Indie
The Institutional Politics and Aesthetics of a Popular Music Genre
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20048113 |
|---|---|
| Authors | D Hesmondhalgh (0000-0001-5940-9191, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Pages | 123-150 |
| Publication date | 2017-07-05 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Rock Music (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.4324/9781315088631-7 |
| OpenAlex | W4234429705 |
| ISBN | 9781315088631 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
This article is Concerned with the complex relations between institutional politics and aesthetics in oppositional forms of popular culture. Indie is a contemporary genre which has its roots in punk's institutional and aesthetic challenge to the popular music industry but which, in the 1990s, has become part of the 'mainstream' of British pop. Case studies of two important 'independents', Creation and One Little Indian, are presented, and the aesthetic and institutional politics of these record companies are analysed in order to explore two related questions. First, what forces lead 'alternative' independent record companies towards practices of professionalization and of partnership/collaboration with major corporations? Second, what are the institutional and political-aesthetic consequences of such professionalization and partnership? In response to the first question, the article argues that pressures towards professionalization and partnership should be understood not only as an abandonment of previously held idealistic positions (a 'sell-out') and that deals with major record companies are not necessarily, in themselves, a source of aesthetic compromise. On the second question, it argues that collaboration with major record companies entails a relinquishing of autonomy for alternative independent record companies; but perspectives which ascribe negative aesthetic consequences directly to such problematic institutional arrangements may well be flawed
Aesthetics · Art · Indie film · Political science · Politics · Popular music · Visual arts · Asian Culture and Media Studies · Law · Music History and Culture
Across the margins
La construcción mediática del músico y su producción como política
“Genrefluid” Spotify Playlists and Mediations of Genre and Identity in Music Streaming
(Anti)Tédio Boys
The Forms of Value
Identificaciones y vinculaciones
Indústria fonográfica e a Nova Produção Independente
Indie y masculinidad en la música popular española
Across the margins
Eu sou mais indie que você! As disputas do indie rock para se afirmar como rock autêntico
| Citations per year | 0.42 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2002 - 2023 (22) |
| Highly cited | No |