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New Media And The Circuit Of Cyber-Culture: Conceptualizing Napster, Bryan Taylor, Christof Demont-Heinrich, Kirsten Broadfoot, Jefferson Dodge, Guowei Jian
New Media And The Circuit Of Cyber-Culture: Conceptualizing Napster, Bryan Taylor, Christof Demont-Heinrich, Kirsten Broadfoot, Jefferson Dodge, Guowei Jian
Guowei Jian
Media studies scholars have employed the "cultural circuit" model to analyze media in the context of capitalist political economy. This model identifies interrelated "moments' in which the meanings of cultural products are determined, negotiated, and subverted in interaction between producers and audiences. The turbulent evolution of new media, however, requires continuous reflection on the adequacy of conceptual tools. Analysis of recent controversy surrounding the Internet music-exchange service Napster indicates that the cultural circuit model must be modified to accommodate the emerging media of cyber-culture.