Old Clichés or a Transforming Community?

Early Music Interpreters on TikTok: Identity and Communication Strategies

Abstract

This article investigates how performers of Western early music are
musicking and interacting on and through TikTok, with a focus on their communication strategies and how they affirm their identity. This is the first attempt to examine the output on this social media platform of a group of musicians identified on the basis of a musical repertoire from the past.

A first part devoted to methodological considerations is followed by the analysis of six case studies that can be considered representativeof the plurality of profile present on TikTok: both individual musician and ensemble, singers as well as instrumentalists have been
considered. The last part of the article develops reflections ranging from the
TikTokers themselves to their music personae, from the repertoire
performed to the specificity of the format of the published videos for
the TikTok platform. In addition, TikTokers' interaction with the
audience as well as with colleagues specialized in the same field is
examined.

Far from being exclusively recreational in nature, the videos are
often informative or reflect a professional or even commercial intent.
In most cases the videos are competently shot, yet the manner of
staging oneself remains close to everyday life. The large number of
pieces performed by more TikTokers in a deterritorialised and
asynchronous fashion reveals that the innovative way of producing music typical of this online musicking platform is also becoming established in the field of cultured music.

This survey highlights that the community of early music performers on
TikTok, although still very small, is very diverse within itself and
makes use of differentiated communicative strategies. This community is rapidly developing and oriented towards a participatory culture; moreover, it includes the affirmation of ethical and social values that go beyond the strictly musical sphere.