set from 6 to 7, and passed it off after one more track that incorporates elements of Acid house with squelching sounds and deep basslines.

Between sets, Subset employs a segment called "Music Roulette" where a guest will come on and play clips of songs they love/are influenced by, and they provide a personal and historical narrative and anecdotes on the song. This segment so far, has taken up 30 minutes of the stream. Viewership noticeably dropped from around 170 to 123 during this time and there was significantly less activity in the chat.

Technology: A lot of his mixes incorporate a very bright and jangly guitar loop of his own making. The guitar Mikey was playing was a Fender Jazzmaster which is popular among jazz guitarists and definitely fit the jazzy/funky style that Mikey was playing. It comes equipped with extra knobs and switches which give the player much more control over the sound of the instrument as opposed to something more straightforward like the Stratocaster which only comes with 2 tone knobs and 1 volume knob. The guitar was connected to his DJ mixing equipment, which allowed him to play short riffs that he could then loop. 

Sound Quality: The sound seems to be very clear and balanced. The sound quality suggests that the equipment must be connected to the computer as an input, rather than it being filtered through a computer microphone. The sound has only cut once due to connectivity, and has otherwise been playing without delay, glitches, or disrupted because of streamer's poor connection.

Social Experience: Below the stream frame, Subset included a link to a breakout Zoom chat room where audience members could engage with other participants through webcams and mics, allowing there to be an enhanced element of liveness through “face-to-face” communication about a momentary event. The Zoom was also used for a live dance workshop from 4 to 5 pm PST, where we first did some cardio exercise and stretching to the beat of a funky house track, then learned a jazz and hip hop fusion dance from a professional dancer from the Seattle area who had extensive experience teaching through Zoom since the lockdown. We also discussed wellness at home through the endorphins of physical activity and had a guided meditation.Given the different segments, the event had a very ‘tv-like’ feel to it giving the impression that a lot was going on today at different times (zoom dance workshop, dj livestream, and music roulette). As far as chat activity goes, it was fairly active with positive reception towards Mickey’s music and the art in the top left corner among other things. People were tuning in from Vegas, Seattle, and Connecticut among other places. Some interaction between chatters as well, such as a couple making jokes about smoking weed. 

Money / Donations: Donations to subset are being encouraged. There is a graphic with their Venmo information in the bottom left corner, @subsetgetsit. Donations and promotion for performers are also being encouraged, with their Venmo and Instagram handles in the bottom right corner.

Every so often, the bot @StreamElements will post in the chat encouraging viewers to donate to Subset through the Venmo link. They also included a separate PayPal link not found anywhere else on the screen. The bot automatically notified the chat whenever someone subscribed to the channel and also periodically reminded viewers to tune in to other events throughout the week. The bot also had certain commands that chat users could use to get information on the stream such as ‘!schedule’ which caused the bot to respond with the week’s stream schedule.

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[djsinquarantine]

TURNT ON TUESDAY ft. Lucati 2 Hour Live DJ Set on Twitch, By Courtney

Basic details: I found this stream on EDMtrain, and the link lead me to a Twitch livestream from Wax Motif. I recognized Wax Motif trending on the music page of Twitch before, but I realized that Lucati would be doing a set as a featured DJ for two hours before the Wax Motif as the headliner went on. The livestream began at 6:30 PDT on Tuesday, May 25, (the artists are based in Los Angeles), and immediately, the chat box was inundated with hype messages for Lucati. I learned later that a few days before the livestream, both Wax Motif and Lucati posted about the event daily on their Twitter and Instagram, encouraging the “Wax Gang” to show some love. The house lovers came in droves, reaching a max of 205 live listeners and 14,468 total views in the two hours I watched.

 Visual Experience: Lucati never stops energetically swaying side to side and bobbing up and down. Even when he takes a break to sip a drink or hit a vape, he’s always in the zone. He frequently places headphones up on his forehead like a headband as part of his personal style. He also adds some dances moves to spice things up. Lucati has a tropical aesthetic, complete with a colorful tribal-patterned shirt with some buttons undone and a silver chain. Behind him is a green screen that’s displaying the background of a lively Japanese street flooded with neon lights, which meshes well with geometric, futuristic graphics that move in sync with the music. When a new listener subscribes, their username appears on the screen along with a graphic of Wax Motif saying “Wassup,” which is a nice nod to the fans.

https://www.twitch.tv/waxmotif

Sonic Experience: Lucati’s sound is a phenomenal mix of tech house, deep techno, that sounds simple and also sensual. It’s Chicago House with some Latin influences. Notable tracks were Make a Move by Max Chapman & ThreeSix (a remix of Brandy’s I Wanna Be Down) to Streety by Blackchild ITA, Lucati aims for something eclectic in his house music. I accessed the stream through Twitch on my computer, but many people were listening on mobile. Sound quality, above all other elements, has contributed greatly towards the feeling of liveness because it allows listeners who enjoy listening to house music at home an outlet that only diminishes the partying aspect. All of my senses would be stimulated during a live set in a physical environment, but the listening experience for me in a virtual environment is purely through my eyes and ears.

Technology: It’s fun to tune in to a high-profile DJ stream because I’m able to witness a production that experiences virtually zero lags or technical difficulties. The sound is noticeably very clear through my speakers, which makes me feel more involved and invested in the music itself, compared to the club, in which I would feel more focused on how the beat feels and how the sound vibrates. Lucati is using Wax’s equipment, a Pioneer DJ professional DJ system, which he is somewhat unfamiliar with, so he remarks that he feels like he’s “driving a stick shift with eyes closed.” The Twitch platform is really interesting because below the video, there is a space for streamers to plug their various links. Wax Motif advertises his Streamlabs for tips, his shop, his music on Spotify, his Twitter and Instagram, and a Discord server for Wax Gang fans to connect. When there is a spike in subscription activity on the channel, the Hype Train is activated, and Lucati focuses his efforts in the chat to work with this mechanism in Twitch to gain more buzz for the stream.

Social Experience: Lucati often interjects his mix with shout-outs to new subscribers and listeners who buy subscriptions for other fans. There’s a leaderboard of the Weekly Top Gifters that allow people to gift subs for $5 to the community. All the activity regarding subscriptions and payment is highlighted in the chat, and much of the social interaction is centered around maintaining the Hype Train. Users comment “Choo Choo,” and “Pew pew pew,” along with repeating the usernames of listeners who made big donations as a sign of thanks. Wax Motif has his own emoticons for fans to comment in the chat with, and they end up spamming these emoticons with an energy I haven’t seen on other streams. Lucati frequently comments on how “crazy” the chat is and how much fun he’s having. “Let me see some hearts if you’re a good person.” He ends up having nicknames like “Bugatti Lucati” or “Illumicati.”

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