Creating Nostalgic Bonds through Extra-Musical Artifacts: A Music Video Case Study

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Lorenz R.C. Dijckmans
Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands

DOI: https://doi.org/10.70267/ms.v3n3.155165

Keywords

nostalgia, artifacts, digital interaction, affective attention, music video

Abstract

Today, many music artists adopt digital media strategies to enhance audience engagement. One notable strategy is using nostalgia-invoking elements, which have created a music video nostalgia industry. In this industry, nostalgia serves as entertainment, grabbing people who wish to be charmed by the past with almost magical sentiments. When digital spaces enable the sharing of such sentiments, they can become part of a collective memory from which relationships in a community can be created. This case study investigates how nostalgia-invoking musical and extra-musical artifacts in music videos trigger the nostalgic sharing practices in the present audience. The YouTube Premiere of COME GET YOUR GIRL by Lights is analysed along with the Live Chat using a digital ethnographic discourse approach. The visual analysis of the music video’s imagery outlines the intended nostalgic engagement orchestrated by the artist, while the Live Chat analysis aims to understand the audience’s affective responses when presented with nostalgic elements. The Live Chat items (n=372) were collected through Python, and with the Pytchat and TextBlob packages, a quantitative thematic and sentiment analysis was conducted in order to provide a well-informed anchor for the in-depth qualitative analysis on audience engagement. To conclude, the portrayal of a re-imagined overview of the artist’s musical career contained several extra-musical artifacts (paint, shirts, hair styles, …) that triggered the audience in sharing nostalgic feelings mediating between past and present. In this interaction, the artifacts had a talismanic effect that provided an affective intensity boost, which catalyses the nostalgizing process. This entertaining experience gave rise to affective bonds in the community through nostalgic practices.

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Published
Nov 13, 2026
Issue
Vol. 3 No. 3 (2026)
Section
Research Articles
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How to Cite

Dijckmans, L. R. (2026). Creating Nostalgic Bonds through Extra-Musical Artifacts: A Music Video Case Study. Media Studies, 3(3), 155-165. https://doi.org/10.70267/ms.v3n3.155165