an analysis of the use of texts in discogs (portfolio draft)

8/10/2019 An Analysis of the Use of Texts in Discogs (Portfolio Draft)

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Anthony Piazza

Ms. Jennifer Murray

ENC1102

8 December 2014

An Analysis of the Use of Texts in Discogs

Discogs is a website that serves as a database and marketplace for physical music, such as

vinyl records and CDs. The goal of Discogs is tobuild the biggest and most comprehensive

music database and marketplace (Discogs: About).Users work to accomplish this goal by

adding unique releases to the database. They maintain accuracy in the database by checking the

submissions of other users. Another aspect of Discogs is the Marketplace, an online store where

users can buy or sell music to other users. The purpose of this analysis is to examine the data

found in each source and form connections. To do this, emphasis will be placed on Discogs

communication methods with its users, the progression from novice to expert, and the

connections between the survey I conducted and other sources. Of all the different forms of

communication used, the most effective is adding a new release as it contributes most directly to

the goal of Discogs. However my survey showed that this is not the most popular method of

communication. Users claimed that the most common way they interacted with other users was

through the Marketplace, either buying or selling items.

COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS

The About and Guidelines pages on Discogs are most likely written as a

collaboration by different employees to reflect the views of the company as a whole. Both pages

do not list an author, however the About page has a section featuring the Discogs Team,

comprised of only 26 members. The Aboutpage is short and brief. On the other hand, the


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Guidelines page is extensive, including over 20 hyperlinks that lead to pages describing the

rules in greater detail. Aside from the differing aesthetics there lies a more important connection

between these two sources: Discogs created both pages for the purpose of informing users

through texts. Not only were they written as collaboration among employees, the sources also

provide an efficient means of communicationbetween Discogs and its users. The About page

informs readers about the company and its history while the Guidelines page is aimed at users

who are new to the site. By communicating effectively with its users, Discogs ensures that its

users can collaborate with each other when adding and editing releases.

The Add Release form is a crucial element in the discourse of Discogs as it contributes to

expanding the size and accuracy of the database. Users utilize this form when they come across

an item in their collection that is not yet in the database. They look at their item for specific

details (such as artist name and album title) and add them to the release page. Each of the five

million releases in the database were submitted through this form. The form includes detailed

information of the specific release in order to guarantee that the item is indeed a unique addition

to the database. Users also collaborate by checking each other for accuracy in the submissions.

The form is influenced by the Guidelines as the two sources are supposed to be used

simultaneously. While a user is adding a new release, Discogs suggests they have the Guidelines

readily available if needed. This also relates directly to what John Swales means in

Approaching the Concept of Discourse Community when he says, the discourse community

survives by providing information and feedback (Swales 5). Discogs is focused on the idea of

sharing information with other users and the world through their database. By providing

feedback on the submissions of each others contributions, users are keeping the discourse of

Discogs alive.


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Whether its through the About, Guidelines, or Add Release page, Discogs thrives on

collaboration. Discogs employees collaborated when writing the About and Guidelines. Also,

users work together to add and edit new releases. The database itself is a testament to how

teamwork allows individuals to achieve impressive feats, such as having five million items in the

database. Additionally, users may notice that the Add Release form is influenced by the

Guidelines as the two sources are supposed to be used together. Discogs wouldnt be possible

without every user collaborating the help the site accomplish its goal.

FROMNOVICE TO EXPERT

Swales developed on the idea of a discourse community by stating the survival of the

community depends on a reasonable ratio between expert and novices (Swales 6). When

explaining this sixth characteristic of a discourse community, Swales states that people enter the

community as an apprentice. A vinyl collector who is just beginning to use Discogs could be

considered an apprentice. Someone who has been using the site for a while and has a firm grasp

of how things work could be considered an expert. Discogs unknowingly acknowledged these

points and responded by creating tools that make the assimilation of new users virtually

seamless.

Discogs can be overwhelming to some new users, especially with the strict guidelines and

large amount of lexis. For example, some new users may not know that ANV stands for Artist

Name Variationor that PAN means Primary Artist Name.Because of this, Discogs created

the Guidelines for users to refer to when needed. There are 22 sections that are further divided

into detailed subsections, specifying exactly what should and should not be in a release. These

subsections are extremely detailed so that users can be absolutely certain their actions are

appropriate. When correcting the mistakes of novices, some users link a URL to the section of


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the Guidelines that explains why their action is not acceptable on Discogs. Not only does this

reinforce the rules, but it can also introduce the Guidelines to new members who were unaware

of its existence.

Although it is not accessible anymore, Discogs created a forum called Database Mentors

and Protgs that was designed to bridge the gap between these two types of users. (Discogs

presumably closed the forum due to inactivity). New users would opt to be paired with an

experienced user to help them become accustomed to the rules of Discogs. The experts of

Discogs are users with a high number of Rank Points, earned by contributing to the database.

While the novices are simply new members of Discogs, a good portion of them make up the new

generation of vinyl collectors that Joel Oliphint references in his article Wax and Wane. He

says the vinyl comeback is more than a trend, and its not going away anytime soon (Oliphint).

Each new vinyl collector essentially becomes a novice. As these novices become more

experienced though their collecting, they become experts. The same ideology applies to Discogs

as new users learn and gradually develop into experienced ones.

CATALOGING AS A HABIT

I created a survey on Survey Monkey to find out more about how Discogs users

communicate using texts. It contained six questions relating to their most frequent methods of

communication, possible confusion with the lexis of Discogs, and their purpose in using the

website. While the survey had over 700 responses, the free account only provides data for a

certain number of responses before requiring an upgrade. Therefore, the following statistics are

representative of only the first 100 Discogs users that responded. The first five questions were

aimed at all Discogs users while the final question was only for those who collected records

before Discogs was created.


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While adding a new release contributes to the goal of Discogs most directly, it is not the

most common communication method. 63 percent of Discogs users claimed that they regularly

communicate through buying or selling items on the Marketplace, while only 33 percent of users

communicate through adding new releases (Piazza). This is understandable, however, as Discogs

is one of the largest online vinyl sellers with over 10 million items listed for sale. A possible

constraint explaining the low number of users who add new releases could be that so many items

are already in the database. With every new release that is added, it gradually becomes more

difficult for other users to contribute since their item is already listed.

Zero Freitas, a successful businessman, was featured by The New York Times in an article

written by Monte Reel. He found an interesting way to bypass this issue by purchasing millions

of records in a quest to save obscure music (Reel). Freitas desires to catalog his entire

collection in a process he estimates could take 20 years. He hired a team of interns who have the

infeasible task of cataloging every record in his collection of millions. They spend long days

typing the artist name, album title, year, label and adding a picture into a database (presumably

not Discogs). Freitas is just like many of the Discogs users I polled in my survey who feel the

need to catalog their collection. While only 31 percent claimed to have cataloged their collection

prior to the creation of Discogs, their methods were very interesting. The most popular method

was creating a spreadsheet on Microsoft Excel, which may be Freitas method as well. Other

methods included similar websites such as VinylFly and keeping a notebook with all purchases.

In David Gracons dissertation on independent record stores, Wax and Wane, he explains the

emotional value of a record collectionby defining them as carriers of the information whose

arrangement and interpretation is part of the broader discourse about popular music (Gracon

125). Cataloging records, whether its on Discogs, a notebook or through any other method,


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provides a glimpse into the mind and tastes of the collector in a way that spoken discourse

cannot.

CONCLUSION

Cataloging records appears to be a habit that comes naturally to most collectors. Even

before Discogs was created, a group of vinyl collectors shared the common characteristic of

maintaining a hand-written list of every record they own. Discogs recognized this habit and

created their website to allow users to keep track of their collection while simultaneously

contributing to create the largest database of physical music. All of the sources from the Discogs

site were created for the purpose of educating users through texts. Discogs functions as a

collaborative effort, with users working with one another to accomplish Discogs goal.In

addition, my survey showed that a significant number of vinyl collectors naturally catalog as a

habit, which relates to Freitas massive collection and his desire to have it all cataloged. Further

research will be focused on individual genres of Discogs, including the Blog, Forum, and

Marketplace, and how they affect one another. Whether users are adding new releases, buying or

selling items, or reading the Guidelines, Discogs continues to be a discourse community that

thrives on communicating through texts.


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Works Cited

Discogs: About.Discogs.Web. 8 Dec. 2014.

Discogs: Add Release.Discogs. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.

Discogs: Guidelines.Discogs.Web. 8 Dec. 2014.

Gracon, David D. Exiled Records and Over-the-Counterculture: a Cultural Political Economic

Analysis of the Independent Record Store.ProQuest.UMI Dissertation Publishing. 30

Sept. 2011. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.

Oliphint, Joel. Wax and Wane: the Tough Realities Behind Vinyls Comeback.Pitchfork. 28

July 2014. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.

Reel, Monte. The Brazilian Bus Magnate Whos Buying Up All The Worlds Vinyl Records.

The New York Times.09. Aug. 2014. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.

Piazza, Anthony. Discogs User Survey. 16 Sept. 2014. Survey.

Swales, John. "Approaching the Concept of Discourse Community."ERIC.Mar. 1987. Web. 8

Dec. 2014.

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