DIGITAL IDENTITY FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF GENERATION X MUSICIANS

Generation X musicians represent a transitional generation from the pre-digital to the digital era, having experience developing their musical identity and reputation in both. In the process of development, they use digital platforms to communicate directly with their audience and utilize digital technologies for music production, promotion, and distribution. They face the challenge of reconciling traditional approaches they used in the pre-digital era with the demands of the digital ecosystem. The research explores how Generation X musicians perceive the transition process in developing their musical identity using traditional and digital approach and what strategies they have adopted to keep relevance in the digital age. The results show that Generation X musicians use a combination of traditional and digital tools, with this integrated approach proving to be the best strategy for them as they feel nostalgic and question the quality and relevance of online visibility. Although they have digital skills, they still need to take full advantage of the digital ecosystem in building their digital identity, leaving room for further research in this area. Continuing previous autoethnographic research identifying the information and communication challenges musicians face when developing their digital identity, this study gives deeper insight on those challenges from the perspective of Generation X musicians and the difficulties they face when reconciling traditional musical practices with new digital opportunities. The input of this study is to contribute to the existing knowledge of the strategies musicians from various generations use to build digital identity, in particularly Generation X musicians, and to contribute to a better understanding of musician digital identity overall since there is a lack of research in this field.