On the basis of the preceding discussions of music subcultures' and particularly the
Progressive Rock subculture's potential uses of the Internet, it is now possible to analyse the
actual forms the Prog subculture's utilisation of the Net takes. Of the various Prog-related
newsgroups, Web sites and other resources that can easily be found on the Net, two
newsgroups will be studied in especial detail here, since newsgroups constitute the Internet's
most obvious, direct, and central forum for community formation, integration, and
maintenance through communication. These are rec.music.progressive (frequently
referred to as 'r.m.p'), the central Prog discussion group, and alt.music.yes ('a.m.y'), a
typical example of a newsgroup focussing particularly on one (Progressive) artist or band --
here, the canonical band Yes.1 These newsgroups will also be contrasted with email
mailing-lists on similar topics, like Gibraltar (on especially obscure Prog), Elephant Talk ('ET',
on King Crimson and related artists), and Notes from the Edge ('NftE', on Yes). Prog-related
Web sites, finally, will also be analysed (see Appendix B.2 for addresses of these resources).
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