Net, Blogs and Rock 'n' Roll: How Digital Discovery Works and What It Means for Consumers, Creators and Culture [Paperback]

Web and software developers, music industry types, students, and fans who want to understand the big picture of how blogs, personalizedradio, and other online music discovery methods are changing the music scene might want to check out Net, Blogs, and Rock 'n Roll, by David Jennings, a London-based writer and consultant. The book packs in a large number of specific examples, culled from his own online experiences and a large number of interviews with tech luminaries and music experts such as the guys who create sites and playlists for the Galaxie 500 and Depeche Mode communities. He also mentions Wired News' own experiment withreader-editable journalism. As far as the future goes, Jennings sees a "culture of sharing" ahead and points out that as we give more data to online music services, using Last.FM and MyStrands, their music recommendations will improve to the point that they'll be able to create personalized dynamic playlists that can be trusted to expose us to new music we are sure to like. --Wired, 1st November 2007

A super read and should be on the shelf of everyone who cares about how people find new music and media that matches their tastes.This really important book has changed the way I think about targeting consumers. --Paul Lamere, Sun Microsystems

David Jennings is the Christopher Columbus of digital discovery, and his pioneering book is an extremely helpful map of the complex new world of online music. Equally relevant for consumers and artists, this is the first book to get beyond the rhetoric and professionally chart the cartography of the digital revolution. --Andrew Keen, founder of Audiocafe.com and author of The Cult of the Amateur

Today's consumers are turning the tables on traditional media. They cannot be herded towards some Next Big Thing but switch their attention in a heartbeat if they catch the buzz of something new and exciting. Fans forage for new discoveries, pursuing personal interests while leaving trails and clues for others to follow. Savants, Enthusiasts and Originators play influential roles in the fan economy recording their finds, expressing their opinions and leading communities of fellow fans. As a result, discovery is the big challenge in a wiki, Web 2.0 world where blog culture, social networks like MySpace and personalized recommender systems have changed the way we perceive, create and consume media. Net, Blogs and Rock 'n' Roll is the first book to dissect a new generation of discovery-oriented services such as Last.fm the social music revolution and is for anyone who spreads the word about entertainment and is interested in expanding audiences through the new channels of our always-connected culture. By explaining how discovery works in this groundbreaking book, David Jennings shows how creators can support discoveries by maximizing the ways buzz can develop. He introduces the three strands of digital discovery - Trying Out, Links, Community - explaining how the history, culture and technology of media are interwoven with the rise of personalization and mobile players. He profiles groups of consumers and their different approaches to discovery, and examines how media intermediaries filter cultural content and connect it to audiences. Anything goes in this new world of discovery which embodies a rock 'n' roll ethos that resists neat and clean orderliness. Consumers make discoveries from any and every source, all media can co-exist, but no one retains 'gatekeeper' status. Professionals are adjusting to a new role complementing bloggers and facilitating audience discoveries rather than controlling them. Net Blogs and Rock 'n' Roll reveals the role of consumers in the fan economy, the latest technologies and techniques at their disposal and shows intermediaries how to connect creators with communities of fans and consumers.

David Jennings runs his own media consultancy DJ Alchemi Ltd and is a Chartered Psychologist who consults on how people learn and collaborate online. He has also co-founded broadband and training technology start-ups and is a Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts . Alongside work for corporate clients in telecoms, software, education and arts sectors, he has written on digital media and the fan economy for the music business magazine Five Eight and The Spectator. He maintains several blogs and, as a music fan, has published in fanzines and on a dedicated wiki site. He lives in London.