The new dimension in concert traditions: Spaces and audiences in digital concerts

However, the emergence of the professional concert tradition dates back to 18th century. Over centuries these traditions had some various changes in their characteristics. At the time of emergence, the concert durations are quite long. But, in the 19th century, the target group has changed with the Industrial Revolution. The new audiences were the working-class therefor didn't have the time as the previous generations did so the duration of concerts shortened. Later youth concerts, electronic music concerts in studio and new-year concerts have evolved throughout time in the dimension of concert traditions. We also see that different types of music styles were mixed throughout these events. This also shows an attitude change in concerts. Today, digital concerts, which are frequently encountered in social media platforms, can be defined as a new type of concert which started to take its place in daily life since the beginning of 2000s. Digital concerts are a type of live music streaming. Historically, it can be traced back to the Telharmonium, which was invented in 1897. In the 20th century the use of radio and television technologies were also very important in the improvement of live music broadcasting. Today, with the massive use of internet technologies, digital concerts which reach the audience through the mediators described as new media, are becoming more frequent. When examining digital concerts, the concepts of space and audience are very important. When examined in the context of space, it is possible to talk about three different dimensions for this type of concert: the physical environment where the performance is realized, the media that provides access to the audience and the physical environment in which the audience is located. When it comes to the audience, it can be said that digital concerts are mostly held without spectators, although there may be exceptional situations. When the audience is considered in the context of space, it is seen that the audience's position is quite uncertain and the number of viewers in the digital environment is proving its existence. For this study, while examining the concert tradition and digital concerts, another point to be addressed besides social changes and technological innovations was the coronavirus pandemic. The increase in the number of digital concerts with the pandemic proves that unexpectedly occurring situations may also affect the tradition and the way in which related activities are held.