"This book is invaluable to anyone interested in the science of digital discovery and particularly so for anyone needing to harness that for any business application." Macky Drese, Brand Strategy (subscription required)
"Jennings is spot on when discussing how people discover music today, and in recognizing that it has become impossible for tastemaking to revert to monopoly held by the few. The book is rife with amusing metaphors and nuggets… It's a comprehensive and enjoyable read." Eliot van Buskirk, Wired
What we choose to explore makes us who we are. Increasingly we live in an on-demand world where almost everything — music tracks, video clips and TV programmes, and many other forms of digital material — is available when and where we want it. But we don't have time to sift through all of it, so we have to decide what to pay attention to, what to browse or skim, and what to explore in more detail. This is the challenge of digital discovery, and it affects what we spend money on, what culture we absorb, and what experiences we share with friends and strangers.
Digital discovery goes beyond search to cover all the ways in which new material attracts our attention, from browsing and monitoring favourite channels to 'viral' campaigns that spread apparently of their own accord, and all the many ways that we learn from others' discoveries — following their links on blogs or their favourites in social network profiles.
Net, Blogs and Rock'n'Roll charts how digital discovery works, from the automated recommendation services that suggest what titles you might want to explore based on your previous preferences, through to the ways that we share word-of-mouth recommendations online. It outlines the three strands of digital discovery — TLC: Trying Out, Links and Community — and explains how the history, culture and technology of today's media are interwoven with the rise of personalisation and mobile players. It profiles the groups of consumers and their various approaches to discovery, and outlines the pyramid of influence: Savants and Enthusiasts record their finds, express their opinions and lead communities of fellow consumers, while other groups are more passive participants.
Anything goes in this new world of discovery, which embodies a rock'n'roll ethos that resists orderliness and values exuberance. Consumers make discoveries from any and every source. A variety of voices can co-exist, but no one retains gatekeeper status. Discovery mashes up professional expertise with amateur enthusiasm to offer a range of voices and routes, for the creators and marketers of entertainment, its consumers, and the services that connect them.
Net, Blogs and Rock'n'Roll reviews the strategies that creators should adopt in the new era to maximise their chances of being discovered and reaching a broad audience. It shows the new breed of smart intermediaries how to support discovery by finding fresh ways of getting exposure for their material, developing buzz, and encouraging people to exchange recommendations with their friends.
- Read an extract from the book.
- See audio and video of author David Jennings presenting the themes of Net, Blogs and Rock'n'Roll.
Chapter outline
| Preface — Discovery | |
| 1 | Use a Little TLC |
| The three strands of digital discovery in action — Trying out, Links and Community — foraging as a metaphor for discovery behaviour | |
| 2 | The vibe-raters |
| Understanding the audience: the spectrum from obsessive to casual fans — how discovery habits and patterns differ between them — the dynamics of pioneers and followers | |
| 3 | Fans as creators |
| The new opinion leaders: meet the bloggers — hobbyists who create resources for digital discovery — the communities that grow around them | |
| 4 | Wise and foolish crowds |
| Following the leader and following the herd — using others' tastes as a guide for your own — how the hit parade is changing as a measure of what we like | |
| 5 | Who knows? |
| Professional media vs. amateur bloggers — competing and co-operating to guide discovery — reaching down the 'Long Tail' | |
| 6 | Cracking the code of content |
| Automatic matching of songs and films to your tastes — how changing listening and viewing habits affect what we like and want | |
| 7 | The new seekers |
| Picking up discovery clues — information pull and push — how new breeds of tools for searching, browsing and monitoring help us make discoveries | |
| 8 | Buzz building |
| Getting the word out — viral and word-of-mouth carriers for your message — the ethics of blog marketing — innovative licensing to help spread recommendations | |
| 9 | Accelerating digital discovery |
| The Net, Blogs and Rock'n'Roll recipe — what is Web 2.0 and how can it boost digital discovery methods? — how the power of the Net is extending to events and social spaces | |
| 10 | Future consumers: Sharing experiences |
| Future audiences — the home multimedia hobbyist — the teenage fan — festival networking — fan clubs as the ultimate archivists | |
| 11 | Future media: Designing for discovery |
| Future industries — reinventing listings services — documentary production and tagging — cultivating discovery in social networks — charting the celestial jukebox | |
| 12 | Future culture: Who knows who's next |
| Where is our culture heading in the era of digital discovery? — nail it all down vs. stir it up — who's in charge and what they can do |
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