Operating Outside of the Music Industry: Strategies of Production in a Semi-Professional Musical Art World
by Diana Miller
Excerpt
Cultural sociologists have extensively studied professional artistic communities and the steps that aspiring artists take to join them (Bielby and Bielby, 1996, 1999; Giuffre 1999; Menger 1999). However, we know less about semi-professional artistic communities, where artistic activity is more sustained and serious than a hobby, but less financially stable than a job. In this paper, I ask: in the absence of a professional music industry, what strategies do musicians and other producers use to create and distribute heavy metal music? What opportunities and constraints does this form of organization provide? My answers draw on fieldwork at 20 concerts and other social events, and 18 interviews with a range of actors in the Toronto semi-professional heavy metal community including musicians, fans, and support personnel such as show promoters and independent label owners.
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[...] Operating Outside of the Music Industry: Strategies of Production in a Semi-Professional Musical Art… Cultural sociologists have extensively studied professional artistic communities and the steps that aspiring artists take to join them (Bielby and Bielby, 1996, 1999; Giuffre 1999; Menger 1999). However, we know less about semi-professional artistic communities, where artistic activity is more sustained and serious than a hobby, but less financially stable than a job. social dilemma Photo by cmapspublic3.ihmc.us on Ihmc [...]