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Chapter 4 Methodology 81
Research Objecti,"es and Gcner.d Approach 81
Critical Theory and Empirical Social Science 83
The Sample 86
The Intel""icw Process 89
Conclusion 92
Chapter 5 Data Analysis 94
Early Sensibilities 95
Heavy Metal 97
Punk 99
The Singer-Songwriter Tradition 103
Sample Outliers 104
Sources of Exposure to Music 105
MaturingSensibilities 108
"All this Music that [ Dug Has Soul." .. 109
Energy. Emotion. Expressiveness. and Challenge 111
Music and the Agents ofSocialization - the Media 116
Parents [16
School 117
Present.Day Sensibilities 121
Spontaneity. Noise. and Musica[ Exploration 121

list of Appendic:ts
Appendix I - Respondent Consent Form 151
Appendix 2 - Interview Schedule 152

I have scveral reasons for including Steiner's words here. In the first place. this is
a sociological thesis. and fascination with a repressive and fundamentally imtional
capitalist economic system - imtional in the sense that it serves no other definable end
than its o\,\,n expansion - has been one ofthe most enduring themes in sociological
literature. The affinity ofSteiner's perspective to the writings ofa twentieth century
fib'Ut'e like Theodor Adorno - who occupies a position ofcentral importance in this
research - is fairly evident but premonitions ofan uncontrollable capitalist machine
lurching toward some tcnninai crisis occur even earlier in the history ofsociological
thought. Marxist theory springs immediately to mind; however. it was Max Weber who
....rote the following passage from The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit ofCapitalism. a
work that identified the ascdic denial ofreal human needs as the true spirit ofcapitalism:
The Puritan wanted to be a man with a calling; we are compelled to be.
For when asceticism was transferred from the monastic cell to the life ofthe
calling and moral concern with this world began to predominate. this helped to
create that powerful modem economic world. bound to the technical and
economic conditions ofmechanical production. which today shapes the way of
life ofall who are born imo it (not only those who are directly employed in the
economy) with overwhelming pressure, and will perhaps continue to do so until
the last hundredweight offossil fuel has been burned to ashes (Weber. 1904: 181).
In Weber'S view, ascetic devotion to specialized work. once a primary religious
virtue for the Puritan businessman. is now an inescapable feature of modem life. 1lIe
demand placed on modem men and women to narrow the range oftheir interests and
abilities and carry out some spedalized function in the hierarchy ofprodUC1ion has
become. in the author's words. "a casing as hard as steel" (Weber. 1904: 181). Some
decades later the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research would take up Weber's interest

in the fate ofthe human subjects uapped ""ithin the economic and technological structure
ofcapitalist society. a structure which, according to the Institute's theorists. is deafto the
cries ofthese subjects for sensual and spiritual fuIfillmenL and disposes ofthem in a
purely instnunental manner, I believe that the effons ofindependent musicians to
preserve their creative autonomy in the face of pressures from the market might serve as
a useful illustration ofthese ideas.
More specifically. this research is concerned wilh the contemporary crisis in
Marxist modes ofthought. For over a century Marxism has sustained a promise of
trnnscendence. ofa bener world scillio come. The depoliticization of the working class.
coupled ....ith the demise ofCommunism in the late stages of the twentieth century, has
effectively destroyed Marxism's credibility and depleted its store of hope for a bener
world. it is this impasse in Marxist thought to which Steiner is panially alluding when he
writes that the basis for such hope has been cast into doubt. [t is m}' hypothesis thaL by
pledging resistance 10 the aesthetic standardization ofmusic and by advancing a vision of
creative autonomy and the fret:: play ofthe senses. independent musicians have fashioned
their own unique form ofopposition to the darkening skies oflate capitalism. The
relevance ofthe Radiohead lyrics quoted at the beginning ofthis chapter now comes into
clearerfoc:us.
To test my hypothesis I have questioned a sample of24 local independent
musicians on the subject oftheir aesthetic sensibilities. I will elaborate upon this goal in
the pages whicb follow. but first I proceed with an analysis ofthe theoretical perspectives
which have informed my research. At one theoretical pole stands Frankfurt School

ChaptuTwo: Theorrnql Perspecm'g
I begin this chapter "lth a qoolation from Hannah Arendt's The Human Condition
on the subject ofhwnan initiative:
The new always happens against the overwhelming odds ofslatisticallaws and
their probability. which for all practical. everyday purposes amounts to certainty:
the new therefore always appears in the guise ofa miracle. 1be fact that man is
capable ofaction means that the unexpected can be expected from him. that he is
able to perform what is infinitely improbable. And this again is possible only
because each man is unique. so thai with each birth something uniquely new
comes into the world (1958: 178).
According 10 this philosopher. natality. or beginning. is one of the most general
conditions ofhuman existence (the other. quite naturally. is mortality). The capacity for
beginning something. initiating an entirely new chain ofevents - what we call agency-
is exercised. to varying degrees, in all human activities and is the binhright ofe\'ery
unique newcomer born into the world. For ArendL this capacity represented hope in a
time when human freedom seemed 10 be constantly under attack: from the totalitarian
menace on one side to the uniformity and blind instrumentalism of libcral democratic
society on the other. "Natality:' she writes in a somewhat different contexL -is the
miracle that saves the world..." (ArendL 1958: 247).
I have opened u-ith this more or less common-sense proposition because it "111 be
helpful to keep it in mind when considering the argwnents which follow. In their desire
to reproduce conceptually the -reified totalil)'" (Arata and Gebhardt. 1978: 203) of
modem society. the scholars ofthe Frankfurt [nstitute for Social Research failed to
account for the fundamental fact of natality and its specifically human manifeslation -

agency. Th.is failure has produced in critical theory a distorted. totalizing vision of
modernity. one which threatens to suffocate the reader in its rejection ofall possibilities
ofescape. Instead ofaccepting this vision as a total explanation. it is my contention that
the Frankfun Schoors analysis ofthe culture industry ought to be read in the spirit of
Max Weber. as an ideal-typical description ofthe commodification ofculture. This
description is rendered forever incomplete by the contingent acts of individual agents.
which still today continue to interrupt the processes ofcultural homogenization that
critical theory describes so well. We ",ill explore this argument in greater detail later on
in the chapter.
11 ",ill also be helpful to keep in mind the historical backdrop against which the
theories discussed were articulated. that ofadvanced or monopoly capilalism. The
transition from entrepreneurial to monopoly capitalism is marked by the tum-of-the­
century ascendancy ofcollective_ centralized capital and intensified exploitation of
existing consumer goods markets. a venture that was spearheaded by marketing and
advertising initiati\'e5. This transition "''liS in pan facilitated by welfare state policies.
including mass education. which had the effect ofsecuring for capital both a mass market
and a steady supply of minimally trained labor. The final components of the massive
gro"'th of the POSt'A'llT era were the institutionalization of labor-management conflict and
the standardization ofproduction in line with the principles ofscientific management.
The rationalization ofcapital. the containment ofindustrial strife. and the fonnation ofa
mass buying public effected the accumulation ofcapital on a previously unimaginable
scale. Despite the much discussed transition to a global. post-Fordist economy in the

latter stages of the twentieth cemury. as Douglas Kellner has observed. "The hegemony
ofcapital continues to be the dominant force ofsocial organization. perhaps cven more so
than before:' and therefore ."the CUlT'Cnt regime ofcapital has strong continuities ....ith thc
mode ofproduction and social organization ofthe earlier stages described by the
Frankfurt School" (Kellner. 1997: 24). Such historical particularities are relevant to the
analyses ofculture which follow because both developed in response to the integration of
the working class into the eonsumer-capitalist fold and both arc pre-occupied ""ith one
central problem: what happens when monojXlly capital appropriates eullure as a means of
generating profit. both in tenns ofthe production and the reception ofcultural goods.
Specifically. what are the conditions for the formation ofa mass market for cultural
goods? What are the implications ofstandardized cullUral production for individual
creativity? To what degree does production determine the manner and spirit in which
cultural goods are consumed?
The objective ofthis chapter is the selection of an interpreti\'e framework with
which to gauge the information provided by respc.ndents on the subject oftheir musical
sensibility. This includes their subjective evaluations ofdifferent kinds of music: their
feelings on what role music has come to play in their lives: the artistic and professional
decisions they have made in bringing their creations into the .....orld: and the values they
hold as artists working in an independent vein. Considered as a whole. the answers to
these questions provide a window on the self.understanding ofthe musicians in question.
It is my hypothesis that this self-understanding is informed by a critical awareness oflhe
constraints placed on artistic expression when it is subjected to commercial imperatives.

and as well by a notion ofthe independent aftisfs role as an agent ofcultural opposition.
Given thai the theories discussed below speak directly to such a critical understanding. I
feel that the independent musician might serve as a valuable test-case for the various
claims put fonh by each theory regarding the rdationship between the market and
individual creativity. But I also feel that it is not possible to understand fully why such
musicians act as they do without analyzing how culture is fonned and then received
under the economic conditions imposed by the monopoly-capitalist mode ofproduction.
It is to such an analysis that I now tum.
The FraDkfurt SdlOol.od Cultunl Criticism
The Frankfurt School presents its general case against mass culture in an essay
penned by Adorno and Horkheimerentitled. "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as
Mass Deception." Their chiefaccusation may be summarized in this way: culture that is
organized according to industrial methods of production and distribution does not allow
the members of its audience to reflect on what they have seen or heard. or to supply their
OYoTl conceptual framework for underslanding a given work as a whok (Hortheimer and
Adorno. 1944: 124-7). This is not because the products ofthe culture industry demand
adherence to any particular ideology. but because of their sheer homogeneity and
fonnulaic character. which lead the audience to expect and receive the same things time
and time again. The plots of popular films unfold along familiar lines. and the correct
viewer response is always ensured through heavy reliance on stock situations and
charncters. Similarly. tried-and·true stylistic conventions govern the composition ofpop­
songs. which never fail to serve up to the listener only that which she has heard countless

its products- (Horkheimer and Adorno. 1944: 142). which is 10 say. it is endowed ""ith a
schematic justification by the t«hnica! process from which il cannot escape. In other
words......hat .....as once pure amusement mUSI now have a point. as in the tele\'ision
sitcoms where twenty minules ofshenanigans must bejustified by the two minute
presentation ofa moraJ at the end ofthe show, What is more. insofar as people an::
dependent on the industry·supplied schema for appreciation ofcuhure - given to them by
a breathless entertainment media - they will be required 10 consume certain of its
products solely for the sake of maintaining their oy.n social Slanding, In specific terms.
this points 10 a dedine ofspontaneous enjoyment in both the production and receplion of
culnuaJ artefacts. but on a more abstracllevel. we might say that exchange value is
substiruted for use value. The authors express it this way:
What might be called use valuc in the reception ofcultural commodities is
replaced by exchange value: in place ofenjoyment there an:: gallery-visiting and
factual knowledge: the prestige seeker replaces the connoisseur... One simply
'has 10' have seen Mrs. Minil'er.just as one .has to' subscribe to Life and Time,
Everything is looked at from only one aspect: that it can be used for something
else, no matter ho ..... vague the notion ofthis use may be, No object has an
inherent value; it is valuable only to the extent that it can be exchanged. The use
value ofan. its mode ofbeing. is treated as a fetish: and the fetish. the work's
social rating (misinterpreted as its artistic status) becomes its use value - the only
quality which is enjoyed. The commodity function ofan disappears only 10 be
.....holly realized when an becomes a species ofcommodity inSiead. marketable
and interchangeable like an industrial product (Horkheimer and Adorno. 1944:
158).
I ",,;11 have more to say about the subsumption of use value under exchange value in my
discussion ofmass music,
Some years before Dialectic ofEnlighrenment was published. Adomo produced
an essay which spells OUI ho ..... the mechanism ofreification operates with respect to the
iJ

listeners: "The familiarity ofthe piece is a surrogate for thequaJily ascribed to it. To like
it is almost the same thing as to recognize if" (Adorno. 1938: 26).
According to Adorno. the central feature ofthis musical fetishism - and of
capitalist economies in general. one might add - is the subsumption of use value under
exchange value. We have already noted the paradoxical nature ofthe use value oflhe
work ofan. which lies in the entirely purposelessness enjoyment ofthe work's intrinsic
qualities by a discriminating subject. The commodification ofan is a procedure for
displacing these intrinsic qualities for the sake ofends extrinsic to the enjoyment ofthe
....'00., namely. capital accumulation - the mosl disparate cultural objects and fonns
become reducible to dollar amounts and are assigned exchange values. Adorno's
argumenl is that under monopoly conditions the subsumplion ofuse value under
exchange value becomes radical. such that Ihe human dimension ofartistic enjoyment­
represented by use value - is eXlinguished entirely. What remains is a purely fonnal.
technical process whereby cullura! goods thai are, humanly speaking. utterly devoid of
value or meaning are exchanged for the purpose ofgenerating profit. 1l1e question then
becomes. what holds this system together? That is to say. ifthe legions ofconsumers
who suppon the industry fail to derive genuine satisfaclion - as defined by Adomo ­
from the cultural experiences for .....hieh they are paying dearly, why do they continue to
panicipale?
Adorno addresses this question directly: 'The more inexorably the principle of
exchange value destroys use values for human beings. the more deeply does exchange
value disguise itself as the object ofenjoyment" (Adorno, 1938: 34). He gives the
15

the hit songs do not allow for any active engagement ....ith the material. the listener ....ill
be equal!)' content ....ith the next vapid tune that comes along, which. in any event. is just
the same as the preceding one.
Perhaps the most controversial aspect ofAdomo's discussion ofregressed
listening is his claim that the attempts ofthe "retarded listeners" to escape the
fetishization of music inevitably backfire and enmesh them all the more tightly in it,
-Whenever they auempt to break away from the passive stalU'> ofcompulsory consumers
and 'acth"ate' themselves. they succwnb 10 pseuda-.activity" (Adomo, 1938: 46).
Pseudo-acth'ity creates the illusion of independence, and nullifies the objection that the
culture indusU)' fosters mass-confonnism. From the perspective ofthis research, perhaps
the most troubling thing about this concept is that it applies not only to the musicians I
\\-ish to study, but to the slUdy itself. My o....n investigative pursuits would surely be
categorized by Adomo as pseuda-.acti\ity, which implicates me in the vel')· reification I
am seeking to analyze, I leave it to the reader to come to his or her 0\\-11 assessment:
suffice it to say that in the context ofthe "Fetish Character- essay. the charge ofpseudo­
activity leads Adorno to work out a classification scheme for the differem types of
pseudo-individuals. one that amounts 10 barely disguised stereotyping and contributes
very liule to the understanding ofthe maners at hand. Indeed. the vicious glee v.ith
which Adorno ridicules the very people he is supposedly striving to liberate with his
philosophical truth almost discredits the entire analysis.
At this point. it would be wonhwhile [0 ex.amine some ofthe assumptions which
underlie critical theory. and which produce such ex.treme positions in its key statements.
18

The first thing we should note is thai Horkheimer and Adorno are issuing a transcendent
critique ofmodem culture: that is to say. they are evaluating culture from an imaginary
point ofreference outside culture. This point ofreference is to be found in the
speculative realm of"integra! freedom-l, a U10pian statc ofaffairs in which all the
various antagonisms ofsubject and object have been dissolved. and the individual and her
social order are unitcd in perfect harmony, The difficulty here is that everything outside
ofutopia's boundaries appears simply as that which is not utopia Adorno noted well thc
danger facing transcendent critics, who, "wishing to wipe away the whole as with a
sponge... develop an affinity to bar'barism.'·5 In fact. he intended that the transcendent
strain ofcritical theory should be always balanced by immanent critique. though he was
ncver able to determine how much relative "-eight ea

discovered bUI enacted. True an disrupts bad consciousness long enough for us to
glimpse this potential realm; this is what is meant by the esthctic principle of
individuation so often invoked by Adorno. However. ",'hile the Frankfun School thinkers
were adamant thai the current societ)' represented only a pale. distoned reflection of the
'true' society. they were equally certain that !he latter would lay forever out of reach.
Critical theory is unique in the tr.l.dition of Marxist thought in thai it presupposes the
disappearance ofthe revolutionary subjecl who is to bring hislory 10 fruition - the
proletariat. According to this line ofthinking. "The human beings ofthe administered
world are fragmented subjects ofdamaged intcrsubjecti"e knowledge that cannot
constitute genuine intersubjeclivity ofaction (collective subject) from the Ir.l.ces of
meaning in the rubble ofobjecliw spiri'- (Arato and Gebhardt. 1978: 199). As such.
··critical theory was forced to justify itself in terms ofa future emancipation which \\as
othel"o\ise ShO",llIO be unrealizable" (Arato and Gebhardt. 1978: xvi). The whole thrust
of Adorno's transcendent critique of modem culture is to try 10 preserve the hope ofa
better future in a world where all objeclive possibilities ofchange have been integrated or
repressed. This hope survives only in the stubborn refusal ofall that is for the sake of
what might be. in the tireless demonstration that all things exist in a state ofnegativity
and degradation. and it dies the moment this recalcitnml posture is relaxed.
Having taken all this into accounl., it is easier to see why critical theory is often as
one-dimensional as the society it purports to explain. 1be quest for philosophical Holy
Grails requires the Frankfurt thinkers to be obdurate in their assessment ofmodernity:
affirmation ofany part ofthe status quo serves only 10 neutralize the critical impulse
21

"lbe fact thaI many texts may be classified as intrinsically banaL contrived and
formalistic must be put against the possibility that their living reception is the opposite of
these things- (Willis et aI.. 1990: 10). Here is the crux ofCommon Cullure's argument
and the source of its optimism: though there is no longer any space for human
subjectivity in the sphere ofossified productil'e relations. subjectivity can be realized in
the sphere ofconsumplion. through symbolic creativity. But whaL precisely. is symbolic
creativity?
Symbolic creativity is me human capacity to render new meanings or aesthetic
effects from given s)mbolic resources. such as texts. songs. films. and images.
Language. the active and expressive body. and dramaturgical modes ofcommunicating­
storytelling or humor. for example - serve as both the tools and raw materials ofthis
work. The exercise ofthis capacit)· nOi only cultivates the identity ofthe creator. but
endows her ....ith a "cultwally learned sense ofthe powers ofthe self' (Willis et aJ.. 1990:
11) and equips her to help shape the cultural world. Symbolic creativity operates in
specific sensuous living contexts. through a particular dynamic which !.he Birmingham
School has dubbed ··grounded aesthetics" "This is the creati\·e element in a process
whereby meanings are attributed to symbols and practices and where symbols and
practices are selected. reselected. highlighted and recomposed to resonate fwther
appropriate and particularized meanings" (Willis et aI.• 1990: 11).
Of particular interest to us is the relationship between symbolic creativity and
popular music. Simon Jones begins the chapter on popular music with the observation
that independenL grass-roots musical production tends to emerge from a host of
26

consumption-oriented activities. The grounded aesthetics ofmusical production and
appreciation operate along a continuum. from listening and buying CDs. home taping.
and practicing dance moves to do-il-yourselfrecording and mixing. and. finally, music­
making and performance. The validity ofCommon Culture's argument. however,
ultimately depends on whether it can demonstrate an active. engaged process ofmeaning
construction at the level ofconsumption. The entire thrust ofthe Birmingham School's
cullural analysis is resistance to the nolion that meaning and aesthetic impact are wholly
internal to the text. or that consumption passively renects the relations and motives
underlying production. And here the book doesn't quite do the job. Take for example
Jones's discussion ofhome taping. in his view -an imponant material dimension of
symbolic work and creativity" (Willis et aJ.. 1990: 62). Home-taping of music allo .....s the
young collector to avoid the expense ofpurchasing full-priced CDs and to create
personalized soundtracks.juxtaposing different songs. rhythms. and melodies. Yet
without kno\Ooing what she might be taping. or where and who it came from. do we really
have enough infonnation 10 declare this activity creative? Earlier in the book the authors
warn that cenain cultural goods encourage reification. !hat is. lhey fail to provide the
consumer ",ith sufficient conceptual space to negotiate their symbolic meanings. but this
caution now seems to have been cast aside. Or take Jones's treaunent ofthe
interpretation of songs: he argues that pop songs provide the young listener with a stock
ofpublic discourses which both speak to her experience and enable her to interpret that
experience. [n this wayan-affective grounded aesthetic" (Willis et al.. 1990: 69)
develops. through which feelings can be expressed and identities defined. However, this
27

alanced. hard·headed treatmcnt ofpopular culture. and also a badly.needed corrective to
the sterility and elitism of Frankfun School culturnl analysis. As such. it escapes the
deadly-accurate ridicule thai Jacoby levels at the discipline in his End of Utopia
Ncvenheless. it exhibits very clearly the '-uncritical plpulisl drift.. (McGuigan. 1992: 5)
that both Jacoby and McGuigan have discerned in contemporary studies ofpopular
culture. In McGuigan's opinion this complacency bespeaks a "loss ofconviction in any
grounds for criticizing what exists in a world where hwnan happiness does not seem
wholly ubiquitous and where. apparently. there is no compelling vision ofa bener future-
(McGuigan. 1992: (19). Willis himself conveys something ofthis loss ofconviction in
the cenluryoo{)ld promise ofa better world - and the crilical cast ofmind il engenders - in
tenns thai are unintenlionally poignant.
The wholeness of belonging to larger traditional structures ofvalue. feeling and
identity becomes less possible and yet the contradictions and terrible fissures of
daily life continue in need ofdesperate repair - in work. in unemplo)1t1ent. in the
family. dealing with authority. power. scarcity and shonage. Ordinary people
have not needed an avant·gardism to remind them of rupture. What they have
needed bUI never received is better and freer materials for building security and
coherence in their lives. The malerials wh.ich are now available come from the
market.. Not only do the visible socialist alternative models conspicuously fail to
offer Ul,;:e things - to ordinary people at least - but they also seem to enforcc
completely circwnscribed. discredited and bankrupt identities. The now·tumbling
walls. towers and ideas ofme East suggest that their refusal here in the popular
mind has other causes and logics than hegemonic domination (Willis et al.. 1990:
158).
He goes on 10 add the following caveat:
Ofcourse the market does not provide cultural empowennent in anything like a
full sense. There are choices. bUI not choices over choices - the powt:r 10 set the
cultural agenda. Nevenheless. the market offers a conttadictory ernpowennent
which has not been offered elsewhere. It may not be the besl way to cultural
30

ofhuman existence. a vital part ofwhich is the creation ofmcanings and identities
through symbolic work. As things currently stand. most ofthese individuals \\ill draw
upon the culture industry's store ofreified conunodilies to perfonn this work. but a
minority \\ilI have access to the creative effons ofthose who have striven to resist all
standardization and schematization. And for this minori!)'. at least. these efTons \\;11 hav,;'
made all the difference in the world. This is the framework \\ith which I mean to
interpret the thoughts and feelings of independent musicians as to why they do what they
do and what music means to them.
38

mode orproduction back within the frame orpopular cullura! analysis. I will take up
James's book later in this chapler. Additionally. there are other writers in the field of
youth cullure sludy who bring a unique set orconcerns to the analysis. Continental youth
studies are here represented by Thomas Ziehe. who outlines a distincti ....e methodological
approach and a numbcr orconcepts that rail outside orthe parameters or American and
British research. Keith Negus bucks the trend or much contemporary writing by rocusing
on how music is produced within the confines orthe recording industry.
For the reasons jusl stated. much ormis chapter is taken up with the ideas or the
Birmingham School. Having discussed Paul Willis's work in the previous chapter. I have
identified Dick Hebdige. Angela McRobbie. and Simon Frith as key authours in this
tradition. Dick Hebdige has ....Tinen what is ....idel), regarded as the seminal lext in the
entire field orcullura! studies. Subculture The Meaning or Style. a neo-Gramscian
analysis ofthe punk phenomenon. Perhaps more than anyone else's.. Angela McRobbie's
.....ork embodies the \'a!ues and approach orthe Birmingham perspective in its CU!'Tent
manirestation. Simon Frith·s recent writings represent a kind orcritical retrospective on
a decade orconsumption-oriented popular culture analysis. I hope thai in highlighting
the evolving nature or this perspective. and the Ii\'ely internal debates to which it is
subject. J manage to avoid portraying the Birmingham School as a unirorm and dogmatic
school orthought. At the same time. my chierargument in the pages which rollow is that
recent academic inquiries into popular cuhure have sufTerred a drastic reduction in scope
due to three interrelated developments. neatly described by David James:
40

.. ,the flourishing of ideologies ofpostrnodemism that propose the end ofthe kind
of cultunJ..l resistance associaled \\oith earlier 'avant-gardes'; the tum in cultuml
studies to affinnative readings of the corporate media industries and so a.....ay from
a concern with working-class culture and its possible ronns ofresistance: and the
flourishing of identity politics. focused not on syslemic challenges to bourgeois
society.,. but on the accommodation ofprivileged members of minority groups
.....ithin il(I996: 5).
Bearing this in mind. let us now proceed 10 a review ofthe relevant literature.
The! Birmingham School
Dick Hebdige Subculture The Meaning o(Sn'le rt9i9)
There is a crucial difference between Subculture and Paul Willis's Common
Culture. in that the fonner shares none ofthe laner's complacency regarding the market
economy and its ability to equip youth \\oith the neceS5ar}' creative resources for "[giving]
expressive fonn to their social and materiaL. experience" (Hall. 1976). In facL Hebdige
gives subcultural analysis an explicitly Marxist cast:
By repositioning and reconlextuaJizing commodities. by subverting their
conventional uses and inventing new ones. the subcultural stylist gives the lie to
what Althusser has called the 'false obviousness ofeveryday practice· ... (1979:
102)
Subcultures are therefore expressive ronns but what they express is. in the last
inslance, a fundamental tension betv..een those in power and those condemned 10
subordinate positions and second-class lives (1979: 132).
Hebdige allows that the "signifying practice" ofthe various subcultures in part echoes the
sanctioned meanings and interpretations given them by commercial mtdia. and also that
the symbolic challenges issued by youth cultuml styles ultimately become incorporated
as a "diverting spectacle" within the dominant mythology as a result oftheir
4\

public. For -mythologists-like Hebdige and Banhes the machine which spins out the
insidious myth consciousness they seek to expose \\ill forever remain a black box: as
such. they are doomed to stand by and watch as its signs and S)mbols drift by. powerless
to effect any kind ofchange.
Angela McRobbie - Zool Suits andSecond-Hand Dresse.f (/988) and
In Ihe (u/lUre Soden' (/999)
Perhaps the hopelessness ofthe positions staked out by the Birmingham School in
the seventies ultimately pro\'ed too much to bear. for almost a decade after Hebdige
authored Subculrure. fellow Birmingham alumnus Angela McRobbie presented l22!
Suits and Second Hand Dresses an Anthology of Fashion and Music. A comparative
reading ofthese two texts illustrates the decisive impact that the decline ofCommunism
had on the sociological imagination. McRobbie's introduction to this volume of
-academic journalism" opens \\ith the obsen.ation that won the Binningham School a
preeminent position in the field ofcultural studies: consumption is an active. dynamic
process that makes possible the creation ofnew. unintended meanings. and enables youth
to interpret and give expressive form to their social and material experience. But
McRobbie gives this potenl and inno\'ative idea a why-worry gloss that strips it ofthe
critical force il possessed in previous works by Willis and Hebdige and situates it
squarely \\ithin the ideological terrain ofconswner capitalism: "What we buy and
consequently wear or display in some public fashion. in tum creates new images. new
and sometimes unintended. constellations ofmeaning. In a sense we become media
farms ourselves. the physical body is (rans/armed infO a campa.1 portable ·,..alleman·"
43

The essays contained in Zoot Suits, by contrast, arc oblique often to the point of
incomprehensibility, hopelessly subjecth·e. and replele with jargon and mystifYing
topical references. Jon Savage. for inslance, assumes everyone will know whal he is
talking about when he ....Tites. "You got the Sex Pistols covering Who and Small Faces
numbers and wearing the clothes from any youth style since the war CUI-Up ....ith safety
pins; The Clash wearing winldepickers and sounding like The Kinks and Mott The
Hoople on bette,. speed: Vivienne and Malcolm buying up old Sixties Wemblcx pin-
collars 10 mutate into Anarchy shirts" (McRobbie. 1988: 173). Without a trace of irony
Kobena Mercer informs us thal"[Michael] Jackson's interpretation of["Thrillcr"lyricist
Rodl Temperton's lyric inflects the allusions to cinema to thematise a discourse on
sexuality. rather than film. and the 'story' created by the lyrics sets up a reverberation
between IWO semantic poles..... (McRobbic. 1988: 57). And it is next to impossible to
decipher the meaning and intent behind the opening paragraph of Ian Penman's essay on
Bryan Ferry. which begins as follows:
The initiative of Pop strips away our childish name and enshrines the promise ofa
future body. The teenaged child. plotting the disposal or dereliction ofthe Father
proper. seeks or slumbles upon an illicit replacement - A Pop who is sexily
asexual, una\·ailable. absent; an approximate Pop.
and breaks ofT cryptically with:
....A figure who speaks some special thing or other - the spice ofa vaguely
revealed life. the warmth of gilded abstraction - to fill your lonely night.
Something that cannot or should not be named.
Unclassifiable, then [italics not mine] (McRobbie, 1988: 10]).
47

There is one particular piece from Zoot Suits that I would like 10 treat in some
detail. In the essay, "TIle Grain of Punk: An Analysis ofthe Lyrics:' Laing distinguishes
between pheno-song. "where vocal techniques and embellislunents are placed at the
ser..:ice ofcommunicating the lyric message:' (McRobbie, 1988: 89) and gena-song in
which the lyric message is subordinated to \'-itat Banhes calls lite voluptuousness of...
sound-signifiers-' (McRobbie. 1988: 77). Laing illustrales this point by reference 10 a
pWlk band named the Stranglers:
The vocal variations in the Strangler's recordings were determined by the
dramatic demands ofthe lyric... The result is a popular music equivalcm of what
Barthes called ·the bourgeois an ofsong', which 'a1ways wants to treat its
consumers as naive customers for whom it must chew up the work and
overindicate the intention. lest they be insufficiently gripped' Even at its most
unappetizing, the Stranglers' work is a1"lays predigested (McRobbie, 1988: 89).
I must preface my remarks by saying J know nothing ofthe Stranglers or their music.
Howe\'er, it is possible to detect in this passage a certain suspicion ofwhat Laing calls
pheno-song, that is. the strategy of tailoring the method of vocal delivery to underline the
lyric message. nus is a "bourgeois" device, according to Laing. who prefers instead Sex
Pistols lead singer Johnny Rotten's apparent -relish for the signifier" (McRobbie. 1988:
81) in rhyming --anarchist'" v.ith --Anti-chrisC and in rolling out his Rs in the song "God
Save the Queen". Laing nOles with approval how these \'ocal embellishments and
mispronunciations create a certain ambiguity regarding the sincerity ofthe lyric message
and make it possible for the listener to enjoy the song \'-ithout agreeing .....ith or even
hearing that message (one can't help but wonder how Mr. Rotten might react to this
suggestion).
48

implicit in the selection ofa canon of literary works considered worthy ofstudy, In
practice. however. such judgments are relegated to the infonnal realm ofcorridor
com'ersation. as academic cultural studies gropes for a way to speak meaningfully about
good and bad in culture (Frilh. 1996: 11-12). Subcultwal theory. as represented by Dick
Hebdige's Subculture the Meaning ofStyle. ofTerred one solUlion 10 this problem by
providing an evaluative framework for cultural texts based on their polilical or
ideological underpinnings. Frith ""Tites. "Cultural value is being assessed according to
measures oftrue and false consciousness; aesthetic issues. the polilics ofexcitement. say.
or grace. are subordinated 10 the n«essities of interpretations. to the call for
'demystific3tion'''(\996: 14).
In time. however. as Frith admits. this politicized critique was abandoned in favor
ofthe punchless. celebrator)" orientation 10 popular cullUre that cUlTently enjoys
mainstream StalUS in the cultural studies literature (1996: 14-15). Now value judgments
were push(.'Ci unequivocally to the forefront of the analysis. only there could no longer be
any question ofdistinguishing the bad from the good: rather. all cultural goods were
judged equal in their empowering \'alue. and any second·guessing ofthe consumplion
choices ofthe people was denounced as old·fashioned academic elitism. The problem
with this entirely positive appraisal ofpopular culture, in Frith·s view. is thai it neglects
the aesthetic discrimination practiced by Ihe popular culture audience (1996: 16). The
people - whoever they may be - certainly do nOI judge all cultural goods equal or in the
same manner. and to ignore this fact is to arrive fuJI circle at the very same high·minded
dogmatism anributed to the mass culture theories. To digress somewhat, it is intriguing
55

audience. and thus may be readily digested by a pre-existing market. This means that
new music must be presented in a manner and fonn consistent with what consumers ha\'c
heard and been sho"'T1 to purchase in large quantities before. such as with the old radio
standards that are habitually repackaged to feature a thumping electronic dance beat and a
wealthy. overexposed hip-hop star trumpeting his rapping abilities and/or sexual prowess.
For "'lth every deviation from the established formulae. with each added complexity and
new demand placed on the audience's patience. the record company risks a concomitant
decline in market share. and the A & R man risks both his professional reputation and his
pay-cheque. That many executives are 'M-;lIing to take such risks for the sake ofmwic
they feel strongly about is undeniable. That the economics ofmusical production
conslrain and ultimately override their initiative in this regard is equally undeniablc.
And so music produced by the culture industry comes 10 bear the objective slamp
ofstandardization. detectable. in my opinion. to almost anyone who is willing and able to
listen closely 10 Top 40s radio. But this attribution ofobjective qualities to cenain kinds
ofmusic raises the whole question ofwhether sociological explanations Oflhis kind are
mere!}' elaborate rationalizations ofthe pre-existing. fundamentally non-rational taste
preferences of the person doing the theorizing. The really interesting question. however.
concerns the extent to which the claims I have pul forth regarding industrially produced
music reflect either the idiosyncratic views ofa small handful ofacademics or a
genuinely intersubjective understanding ofmusic held by actual practitioners in the field.
Quite obviously. the word -intersubjectivc" has much more particular connotations than
"objective". given that the fonner implies something that is true only for a select group of
58

persons in a specific time and place, Nevenheless, ifa select group ofpersons in a
specific time and place perceives that music bears the mark ofthe production process
from which it derives. and then proceeds to make a series ofaesthetic judgments on that
basis. then we are at least dealing "ith subject maner that can be addressed according to
the standard procedures ofsociological investigation, I will return to this issue in the
chapter on methods.
Coatiaeat.' Youlh 51.dies - Thomas Ziehe and Cultural Release
Having spent some time on the British Birmingham School. let us now turn our
anention further east. S....'edish authors Johan Fornas and Goran Bolin identify the
German social psychologist Thomas Ziehe as a key figure in continental youth studies
(Fornas and Bolin. 1995: 6]. Because few ofZiehe's works have been trnnslated into
English. I ....iIl be relying here on secondary sources and an anicle Ziehe wrote for
another compilation by Fornas and Bolin. Ziehe abjures both ethnographic and
semiological methodologies in favour ofwhat he calis a "sociology ofkno.....ledge..
approach to the study of youth. In the author's 0 ....11 words: '"""the realit)· of the individual
is deduced from worlds ofsymbols wruch compose this reality and emanate from the
same source- (Ziehe, 1992: 75). He has developed a few key concepts to facilitate the
interpretation ofthe symbolic context of late modernity. 'Cullural release' refers to the
loss oftraditionai hierarchies of value and the impossibility ofacrueving consensus on
the worth ofspecific cultural fonns. The corresponding normlessness and cultural
freedom implicates the individual (particularly the youthful individual) in the acti ....e
'9

production. Because the questions that I pose to respondents deal primarily with issues
ofan aesthetic nature. and because much ofthe theoretical material I ha"e discussed is
concerned exclusively "ith the dynamics ofcultural consumption. the productive sphere
of popular culture has 50 far tended to remain. as I have called it. a blank realm. a
mysterious bogeyman which animates all the preceding arguments. but of which. it mUSt
be said. we have so far only a very skeletal understanding. There is a danger here that
this analysis might fall prey to the kind ofhypothetical knowledge and uninfonned
assumptions about record companies and execUlives that Frith warns us against.
Fortunately. Keith Negus.

ventures - the Time-Warner and Uni\·ersal·Polygram mergers spring immediately to
mind - in order to diversify into related technologies and exploit the potential for media
synergy (Negus. 1992: 4-5). Media synerg)· refers to the strategy ofextending the
exposure of specific pieces ofmusic and artists across multiple media. Typically. a
corporation might sign a recording artist .....ith the intention of not only producing and
distributing her music. but of featuring her prominently in its entertainment magazines.
TV and radio stations. and soundtracks for films produced by the company's movie
studio. Among other things. this strategy entails ·"the displacement ofsound as a central
focus" (Negus. 1992: 5) in the cultivation of new musical talent. as visual criteria ..
length ofthe hair. size ofthe breasts. whiteness ofthe teeth .. increasingly come to bear
on the decisions involved in signing and promoting a given artist.
A second component ofthe resuucturing ofthe entenainment industry concerns
the organization of production and the exploitation of markets on a global scale. The
modem multinational entertainment conglomern.te prefers to position its products for the
global market: that is. thc market in which all distinctions based on local social
experience in a specific time and place have been obliterated and which receivcs its
aesthetic criteria from the "'abstract electronic space'" the corporations have imposed
"over and across pre-existing physical and social geographies" (Negus. 1992: 7). For this
reason. more and more ofthe music that is released by the major record companies
arrives in the record stores devoid ofwhat the Frankfurt school thinkers tenncd sensuous
particularity. Such music is rooted neither in specific regional or cultural traditions nor in
the idiosyncratic temperament ofthe individual artist. and so is conditioned directly by
63

anists in their corporate stable do not face the same pressures to be universal
moneymakers as do their counterpartS elsewhere in the industty. This is why smaller.
independent labels are home to fledgling bands and less profitable anists alike; it is not
that such companies aren't interested in selling music on Ihe commercial markets or even
that they deliberately engage in an "aesthetically or ideologically alternative fonn of
musie making-(Negus. 1992; 18). Rather. it is because they are less heavily bound to
the process ofcapital accwnulation that independent labels are able to provide spaces for
musical creation in which criteria olher than market success - be they aesthetic, personal,
or political - are free to take root.
The cru.x of Negus's analysis of the recording industty is the fifth chapter. which
deals \\.ith the studio production ofsound. Here the author wishes to demonstrule Ihal
anists enjoy a high degree ofautonomy in the recording ofthcir songs. and so dispute the
view that pop music is detennined by corporate financial interests. His principal
argwnent in this regard is that entertainment corporations exercise minimal control over
the studio process. "Most A & R staff,·' he ""Tites. "favour a facilitator role, acting as 3
catalyst by offering encouragement and criticism, and linking the act wilh various parties
who may be able to assist in their musical de,,·elopmenC (Negus. 1992: 80). Relations
between artist and A & R staff are mostly collaborative. characterized by"give-and-take
on both sides" (Negus. 1992; 81); the recording company. h.e argues. plays 3 role no
greater than that of a -semi-detach.ed monitoring operation" (Negus. 1992: 80). He
mentions only later that companies typically reserve the decision 10 finance an entire
a1bwn until after they have scrutinized the first two or three tracks (Negus. 1992: 91), and
67

esponsibility ofemphasizing to 1M talent under his supervision the necessity of
remaining ....ithin certain creative parameters.
As to the specific nalme ofthe modifications required to render music
marketable. Negus has relatively little to say. Perhaps the single biggest consideration A
& R personnel face when deciding ....ilelher and how to promole a given artisfs music is
its suilability for commercial radio fonnats. The author astutely notes that American
radio stations derive their income by "delivering very specifically defined audiences to
advertisers.... As a consequence. the tola! potential audience between 18 and 49 years old
have been divided into ·demographically. psychographically. and sociologically fine·
tuned Ial'gets. each served by a specific contemporary radio format'" (Negus. 199::!: 1m).
Given that radio remains the most important promotional outlet for popular music - en:n
after advances in video and computer technology are taken into account - a fledgling
artist or band will find that an inability to fil existing fonnats effectively cripples any
attempt to access the music industry's distributive machinef)". What is more. the huge
level of investment required to secure independent promotion ensures that. in the absence
ofa college slation or public broadcaster such as Radio I in Britain or eBC in Canada
the major companies enjoy a virtual monopoly on such access.
On a more general level. Negus does list several key factors which influence
company personnel'sjudgments of potential artists. These are as follo .....-:>:
I. the live. stage performance
2. the originality and quality ofthe songs or malerial
3. the recorded performance and voice
4. their appearance and image
5. their level of personal commitment. enthusiasm and motivation
69

een interesting to know. for example. pm::isely what was ""TOng ""ith the band's name.
or what set ofqualities defined them as ·pubby". Ofgrealer inlerest is the statement that
the band's amalgamation ofa number ofdifferent styles is "confusing" and in need of
"focus:' TIle director realizes the need to deliver an easily recognized and classifiable
product to consumer audiences and radio programmers. He does not explain how "Titing
songs for performance to a li\"C audience diminishes the quality of the product: it is.
rather. left to the reader to reflect on the difficulties oftranslaling a musical dialogue
spoken in the language oflocal meanings and experiences to a global audience bereft of
any other standards than the weeklycountdo ns on the Top 40s stations and video
channels. Finally. the band is encolll'aged to rite new songs "ith accentuated lead
vocals in the mix.. so that even the relative weight placed on each musical line in the
composition is tailored to suit the needs ofthe markets and marketers alike. Thus. there
are a host ofdemands and pressures faced by artists on the threshold ofa recording
contract. Moreover. bands that intend to availthemseh·es ofthe industry's channels of
promotion and disuibution ....ill. to a considerable degree. already ha\'e adapted
themselves and their music to the industf)··s values and standards. This indicates that the
culture industry may act as a "semi-deUlChed monitoring operation" upon even the
internal creative decisions ofthe cultural producers. well before they ever make contact
\Ioith the indusn:··s representatives.
Negus lays out his objections to political economy approaches to cultural
production more explicitly in his 1999 book. Music Genres and Corporate Cultures. I
\Ioill examine these objections in tum. In the very first chapter of Music Genres, Negus
71

expresses skt:pticism about the idea ofthe culture industry. He rejects the political
economist's caricature \'iew ofa unified. monolithic industry exercising rigid control
over the fonn and content ofall cullural prodUClS via an assembly-line method of
standardized mass production. He identifies two central weaknesses ....ithin this
perspective: structuralism and instrumentalism. Too easily. he feels. the critics forget
that the iron. immovable structures ofcultural standardization they posit are. in fact.
"produced through everyday human activities which are dynamic. change over time and
contribute to the maimenance ofsuch 'structures'" (Negus. 1999: 16). Like....ise. any
approach which assumes that corporations control in a crudely instrumenlal manner the
work. ofmusicians and related personnel so as to facilitate the accumulation ofcapital
"neglects the many human mediations which come in between the corporate structun.:s
and the practices and sounds of musicians..." (Negus. 1999: 16). As against tht: reductive
and o\'erly mechanistic view ofthe political economists. Negus argues forcefully that the
production ofdifferent cultural goods such as music. novels. film. and television does not
manifest the same basic features and processes. that tht:re are imponant differences
beh\'een and within these industries relating to aesthetic fonn. cOnlent. working practices.
means of financing. and modes of reception and consumption. Funhennore. the author
points out that small-scale production and niche marketing have always co-existed ....ith
the creations ofstars and blockbusters in the n.--corded music business. exploding the
myth that the recording industry is mechanical and factory-like (Negus. 1999: 15-22).
In my view, all ofthese quite reasonable objections proceed from an
interpretation ofthe culture industry as an absolute or totalizing entity. It has been my
72

contention throughout that the idea ofa culture induslI)' is most usefully emplo)'ed as an
ideal-typical construction. an anal)tic sketch ofan institutional regime that would
constitute a totaliry - social realiry as a unifonn whole - only in the hypothetical aDsence
ofall other competing institutions. processes. contingent acts and variables. Seen from
this perspective. Negus is quite COlTe(:t to recognize the "human beings who inhabit the
corporate structure" (1999: 16) and who mediate the exchanges between commerce and
art. Ho .....ever. all too readily he derives from this recognition a sanitized account oflhe
constraints placed on creativil)' by the monopoly capitalist Stnlcture ofcultural
production. a structure which is no less real and fonnidable simply because it is produced
through everyday human activities. Similarly. the assembly line mode of production
attributed to commercial cultural production should not be taken as an absolute
description. but as a metaphor which underscores the forces ofstandardization that
inevitably come into play once cullure is enlisted in the cause ofglobal capital
accumulation. And ifthe ....arious cullural industries exhibit key differences in a number
ofareas. they have one outstanding similarity: they are all crucially implicated in the
process by which cenualized capitalist organizations seek to continually expand their
profit margins in a global economy.
It follov,-s that the culture industry is nOlto be found in some industrial complex
of iron-grey buildings. nor in the corporate boardrooms ofmonolithic conglomerates that
detennine what the world will listen to. watch. and read. Perhaps it is best thought ofas a
tendency or process that becomes operative whenever and wherever cultural production
is appropriated for the purpose ofcapital accumulation under monopoly conditions. The
13

neglected or assumed from patterns ofo....nenhip ofstructures oforganization" (Negus.
1999: 24). Since. in the analysis ofa cultural text or object. it is not possible to neatly
delineate where the innuence ofthe culture industry lea\'es otT and other processes and
structures begin to leave their mark. attempting to "read offor assume the characteristics
ofsounds and images from patterns ofo\,\nership or the .....a)' commodity production is
organized" (Negus. 1999: 20) becomes especially problematic. The remainder ofthis
work will be devoted to examining how practitioners in the field grapple with lhese and
like problems, Before concluding this literature review. however. I would like to briefly
look at a contemporary author's attempt to develop a materialist model ofcultural
production. one that avoids the rigidity and exaggeration characteristic of previous
approaches,
Marginal Cullural Production - fkn';d James - Power Misses (/996)
In Power Misses David James challenges both cultural studies' celebratory
orientation to popular culture and Adomo's paraJyzing pessimism "by proposing that
disaffiliated activities outside and against corporate culture do exist and that they are an
essential element in radical. Socialist politics" (1996: 5-6), He further argues that a work
ofartistic expression cannot be understood separately from the mode of its production.
which he defines as "the process whereby its intrinsic aesthetic and ideological propcrties
are secured or realized from the resources of the general system ofcultural production
and indeed the produeti\'c system as a whole" (James. 1996: 15). It follows that the
resources and fonns ofcreative practice made available by this process necessarily
condition what the work ofart can and cannot express,
75

cycles of innovation and assimilation. by which marginal cultural practices break
free from the social relations ofcapitalism and then are reabsorbed by them.
create the plurality ofme functions ofdifferent fonns ofculture in capitalist
society at any given time (James. 1996: 16).
In my view. James's work constilutes a balanced and pragmatic lreatmenl of the
material basis ofcultural production. and ofme interaction belween the different
productive modes. I ..lliII return to his .....on. in the concluding chapter.
CoadWlion : Tbe Closing of the Sociologiull".gia.rion
Perhaps the chiefsocial problem in our post-Communisl 21st cenlury is the
disappearance ofhistorical alternatives to capitalism. Until this cenlury past. Marxism
had served as a k.ind ofconceptual map to an emancipated future. and a reminder thai
markel society represenled only a panial fulfilment ofhistorical possibilities. In the 21st
century. ho.....ever. the de-politicization ofthe .....orking class. the dcx:line of post\\o'nI
subcultures. and the collapse ofCommunist regimes .....orldwide have effeclively
discredited Marxist ideas and made it much more difficult to imagine life after capitalism.
The impact these changes have had on the social sciences has been profound. The old
Marxist preoccupations - class. alienation. fe\'olution - are now thoroughly out of
fashion. and explanations ofsocial and culturn.l phenomena that make reference to the
mode ofproduction are dismissed as meta·narratives. Culture in all its various guises is
now the preferred domain of hwnanistic inquiry. and there is discernible fatigue in the
largely semiological cultural studies literature \\oith questions ofeconomics or production.
The sense that pervades this body ofwork is that all historical alternatives have been
exhausted and advanced capitalism heralds the end ofhistory.
77

With this in mind. I would like to conclude this literature review by idemil):ing
the central themes and ideas that link together the ...."Orks discussed above. With the
exception of Power Misses, each ofthe reviewed texts anempts to ....Test the focus of
cultural studies away from the larger macroeconomic and productive context in which
culture is formed and to train it on the micro-level interactions between consumers.
commodities. and the industry personnel that mediate the exchanges. Dick Hebdige is
interested in how subcultures make use ofsigns and S)mbols: Angela McRobbie wonders
how underpaid artists are faring in the new. post-Fordist economy: Simon Frith ruminates
on the diversity of musical judgements and meanings: Keith Negus concerns himself with
the front-line record industry personnel who try to read and respond to consumer
demands: however. all ofthese writers are united in their misgh'ings about efforts to
analyse Cullural objects in terms of the capitalist mode ofproduction by which they are
generated. Whether Hebdige's silent resignation. McRobbic·s impatience ....ith
intractable theoretical questions. or Frith and Negus's rejection of reductive Marxist
explanations. the reader in each case is being encouraged 10 tum his or her gaze away
from the overarching structures. institutions. and power relations of market society. It is
interesting that enthusiasm for macro-structural analysis was greatest in the period ofour
history when humanity in great numbers retained a faith in a coming socialist utopia. At
that time. dissecting the structure ofcapitalism was a means ofdefining the alternative.
pointing to a way beyond. Now. with all such alternatives having disappeared from the
horizon ofhistorical progress. capitalism becomes a kind ofMedusa. into whose face we
do not dare look for fear ofbecoming paralysed ....ith despair.
78

To the extent that these \\'Titers do address the implications ofcapitalist
production for creative work. it is to affinn the unassailable centrality of the market to
everyday life and dispel any potential criticism (the obvious exception here is Hebdige.
who. it must be remembered. "TOte Subcullurc well before Communism's definitive
collapse). We have already noted the tendency ofNegus's y,Titing to sugarcoat the
influence that capitalism has on culture. Recalling the previous chapter, Paul Willis
assures us that the market does a fine job of furnishing people with the creative materials
to build security and coherence in their lives. and implies that the quest for alternatives is
simply a y,ild goose chase. McRobbie. for her par1. sees nothing \\TOng with either
consumerism. the neo-conservative assault on funding for the humanities and social
sciences. or the casualization ofthe work-force. in which she perceives the potential for
the creative utopia Marx so fervently desired. Even Frith. whose critical instincts are in
better repair. defends the recording industry on the grounds that its personnel harbour
romantic notions ofcreativity and are actually just a swell bWlCh ofguys. Each insists
that the reader acknowledge the market as the only game in to\\l1 and put aside all
anachronistic models. meta-narratives. and overarching theories ofclass identity or
ideological positioning. The complement to the elimination ofpolitical economy and
macro-structural analysis from cultura.l studies. then. is the theoretical sanitization of the
market. Both ofthese reinforce a view of monopoly capitalism as an inevitable,
necessary. and ultimately benign state ofaffairs. one which we would be well-advised to
accept and to which we must adjust our ideas and values accordingly. I submit that in
79

these two tendencies it is possible to detect a decisive narrowing of the sociological
imagination.
This is. in my view. a lamentable shift in thinking. As I see it. the chiefstrengths
of sociology and its principal benefits to humankind have been its illwnination ofthe
material antecedents ofsocial phenomena and its recognition that social fonnations are
historically conditioned and. therefore. changeable. This research is relevanlto the recent
change ofperspective \\i!.hin sociology. and to the broader question ofthe future of
capitalism. in two ways. First. il restores an analysis ofmacro-social and material
context to the reading ofpopular culture. Second. it represents a cautious extension of
!.he sociological frame ofreference beyond the stalUS quo and into the future unkno\\TI.
and so remains sensitive to the possibilities ofsocial change.
80

Chapter 4: Methodology
In this chapter I ",ill outline me design ofthis research and the methods used 10
anain my objectives. To this point I have been concerned primarily to demonstrate the
relevance ofthe macro-level productive and economic structures ofadvanced capitalism
to the micro-processes ofmeaning construction in the everyday lives of independent
musicians. For the remainder ofthe analysis 1 will anempt to demonstrate the re\·efSe.
that is. the imponance ofthe independent musician"s perspective and experiences to a
deeper understanding of life and culture in capitalist society. In the pages below I
elaborate this goal in greater detail alongside a defense of the methodological procedures
employed to reach it. This defense includes a discussion of the Frankfun School"s
objections to poSili\ist empirical research. and a rejoinder to these objections based on
the thinking of Karl Mannheim. I conclude by describing the inlerview process. the
characteristics and limitations ofthe sample. and my OlATl reflections on the research.
Rnnrch Objectivn aDd Geaenl Appro.dll
This study employs qualitative methods of social research. The goal of
qualitative research is not the discover)' ofObjective. universally valid knowledge about
hwnan behavior, but an in-depth analysis ofhow panicipants experience and understand
their panicular social worlds (Jackson. 1999: 16). For this reason. qualitative studies tend
to eschew quantitative measurements ofobserved phenomenon in favor of verbal
description. which makes possible a more direct and intimate understanding ofhuman
81

theorists argue that positivism tends toward a reification ofthe existing order (Jay. 1973:
62).
A good example of the Frankfun School's methodological arguments put into
practice is provided by Theodor Adomo's work for Paul Lazarsfeld at the Princeton
Office of Radio Research, Adorno wrote a tolal offour articles for the Radio Research
Project in the late 19305. all of them elaborations on his thesis concerning the
fetishization ofmusic. In these articles. he restricted himself entirely 10 an analysis of the
content and technical delivery ofradio music. arguing thaI it would be impossible to
verify fetishization on the basis of the listener's responses to interviews or questionnaires
(Jay. 1973: 188-91). According to Adorno. these listeners had sufferred a regression in
their ability 10 hear and appreciate music. and were completely unllblc to overcome their
confonnity to cultural nonns, In other words, they were amiclcd with a kind of false
consciousness. Adorno defended his refusal to translate his ideas about fetishization into
testable hypotheses in this way:
I oppose stating and measuring effects rof listening 10 the radioj ....ithout relating
them to... the objective content to which the consumers in the cultwa! indust')·.
the radio listeners, react.... To proceed from the subjects" reactions. as if they
were a primary and final source ofsociological knowledge. seemed to me
thoroughly superficial and misguided (Jay. 1973: 223).
Adomo's tenure ....ith the Office of Radio Research speaks directly to the heart of
the present matter. which is the validity of respondents' subjective evaluations of music.
For Adorno. such evaluations are irrelevant because they represent only a phase in the
cumulative dialectical process ofhistorical change, Removing them from this process.
and treating them as objective facts on which the validity ofthe researcher's claims may
84

and two others pursued experimental styles (one of these also pla}ed guitar in a punk
band. which explains the numerical discrepancy), While these latter se\'en respondents
contributed particularly valuable insights and observations. it is undoubtedly the
rocklpunk/heavy metal experience which is most dearly expressed in the data. I am
reluctant to charn.cterize these limitations as sources ofbias. nOl only because ofthe
pejorative connotation the term has. but also because it implies a unifonn. objectively
\'erifiable truth which is being distoned by invalid or unreliable data. Earlier I alluded to
Karl Mannheim's contention that one's knowledge is inextricably tied to one's
perspective. and that all perspectives are necessarily bounded. If these (\A.'O a.xioms are
held to be true. then the sample characteristics enumerated ab()\'e sUgj!.est conceptual
borders ....ithin which the perspective ofthe musicians approached for this study remains
bounded,
The loten'iew Process
The interviews I conducted were semi-structured in that they proceeded according
to a set liS! ofquestions designed to yield open-ended answers from respondents. and
from which I felt free to deviate as the silUation demanded. If. for instance. the answer to
a given question was implied in a pre"ious answer. then the redundant question would be
omitted, Similarly. ifa question didn't make sense in tenns ofthe context of the
intervit\o\, or the respondent's background. then that too would be omitted, To cile a
particular example. the interview schedule asked the respondent to identify the names of
bands or artists whose music he/she played most often while still in the learning stages.
and then posed a series of more detailed questions about the specified anists, In the case
89

and free·form discussion petween me two of us. in which I shared wilh him some of the
different arguments and concepts which my research addressed. and he responded ""ith
his 0\\71 perwnal experiences and observations. In short. we engaged in a dialogue. as
opposed to an interview.
Walking home. I began to wonder ifthis might not have been a better means of
understanding his perspective afh:r all. This way. me participant can evaluate for him or
herself during the eourse ofthe research .....hether or not the researcher's concepts
adequately represent hislher experience. instead offinding out after the whole thing is
over exaclly what hislher responses had been used to arguc or prove. This problem was
addressed to a certain extent by the preamble I offem:d at the start ofthe inter\'iews. but
it might have been useful to know. for example:. what respondents thought of Adomo's
theory ofthe regression oflistening. or Hebdige's thoughts on the punk subculture. The
obvious difficulty .....ith this approach is that the researcher's assumptiorl5 and opiniorl5
would be direclly intruding on the: participant's responses, and so might bias the outcome.
Without a clear ans.....er to this dilemma. and having already run the full gamut of
interviews. I resolvcd to [eave aside this alternative methodology and perhaps take it up
again in some future research effort.
Conclusion
In mis chapter I have argued that my respondents' subjective evaluations of music
are a valid object ofsociologieal inquiry and a source of valuable insight into both the
lormation ofculture in our societ)· and thc processes ofmeaning conslrUction in cveryday
symbolic life. In so doing, I disputc the view that the only legitimate goal ofsocial
92

musical touchstone for the rising generation to Nirvana.. the band most commonly cited
by those respondents in their early twenties.
With Nirvana and ACIDC. however, the universal points ofreference are all but
exhausted. and our sample begins to show signs of lhe remarkable range and diversity
that characterizes their later sensibilities. As they advance upon their middle teens and
the musical influences they would later draw upon in their O"Tl creative efforts. it
becomes useful to categorize them according to cenain broadly shared stylistic
preferences. The three distinct stylistic categories that emerge most clearly are hea\'}'
metal. punk. and the singer-songwriter tradition as defined by anists such as Bob Dylan
and Neil Young. Cenainly. not all respondents fit into these categories. and the
characteristics I enumerate don't apply neatly to all those who do. I have intended this
somewhat crude classification scheme as a way ofsummarizing observed patterns in thc
data. within and outside ofwhich thcre are exceptions and idiosyncracies. It is also
imponant to remember that none of these identifications arc slatic; genre-hopping and
stylistic experimentation become the nonn as respondents' sensibilities mature.
Nonetheless. who or what respondents identitied "ith in these critical years ofearly
adolescent identity-fonnation is highly suggestive ofthc fututC musical directions they
would take. I "ill first summarize the responses given by each category ofrespondent.
and then discuss the ways in which respondents were exposed to new music.
Heavy Metal
Like so much popular music. heavy metal·s roots reach back to the African
97

friends and I would have been able to produce a sound like that in our basements
enough to please us, enough to keep playing in bands. It \\,115 a little more real. It
was the kind ofmusic that four guys or girls could get together and play in their
basement. not something matlhey had 10 have a multi-million dollar record deal.
or a bunch ofshit-hot producers and a bunch of fancy equipment to produce.
Though this respondent was talking aboul a group which is widely considered to
be the firsl punk band, and which rose to prominence over thiny years ago. the same
spirit ofaccessibility and popular panicipation carried over inlo the post-punk movement
of the early nineties. Greg, at 2\ one ofthe youngest respondents in the sample.
describes punk's importance as a democratic medium ofself-expression in terms ofa
comparison between the guitar styles of two rival bands from the early nineties. Nirvana
and Pearl Jam:
Greg - There was sort of that macho overhang from 70s classic rock and 80s
metal in Soundgarden and Pearl Jam that represented people being too serious
about sports and making fun ofme in the hockey locker room and stuff. So there
was a bit ofan associalion there, bUI thaI was completely absent from Nirvana and
I found that attractive... It was really just tOlally different from anything I'd
heard before, and it was accessible... As opposed to the really technical and outof-reach
playing of those other guys, it was simple and he [Kun Cobain] was
hammering. In interviews he'd be like. "Well. we don't mean to be out oftune_
but we just hil hard and playas loud and fast we can." And I was like. "Yes!
ThaI'S excellent.just hammer on the thing!"
Those respondents who identified most strongly with early nineties punk bands in their
early teens were typically born around 1980. and in contrast to the metalers were drawn
evenly from both genders. Nirvana was obviously the most important band for this
group. but Pearl Jam. Soundgarden. the Smashing Pumpkins. Eric's Trip. and "mall-
punk" bands. as Greg put it. such as Green Day and Offspring deserve secondary
101

mention. At ages like 2\ and 22. these respondents .....ere not as far removed from the
formative experiences ofadolescence as were dleir hea\)' metal counterparts, and
therefore did not have the same breadth ofperspective. This perhaps explains why their
explanations ofpunk's appeal were in some cases less expansive than the comments of
the older metal group:
Rob- What was it that drew you 10 stuffJike Nirvana and Pearl Jam?
Tony - [t wasjusllouder guitars and screaming - I guess [ wasjust going through
that age.... I .....as about \2 or 13 when I first heard that. And [don't kno ....._[guess
you've got the hormones !>taning to kick and stuff.
JIISOII - I don't know, I think \ was maybe jusl an angry youngster or something.
I think maybe it ....as linked 10 rebellion somehow ma)'be. Ma)'be nOI. I don-I
know.
However, it is also dear from Karen's description of Nirvana that the music's melodic
qualities were as imponanl as its abrasiveness: ··It had a poppiness 10 iL il had a
catchiness to it. [, ....as a dicholomy: it seems heavy but on the flip-side it's kind oflike
longue-in

Notwithstanding the sizeable female component in the group ofsinger-songwriter
enthusiasts. the artists cited most ollen as imponant influences on this group's early
musical sensibilities .....ere middle-aged male perfonners. Allison. 10. admired Neil
Young and Simon and Garfunkcl for their emotional honesty and lyricism. 14 year-old
Janice was dra....T1to grizzled songwriters like Bob Dylan and John Pryne_ while Carla.
also 24. favoured archetypal guy-rock like Tom Peuyand Steve Miller. It seems that
gender .....ould lake on greater relevance 10 the musical sensibilities ofthese respondents
as they got older. Morcover. the fact that more females .....ere attracted 10 the singer­
song"..ritcr tradition than to punk or metal should not obscure the essential similarities
between these musical idioms. The folk tradition. from .....hich the early singer-
song.....riters emerged in the I960s. has long defined itself in opposition to the centrist.
impersonal. and technocratic culture which surrounds it (Frith_ 1996: 40.1). Becoming a
singer-song....ritcr. much like Ixx:oming a punk rocker. involves minimal technical or
financial requirements - all one needs is an acoustic guitar. a knowledge ofbasic chords.
and a ....illingness to spend long hours at practice.
Sample Outliers
Before proceeding any further. I feel it .....ould be .....orthwhile to describe the early
musical lives ofsome ofthe more prominent 'oudiers- in our sample. those .....ho. as I
have said. do not fit into any of the categories discussed above. 56 year-old Ken's
adolescent musical sensibilities awoke to the soWlds ofblack rhythm and blues and early
rock and roll on New York-area radio stations. Roger. 44. diSCOvered pop music through
104

along. there's something playing and she's not listening to iL and all ofa sudden
there's like afuckor something. And she's offended. you know- what"s my son
listening 10. he's a drug dealer. So you had (0 be careful. but I don', think they
ever really disapproved ofmy musical tastes.
These findings give credence to Thomas liehe's suggestion that the 'spirit ofthe age' is
distinguished by diminished intergenerational conflict and the wary coexistence of
differing lifestyles.
The School
School is a primal:' agent ofsocialization: as such. it attempts to instill in young
people respect for the society's values and institutions. a desire for achie\'ement of
socially-approved goals. and. abo\'e all. the skills to survive in the economic marketplace,
Independent music arguably involves a different set of priorities. chiefamong them being
resistance to economic imperatives where these interfere ....ith creative vision. By
examining the possibility ofconflict between school and music over the loyalties and
energies ofrespondents. I hoped to gain insight into their self-understanding as
independenl musicians, as well as their commiunent to oppositional goals,
A significanl minoril)' ofrespondents - five to be precise - reported that school
provided them ",ith time. space. and institutional suppon to funher their musical
interests. and a smaller number had unreservedly positive experiences ....ith school.
Unhappily. this all but exhausts the positive references to school. as every other
respondent was either ambivalenl or negative in their assessmenl of public educalion.
lndeed. the nicest thing anyone in the ambivalent group could bring themselves to say
117

about school was that il ....'35 easy, and didn't require much in the way ortime or effort 10
complete:
Rob - Did you enjoy school?
Ti". - I found school prett)' boring. and I did well and didn't have to do a lot of
work. I dropped out ofadvanced malh in order to not have 10 do any work at it...
I had more interesting things to do outside ofschool that had to do ....ith music a
lot. and other art stuff.
Dtlre - Grade 10 was greal. grade II was bad.. grade 12 was bad. Halfway
through grade 121 ....'35 realizing, "This isdwnb. What am Idoing, I'm nOI going
10 finish high school. rve got a fourth year to go now:' And I buckled down and
got straight As from then on. Irs easy stuff, there's no reason why [can't do it
other than I don'l want to.
Those who took a purely negative view ofschool. on the other hand, tended to be
more effusive in their responses. Many found school 10 be a stultifying, oppressive
institution that prevented lhem from exploring the full range oftheir individual talents
and interests. Fwthermore. it would appear that whenever such respondents managed to
break. free from the confonnity ofschool life and convey something oftheir particularity,
they encountered the hostility and derision of their peers and teachers, Alex described his
experience ofschool in lhis way:
Ala: - The hockey team ....'35 also the student council, and they dressed up as the
Ku Klux Klan one Hallowe'en and surrounded this Pakistani guy that was in a
band with me. And what really is fucked up is, I didn't really know that was
fucked up, I remember afterwards it was never mentioned, nobody got
disciplined, they didn't make an example ofit. And years later Ithought. "What a
fucked-up environment." And I was really dumb - instead oflicting in and not
being a target. I had to wear my mom's clothes and stuff all the lime, not dresses
or anything. but like weird,ass new wave blazers and stufflike that, I was the
stupid guy who when you're older and you look at them walking down the street.
lIS

featured in mu

on his band Wad Impregnator. he had this 10 say:
HfI""y - (would say there's definilely more ofa hard-core son of punkish and
power-punk ....ith harmony-type stuff influence rm talking like Dag Nasty.
Scream are another band from that time that sho in our .....riting. Definitely
Black Sabbath are in there some.....here. Iron Maiden would have to be in there.
Kate Bush. And Frank Sinatra. Dean Manin - the old vocalists and crooners and
stuff- (listen to a lot ofthat stuffas well. I've got a nwnber of records by each of
those anists and more. So there's a lot ofstuff for me as a writer.
Russ. ofthe Trouser Accidents. listed his influences as
RIlSS - Kiss. AC/DC. The Trouser Accidents definitely had a huge Built to Spill
influence at one poinl. Hip-hop-\\ise Ilislen 10 the Goats. Public Enemy. these
days I've been listening 10 Jurassic Five. Blackalicious. some ofthe Wu-Tang
stuff. As far as rock bands go. rve been listening to Nashville PUSS)', been
listening to some Sleater-Kinney. Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. I listen to some
heavier rock stuff like Clutch. I don't know.justever:thing I listen to that I like 1
guess comes to influence it at some point.
Respondents had other .....ays ofkeeping the rock music experience fresh and
unpredictable. Some used a layering approach in their song.....riling to gi ....e their songs a
constantly shifting texture. such thai one song or melodic line -will still be going and
then something else \\i11 come in over the top, a differenl song comes in over the top of it
and then takes over and becomes the dominanl force and lea....es.·· This is ho..... Jason
described the music ofSanta's Linle Helper. his side project .....ith Tony and Angela.
though this description could also be applied to Greg's work with Pickle Pumper. In his
own band Flapdoodle. Jason used the inexperience ofthe band's dnunmer as an
opponunity to experiment \\ith rhythm: -We've beenjanuning ....ith him pretty much the
.....hole time thaI he's been learning how to play drums over the past two and halfor three
years. It got me thinking more about beats. so we try 10 do stuff with messed up beats
like 7/4 time and 6/4 time and stuff.- Jason's guiding motivation in all his various
125

configurations. but generally speaking I pick up thc guitar and I'm playing my
arrangements of"ery esoteric old-time blues... I've got a real interest in
fCSUl'TeCting a lot ofobscure arcane kinds ofthings. So Iplay that and then I play
stufTthat r"e .....ritten. and thaI's a good combination forme, it keeps me happy
and it keeps people guessing. Generally. nobody knows what the hell I'm playing
and I like to keep it that way,
Though the blues genre would seem especially suited to musical reclamation projects of
this kind. it is interesting to note that a similar desire inspired Dave in his efforts to
recapture the "old" sound ofclassic metal bands like Led Zeppelin. Black Sabbath, and
Deep Purple in his own band Iron Sphincter.
In all. these examples provide the clearest evidence yet that respondents' aesthetic
practice constitutes an attempt 10 subvert the schematization and standardization
discussed in chapters two and three. As such. they offer a funher challenge to both the
Binningham School's complacency with the commodity production ofculture, and to the
Frankfun School's claim that engagement with popular music is nOlhing more than
mindless collaboration with the culture industry's agenda. I now tum to an examination
ofhow this attempt at subverting musical standardization conflicts ....ith respondents'
desire to cultivate a broader audience for their music.
Aesthetic DelilNralion and Markel Appeal
It is a given that music which prizes spontaneity and crude appeal over
predictability and polish. and above all which insists upon challenging its listeners'
expectations at every twn "ill necessarily have a limited audience. This point was
emphasized to me by Greg when I asked him about the audience for Pickle Pumper:
128

lob - Were there any other opportunities or ambitions that you've had to pass up
on in order to pursue a musician's life?
RIUS- Well. certainly I've had to pass and miss on the drudgery of. you know. a
nine·to-five day job. which I have not held in the past ten )'ears. I do contmet
work in the film industry to survive. which I find can destroy your life as a
musician. Certainly as a musician I would not survive a year if I dedded to try
and live offthe earnings ofmy bands... They might pay some support. like when
we're on tour these days we generally get per diems and stuff. so I can afford to
live while I'm away. But as for paying me a paycheck at the end ofa tour or after
a gig. generally all the money goes right back into being able to keep the band
progressing and creating things and allowing us that opportunity.. ,
I make quite reasonable mone)'. and obviously I have a relatively large house
which is moslly afforded by the fact that I have the lime to do the work on it
myself, I haven't had to hire contrnelors to do my work. Rock and roll being a
nighttime sort ofgig thing, you've got a 101 ofdaytimes to bum up and do sluff.
so I invested a couple years ofmy life. I guess. The rock and roll lifestyle
allowed me to live in an environment that I want to live in,.
The intensity with which these respondents held to their hopes ofmaking a good
living off the work they loved. coupled with their acute awareness ofthe financial
pressures ofdaily life. in some cases seemed to introduce a note of pragmatism into their
aesthetic deliberations:
Rob - How would you feel about adapting your sound in any way to meet the
demands ofa wider audience?
Alldn'" - Any band who kind ofgets close to success is going to have to
detennine at some point whether or not they're going to-- They're going to be
approached by the record company. and Ihey're going to go. "Well. maybe you
should have this producer, why don't you do this and make it more accessible?'" I
don't know, Ido believe in artistic imegrity but I also believe in the seJl-out
young, make a shitload ofcash, and then you can buy your artistic imegrity back,
Juetlfy - I'm not a stickler for tlun kind ofstuff like a lot ofpeople. I'm
innuenced a 101 by pop stuff... I write songs. sometimes the thought will pop into
my head as I'm writing a song about making it make more sense or more
accessible, but I do that for me.. , I'\'e learned to do that and I'm proud ofrhat.
III

avant·garde free jazz you're audience "'ill be smaller than ifyou play catchy pop
music, So you have 10 accept the situation in which you operate and then you
team to take full advantage of it... The music business as a whole is different
now than it has ever been, There's broader \\"3)'5 ofbringing your music to your
audience, and there's easier communication between you and potential audiences
- iI's more broad than it was ten years ago "'ith the Internet and so on. Basically,
you have to be sman about how you're finding your audience. more so !han just
trying 10 open yourselfup 10 a greater audience.
Despite his realistic assessment of the changing structure ofopportunities in the
recording indusn:', at the end ofme interview Fred reiterated his beliefthat ultimate
responsibility for success or failure rested with the individual bands:
Fred -In terms ofmusicians that operale at a disadvantage. people like myself
and probably a 101 ofother people you're going to interview, being successful in
music comes panly from doing something you really fundamentally enjoy and
you feel brings you pleasure and fulfillment in your life. and partiall)' the ability
to live how you wanl to live from the financial benefits ofthis way ofHfe that
you've chosen. And it's fine to have one or the other. but I don't think you'lI be
completely fulfilled having only one. Having both is something that a lot of
people don't end up gening, and there's a lot ofreasons you could say for that.
You could say that the music industry is down on independent musicians and they
only want to make a quick buck. and nobody's willing 10 invest any money or
time or put themselves on the line for something that's not a surefire success, a
surefire financial gain for whoever the executive in that position is. And that's
true 10 a degree - major labels are taking a lot less risks these days and they're
seeking out their o....tl financial situations, like I was saying about creating boy
bands and creating stars, Whereas back in the sixties you would have a record
executive who was a drunk '>"ho used to hang out at this one particular bar that
had this one band that played there a lot.. and decided they were really greal and
decided to sign them on his o ....tl approval. And. bam. who are they - Al Green or
something like that.. who eventually becomes a great star and sells a lot ofrecords
for the company, But I don't really think thaI happens quite the same these
days... You have to go OUI there and slog away at it and try for a long time
before you will get noticed. And you can't blame your non-success on things like
the climate ofthe record indusn:' or something like that. I don't think that's a
good way 10 help yourself in any way, Maybe il makes you feel bener a linle bit
by blaming your situation on somebody else. but ultimalely I think the best way 10
become successful is 10 become the system. Don't hale the system. become the
system, and you "'ill become successful.
133

espondents' o.....n appraisal of its value, and to thereby gauge thdr feelings directly about
the market as a source of cultural production.
Just about every respondent was either indifferent or hostile to the music of
Spears. Limp BizkiL and Our Lady Peace. and though the intensity oftheir feelings
varied. most were in broad agreement on a couple of key points relating to the sound of
the music and how it was made. First and foremost. according to respondents. is that
these anists make music that sounds wry similar to music made popular by previous
generations ofmusicians and for which there already exists a target audience. By
remaining within stylistic parameters carved out by other groups and artists. the acts
listed above are able to deliver songs that are immediately accessible to particular
demographics of music listeners. and are guaJ'3Jlteed success as a result. Funhcnnore.
each relies on a series ofmusical conventions or signifiers - some respondents used the
tenn cliche - repeated over and over to ensure the audience's familiarity with the music.
Limp Bizkit in particular .....ere ackno.....ledged for their astuteness in packaging together in
their music elements of rap. metal. and hip-hop, styles which currentl:-' enjoy massive
popularity among the teenage male demographic. All ofthe aforementioned acts,
however. were characterized by respondents as -safe,- "boring:' and "ephemeral:' Good
music. as Russ told me. challenges the listener and requires repeated listenings. "whereas
they JUSt hit the pleasure bunon every time \\,ith things like Britney Spears. Make it a
pleasure to look at. make it easy to listen to, and you're oITto the races:'
There was a similar degree ofconsensus in the sample that Spears. Limp Bizkit.
and Our Lady Peace were really just parts in a larger. rationally-organized process whose
135

This research stands betv..een two competing visions ofhow culture is made and
received in ad\-anced capitalist socicty. Critical theOl')' argues that the appropriation of
cultural production by capitalist interests has resulted in a culture so homogenous and
repetitive that it denies its audience any opportunity for critical engagement with artistic
works and effectively extinguishes independent reflection on their meaning and impon.
According to this view. the only choice offered by popular culture is that between
different versions ofthe same stale ideas and conventions. Embracing any part of this
culture means affinning thc exploitative and repressive system by which it is made and
diminishing the impetus for the revolutionary transformation ofsociety. The only kind of
true aesthetic practice, therefore. is that which embodies the principle ofnegation and
stri\'es to represent the current state of reality as a distorted reflection of unalienated
society. The Frankfun School frequently associated the idea ofaesthelic negation with
high modernism. and in particular the works ofGerman composer Arnold Schoenberg.
Partly in response to these ideas. the Birmingham School argues that the mode of
cultural production does not determine how culture is received and used by its audience.
This perspeetive rejects the mass culture theorists' portrayal ofcultural consumers as a
passive. brainwashed mass. and contends that consumers actively construct their ovm
cultural meanings through grounded aesthetics. Grounded aesthetics involve
appropriating and recontextualizing given cultural texts and symbols with a view 10 the
creation ofunintended. particularized meanings. This. not high an. is the only kind of
true aesthetic practice. according to the Birmingham School. for an that is divorced from
IJ8

Schoenberg. On the eontrar)'. their aesthetic practice must be recognized first and
foremost as an affirmation of modem popular music. a cultural form that owes its
existence both to twentieth century technological advances in communications and sound
reproduction. and also to the relative equality and affiuence of liberal democratic societ)'
as compared to previous historical eras. The imponance ofpop melody to their
song....Titing. the influence ofpopular anists ranging from the Beatles to Frank Sinatra on
their musical tastes. and their continuing - albeit panial and qualified - reliance on mass
communications media for exposure to music all testify easily enough to that.
On the other hand. the Birmingham School model ofgrounded aesthetics also
fails to do complete justice to the self·understanding ofthe musicians in OUf sample.
Birmingham School authors like Paul Willis devised the concept of grounded aesthetics
to demonstrate how personal creativit)· has increasingly come to reside in the act of
consumption. a phenomenon which in their vk..... reflC(:ts the lack ofmeaningful
opponunities the sphere ofproductive relations provides for self-expression and personal
development. However. this perspective fails to properly acknowledge desires for a
system ofcultural production thaI is responsive to human creativc needs. and by
implication .....ould seem to unnecessarily confine human creative potential to forms of
cultural practice enabled by market production. The responses ofthe musicians sampled
here provide evidence ofa clear determination to circumvent the market as much as
possiblc in the production and reception ofcultural goods. In the first place. there is their
preference for non·market means ofexposure to musical works. including tape-trading
networks and non-profit radio. In addition. the musicians in the samplc display a marked
140

popularcuhure by making music that challenges the conformity ofthe listening public's
expectations. For there is more at stake here than just the cultural consumer's inability to
reason independently of the culture industry's schemas. The perpetual presentation of the
same - the same experiences. the same ideas and meanings. the same plot lines.
character.;. endings. the same sounds. hooks. and emotions - reinforces the impression
that what we already see and hear around us e....er)day without exerting any efTort
whatsoever is inevitable. The troublesome thoughtofaltematives. ofdilTerent ways of
being. dissipates like a mirage. The critical theorists believed that the ideology of the
culture industry consisted not in overt propaganda announcing the desirability of
capitalism over all other systems. but in the subtle displacement ofthe thought of
alternative possibilities for human society. Taken one step further. this argument
suggests that ideology is not something that is foisted on the mass ofhumanity by
powerful and selfish elites. bUI is rather a collecti ....e expression ofbad faith. ofa longing
for reconciliation v.ith the here and now by any means possible. even if this means our
minds must feed upon illusions and brittle half·truths. This. finally. is what the Ramones.
the Sex Pistols. Bob Dylan. Neil Young. Joni Mitchell. Ani Difranco. the Velvet
Underground. and hundreds ofothers as Randy puts it. mean to the young listener: their
music provides an opening to what Marcuse in One Dimensional Man called the chance
ofthealtematives:
Rtllldy - Sometimes we're sitting around thinking who the fuck are we pUlling out
records. who do we think we are? But when I think back to my musical
beginnings and being that trapped junior high school kid. hating his friends and
not knowing where to go. and findingjust this endless source of hundreds and
hundreds and hundreds ofshitty little bands from everywhere •• just like us.
146

imperfections ofthe world and the probable futility oftheir actions. nonetheless decide to
take some pan in the tide ofevents. and strive to create a more democratic and humane
society for the benefit ofall.
148
"rou can do the best JVU can'
(he best you can is good f:nollgh"
- Radiohead. -Optimistic"

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149

c) How did making music coexist ....1th your school life? Was there any conflict
between your responsibilities as a musician and yOUT academic responsibilities?
Did you still enjoy/not enjoy school?
5.) What band(s) or musical projecl(S) are you involved in at the current time? For each
one ask:
a) What. for yOIL defines your/your band" s SOWld - what distinguishes yOUT/yOur
band's music? (Probing questions: style: basic components ofmusical
composition, such as melodylharmony. rhythm. instrumentation: emotional
substance; lyrics; productionlperfonnance values)
b) \\Iny is it imponant for you to make music in this way?
c) What bandslanists are the principal influences on your music? (.\l.:o' be somr
owrlap with questions :;.j and 5) What have each contribUled 10 your/your band's
sound?
d) What kind ofan audience is there for your music? How imponam is it to you
to secure a .....ider audience? What steps have you taken in the past to promote
your band? Have these included adapting the band's sound in any way to meet
the demands ofa wider audience? If so, how did }·ou feel about it at the time?
How do you feel about it now?
6.) I'm going to give you the names ofthree recording artists who are currently enjoying
great success - Brimey Spears, Limp Bizkit, and Our Lady Peace. Please give me your
opinion ofthem and provide some justification for your answer. Why do you think these
songs are so popuJar?
7.) Is there anything else you'd like to discuss?
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