Original: Fresh, New, The Origin
Copy: Reproduction
Produsage is the art of taking in content, interpreting it and then resending that content. Like a cycle, think chinese whispers as a message goes in one ear, it'll usually start to alter with everyone's different interpretations of the message.
“There is an absence of producers, distributors, or consumers, and the presence of a seemingly endless string of users acting incrementally as content producers by gradually extending and improving the information present in the information commons, the value chain begins and ends (but only temporarily, ready for further development) with content.” (Bruns, 2006)
With a greater reliance on what has already been created, the concept of originality is fading into the background. That there are more people reinterpreting material than creating something from scratch. Why is there this new trend of reproducing material? How does it particularly work?
Just another question for the Media and there of.
Produsage comes in different forms, from the light artistic musical renditions to the informative databases used to cultivate information from collective minds. Both cultural and informative produsage have advanced, especially with the development of the media introducing the internet and the new new medias increase the spread of the produsage.
Below are a few examples of produsage in various industries:
- Musical Produsage
Madonna's 2005 hit song 'Hung Up' contained a sample of the popular ABBA song 'Gimme Gimme Gimme'. Featuring a the sample visibly throughout the song, the song relies on the sample's popularity to generate familiarity with music listeners tapping into their love for the ABBA song, translating that forward to love for the new song.
- Film Produsage
Currently another industry, the film industry recently has become more and more reliant on reproducing past cinema films. James Bond's Casino Royale, Alice and Wonderland, Bourne Identity, Cheaper by the Dozen and Fame are movies which have been remade. Some featured the same story with a new cast, while others like Alice in Wonderland offer a continuation or even another perspective of the story.
- Information Produsage
Wikipedia, though it's a more of an information database is a form of produsage, People collaborate their knowledge and continually interpret it and edit to better the information given.
- Fan Fiction Produsage
And finally fan fiction, where people take current stories or characters and further the story and life of the character chosen. Popular fan fiction topics are mainly sci fi with Star Wars, Star Trek and Lord of the Rings being very popular.
Whether produsage can be considered creative and new or unoriginal is subjective. When industries like the music and film utilize produsage it does come off as unoriginal, as the real reason for using the original concepts and stories is to exploit the sample's popularity which will transfer to the latest produsage song or movie. It is typically known that in these industries, the amount of reliance on past material is very common, leading to the questionability of whether there any original artists present.
I find however though an interpretation of a previous story, fan fiction/fandom I believe is a more creative and original form of produsage. Fans create stories and the like to further the longevity of the series (e.g: Star Wars) ensuring that it lives on even without the official creators of writers.
Originality is something that is no long important in current day society. In every industry you have one original idea, and instead of others coming up with a new idea to counter it they create a copy.
The purpose of the produsage I believe determines the originality and creativeness of the material created. If a produser uses something for commercial success I find it less original than other produsers who use it for a more personal or passionate gain. To achieve commericial sucess it to simply exploit what something has to offer. As to continue something you love is more creative because it's not about a material gain.
