{"id":2066,"date":"2019-06-05T14:31:28","date_gmt":"2019-06-05T18:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/?p=2066"},"modified":"2019-07-23T12:42:09","modified_gmt":"2019-07-23T16:42:09","slug":"the-curious-case-of-mariya-takeuchis-plastic-love-guest-blog-by-thomas-calkins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/2019\/06\/05\/the-curious-case-of-mariya-takeuchis-plastic-love-guest-blog-by-thomas-calkins\/","title":{"rendered":"the curious case of Mariya Takeuchi\u2019s Plastic Love: guest blog by Thomas Calkins"},"content":{"rendered":"

[I\u2019ve wanted Thomas Calkins to write something for this blog since well before I served as external adviser to his University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee sociology dissertation on the life and death of urban record stores<\/a>. While that project currently evolves into academic journals publications, he found the time to share some thoughts on a quite recent phenomenon. -LN]<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Algorithms and Aura:
\nThe Curious Case of Mariya Takeuchi\u2019s Plastic Love<\/p>\n

Widespread digitization has fundamentally changed the consumption, production, and distribution of music in the 21st<\/sup> century. Now more than ever, consumers are able to span space and time to seek out niche genres and artists. Fan and artist communities form out of specialist microgenres in a matter of weeks or months. The users of YouTube and reddit (among others) are facilitating this globalization of pop culture. In this short piece I discuss the unlikely story of Plastic Love, the obscure single that seemingly came from nowhere and introduced millions to the late-70s Japanese genre City Pop by way of YouTube\u2019s recommendation algorithm. This story provides academics of popular music, and sociologists of culture with an example of how quickly the meaning-making process is evolving in the era of globalized digital media. The unlikely resurgence of City Pop in a new time and place also speaks to the power of music to transport artist and fan communities to a distant urban imaginary.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/3bNITQR4Uso<\/p>\n

Mariya Takeuchi<\/a> has had a highly successful career as a Japanese pop star, spanning decades and with multiple #1 albums in her home country. Takeuchi was relatively unknown to Western audiences until a specific upload of her 1984 song Plastic Love<\/em> started to appear in the suggested videos for millions of users. According to content creators Stevem (2018)<\/a> and Justin Whang (2019a)<\/a>, who both covered the topic in video essays, it is not entirely clear why the algorithm selected an upload of the song by the similarly named user Plastic Lover. Although statistics for videos are no longer viewable, a look at the number of daily subscribers shows that Plastic Lover\u2019s YouTube channel had a dramatic spike between March 17th<\/sup>, 2018 and April 5th<\/sup>, 2018, suggesting that this may have been the period when the algorithmic magic was at work (Social Blade 2019). Within two years the video had amassed 25 million views, and \u201cbecame somewhat of a nexus point for the microgenre of music known as City Pop\u201d (Whang 2019a)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

City Pop<\/a> emerged from the late-70s and early-80s technological and economic expansion of Japan, and especially its successes in the areas of music technology (Blistein 2019)<\/a>. Fed by both the anxieties and ecstasies of a rising technological powerhouse, City Pop was a highly polished amalgamation of pop, soft rock, funk, disco, and AOR (among others), but distinctly Japanese. A useful metaphor here might be Yacht Rock, but moored in Tokyo Bay. City Pop served as a kind of contradiction in that it<\/p>\n

\u2026reflected a new life of leisure and wealth, [but] it also grappled with that wholly unique form of urban melancholy \u2014 the loneliness that grips you in the crowd, the fear of emptiness that sets in when everything you want seems to be sitting right there (Blistein 2019)<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

City Pop, and the sounds found therein, today serve as the raw materials for the contemporary sample-based genre vaporwave, itself a kind of nostalgic but surreal interpretation of 80s and 90s popular culture. From Plastic Lover\u2019s upload of the song, millions of new English-speaking fans became interested and invested in the genre of City Pop, to some degree by accident.<\/p>\n

Many are likely unaware of the bittersweet lyrical content of Plastic Love, but their emotional attachments to the video became quite evident following its removal by YouTube due to a copyright strike. Plastic Lover\u2019s upload of the video included a photo of Mariya Takeuchi that had been taken by L.A.-based photographer Alan Levenson<\/a> while the album was in production. Alan claims he was never compensated by the label for that photo. After he became aware of the popularity of the video, and by extension his photo, he attempted to contact Plastic Lover, to request proper attribution for his image. Levenson was unsuccessful, and instead filed a copyright strike with YouTube, who removed Plastic Lover\u2019s video (Whang 2019a)<\/a>. Many other clones of this video could easily be found on YouTube and in that regard, the removal was ineffective. But the removal of this specific, highly viewed video inspired hate mail from a community of listeners that had developed around the video, although Levenson was unaware that the video would be removed by YouTube. User Stevem (2018)<\/a>, who covered the story of Plastic Love, attempted to redirect this negative energy into something more constructive, pleading with Plastic Love fans on Twitter to instead appeal to Levenson by describing what the song meant to them. And many did just that.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t take YouTube videos home with you, can\u2019t open the gatefold cover up, smell the dust, or ceremoniously drop the needle on the opening track. You don\u2019t view them in a gallery from beyond a crimson-colored rope barrier (generally). But for some consumers, culture in this medium is still charged with intense meaning, as evidenced by both the hate and love surrounding the removal of the video. I contend that the reason why some listeners had such a powerful reaction to the removal of Plastic Lover\u2019s video is because it has an aura, a kind of cultural rarity, even though it is a copy. Benjamin (2006) uses the term \u201caura\u201d to describe the \u201cmystical value attached to [art] through its association to tradition and ritual\u201d (Brooker 2003:14). For Benjamin, auratic objects are unique, and created in a single time and space which is at a distance from the viewer. Because of this, there is a fundamental difference between the actual painting of Mona Lisa, and coffee mugs emblazoned with her likeness (available for purchase in the nearby gift store). For Benjamin (2006), copies cannot have an aura.<\/p>\n

But for Bartmanski and Woodward (2015), copies can indeed have an aura, and they use the example of vinyl records to demonstrate just this. In studying the continued popularity of vinyl records, Bartmanski and Woodward (2015) note that for the consumers in their study, records hold special meanings for some consumers. This meaning arises from the aura that copies possess in contrast to CD and digital forms. The revival of physical formats in an age of digital reproduction suggests that \u201c\u2026technological reproducibility does not rid cultural objects of aura\u201d (Bartmanski and Woodward 2015: 32; see also Maalsen 2013; Marshall 2014; Harvey 2015). In order to shift aura from a normative to an analytical concept, Bartmanski and Woodward propose that Benjamin\u2019s (2006) absolute \u201cuniqueness\u201d be replaced with \u201crelative rarity\u201d as a qualifier for aura. They further state that thinking of \u201c\u2026aura as relational and multidimensional\u2026helps grasp the iconic status of \u2018mechanically reproduced\u2019 objects that Benjamin deemed improbable\u201d (Bartmanski and Woodward 2013: 17). Vinyl\u2019s meanings have shifted in the changing landscape of music distribution. Researchers note that for vinyl consumers, these items have an aura that digital formats do not have (Maalsen 2013<\/a>; Marshall 2014; Bartmanski and Woodward 2015; Harvey 2015).<\/p>\n

But the case of Plastic Lover\u2019s video, its incredible growth, and community outcry after its removal, suggests that something else might be taking place here. Users could\u2019ve moved on to any number of clones of the video, or the myriad remixes and copies. This is perfectly captured by the user\u00a0@CVerse_<\/span> who states:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/CVerse_\/status\/1108895037729824768<\/p>\n

For some listeners, that digital copy had specific meanings that others did not. What I contend is that while others have argued that physical formats like vinyl carry specific meanings that digital media lack, at least for some consumers, we are beginning to see signs that this may not be particularly true, and that the idea of aura may be applied to cases such as this.<\/p>\n

This is only one case, and a special one at that, but I think it is useful for illustrating that ideas about permanence and the internet are changing. As BBC journalist Dowling (2019)<\/a> has noted, not everything on the internet is forever, and much of its early history has been lost. Once immensely popular platforms or websites can whiter away or become obsolete over time, with little-to-no archiving. The removal of Plastic Lover\u2019s video is evidence that users are well aware that the nature of the internet, and the media within, are not permanent. Users may giveth, but platforms can taketh away. Along with the sense of preservation, at least part of the uproar over the video\u2019s removal is entangled with the perception that an individual, working through YouTube, could have something removed that held such powerful meaning for listeners. In responding to Stevem\u2019s plea for civility, some acknowledged that the marriage of the song and photograph was particularly meaningful for them, and also recognized that photographer Alan Levenson did have a right to demand proper attribution for his photograph. Both the ugly and sentimental reactions to the removal of the video suggests that that digital copies, in certain circumstances can be heavily charged with meaning and aura. In times previous, possessing and knowing a particular record, or set of records, served as an entry point to a particular subculture. When discussing record-buying musical subcultures, Bartmanski and Woodward (2013) note that these imagined communities \u201cbecome conscious of [themselves] only by settling upon external objects\u201d (Durkheim 2012, as quoted in Bartmanski and Woodward 2013: 5). That seems to still be true today, but the digitization of music now means that sound is no longer bound to physical formats. Plastic Lover\u2019s upload, while a copy that exists on the servers at YouTube, also serves as this external object for these listeners. Both Plastic Love and the genre City Pop serve as examples of how music can emerge from the historical ether, rife with old meanings, but with the potential for new interpretations by new audiences.<\/p>\n

During my dissertation research on record stores, I came into contact with Bartmanski and Woodward\u2019s (2015) work on vinyl. Their findings echo my own personal feelings with regards to the medium. I don\u2019t have the same kinds of attachments to digital forms, but maybe someday I might. Certainly, I\u2019ve heard something on YouTube, and then went into a record store looking for a vinyl copy. Those records, which I can name off the top of my head, are very meaningful to me. But I\u2019m also struck by what YouTube content creator Stevem states in his video essay on Plastic Love<\/a>:<\/p>\n

YouTube seems to be cultivating this record store in the digital space, affecting how people define their taste in the modern era, mass producing the feeling of finding these obscure gems on your own in a way that feels natural, doing it so well with the puppet strings that you don\u2019t even see them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Plastic Lover\u2019s upload of the video is back up on YouTube at the time of writing, following coaxing, negotiating, and proper crediting to photographer Alan Levenson (Whang 2019b<\/a>). It is only one story among others which illustrates how the relationships around cultural production and consumption are quickly shifting.<\/p>\n

Academic research certainly demonstrates that for some consumers, physical media contains meanings that digital music lacks. But the case I highlight here suggests that the attachments that consumers form with a particular copy of an LP (or cassette, etc.) can also occur for a particular upload of a song and image. As others have noted elsewhere, objects can have an aura whether they are originals or copies, in part based upon their relative rarity. What is posted or hosted on the internet can be lost, to copyright claim, software changes, or financial constraints alike.\u00a0 What the Plastic Love phenomenon suggests is that through this threat of loss, even digital copies can have a kind of aura for music listeners. It also suggests that as pop culture becomes increasingly globalized and participatory, genres can emerge from the past to take on new meanings for listeners, allowing them to imagine a foreign cityscape that is long past.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thomas Calkins recently earned his doctorate in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2018). His dissertation \u201cGrooves in the Landscape: Vanished and Persistent Record Stores in the Postindustrial City\u201d<\/a> examines record store failure, founding, and persistence in the context of urban inequality and music industry change. One manuscript from this research which uses GIS mapping and regression analysis is forthcoming in the journal City & Community<\/em>, and shows that the 1980s \u2014 during the transition to CD \u2014 were particularly challenging for record stores in non-white neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

REFERENCES<\/p>\n

Bartmanski, Dominik and Ian Woodward. 2013. \u201cThe Vinyl: the Analogue Medium in the Age of Digital Reproduction.\u201d Journal of Consumer Culture<\/em> 0(0):1-25. doi: 10.1177\/1469540513488403.<\/p>\n

Bartmanski, Dominik and Ian Woodward. 2015. Vinyl: The Analogue Record in the Digital Age<\/em>. New York: Bloomsbury.<\/p>\n

Benjamin, Walter. 2006. \u201cThe Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.\u201d Pp.18-40 in Media and Cultural Studies: KeyWorks<\/em>, edited by M.G. Durham and D.M. Kellner. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.<\/p>\n

Blistein, Jon. 2019. \u201cCity Pop: Why Does the Soundtrack to Tokyo\u2019s Tech Boom Still Resonate?\u201d Rolling Stone (website). Retrieved May 30th<\/sup>, 2019. (https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/japanese-city-pop-returns-light-in-the-attic-compilation-pacific-breeze-822663\/<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Brooker, Peter. 2003. A Glossary of Cultural Theory<\/em>. New York: Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n

Dowling, Stephen. 2019. \u201cWhy There is So Little Left of the Early Internet.\u201d BBC Website. Retrieved May 23rd<\/sup>, 2019 (http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/future\/story\/20190401-why-theres-so-little-left-of-the-early-internet<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Durkheim, Emile. 2012. The Elementary Forms of The Religious Life<\/em>. Mineola, NY: <\/strong>Courier Dover Publications.<\/p>\n

Harvey, Eric. 2015. \u201cSiding with Vinyl: Record Store Day and the Branding of Independent Music.\u201d International Journal of Cultural Studies<\/em>. Retrieved June 5th<\/sup>, 2015. doi: 10.1177\/1367877915582105<\/p>\n

Maalsen, Sophia. 2013. The Life History of Sound. <\/em>PhD dissertation, The University of Sydney. Retrieved from Sydney eScholarship Repository (http:\/\/hdl.handle.net\/2123\/10588<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Marshall, Lee. 2014. \u201cW(h)ither Now? Music Collecting in the Age of the Cloud.\u201d Pp. 61-73 in Popular Music Matters: Essays in Honour of Simon Frith<\/em>, edited by. L. Marshall and D. Laing. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.<\/p>\n

Social Blade. 2019. \u201cYouTube Statistical History for Plastic Lover.\u201d Social Blade Website, Raleigh, NC. Retrieved May 30th<\/sup>, 2019 (https:\/\/socialblade.com\/youtube\/channel\/UCTtfW4inXXgXRipflH656eg\/monthly<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Stevem. 2018. \u201cWhat Is Plastic Love?\u201d YouTube Website. Retrieved May 26th<\/sup>, 2019 (https:\/\/youtu.be\/PlPTXR7e6As<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Whang, Justin. 2019a. \u201cWhat Happened to Plastic Love?\u201d YouTube Website. Retrieved March 28th<\/sup>, 2019 (https:\/\/youtu.be\/J9NdTD5ciVs<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Whang, Justin. 2019b. \u201cPlastic Love is Back!\u201d YouTube Website. Retrieved May 21st<\/sup>, 2019 (https:\/\/youtu.be\/nNOKZba6UtI<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[I\u2019ve wanted Thomas Calkins to write something for this blog since well before I served as external adviser to his University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee sociology dissertation on the life and death of urban record stores. While that project currently evolves into academic journals publications, he found the time to share some thoughts on a quite recent phenomenon. -LN]   Algorithms and Aura: The Curious Case of Mariya Takeuchi\u2019s Plastic Love Widespread digitization has fundamentally changed the consumption, production, and distribution of music in the 21st century. Now more than ever, consumers are able to span space and time to seek out niche genres and artists. Fan and artist communities form out of specialist microgenres in a matter of weeks or months. The users of YouTube and reddit (among others) are facilitating this globalization of pop culture. In this short piece I discuss the unlikely story of Plastic Love, the obscure single that seemingly came from nowhere and introduced millions to the late-70s Japanese genre City Pop by way of YouTube\u2019s recommendation algorithm. This story provides academics of popular music, and sociologists of culture with an example of how quickly the meaning-making process is evolving in the era of globalized digital media. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":308,"featured_media":2070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[43678,43773,43762,43660,43777,43696,43806,43690],"class_list":["post-2066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alienation","tag-collective-memory","tag-communion","tag-music-industry","tag-nostalgia","tag-subculture","tag-tokyo","tag-urban-ethos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/308"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2066"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2074,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2066\/revisions\/2074"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}