Countercultural Capital & the Creative Economy - How do 1990s DiY Music ‘Entrepreneurs’ talk about the contemporary music business?” by Charlotte Bedford 2008

Here is a link to “Countercultural Capital & the Creative Economy - How do 1990s DiY Music ‘Entrepreneurs’ talk about the contemporary music business?” written by Charlotte Bedford for her MA Media Enterprise – Birmingham City University (May 2008)

It makes an interesting read…..here is a brief summary:

Placing independent music at the centre of the wider creative industries, this paper captures experiences and perspectives from 1990s DiY Music in order to inform the understanding of the rapidly changing ‘business’ of music.  The research builds on Leadbetter and Oakley’s (1999) description of a ‘new’ model of work derived from cultural entrepreneurs’ characteristic ‘independence’, and Wilson and Stokes’ (2002) subsequent paper on the changing nature of small independent businesses in the music industry.  These ideas are considered in relation to cultural and popular music theory, particularly drawing on Thornton’s (1998) concept of ‘subcultural capital’ where value within a music scene relates to the lines of demarcation differentiating between underground and mainstream.  The role of the cultural entrepreneur is examined through accounts and opinions of independent music practice then and now, exploring the extent to which the current Do-it-Yourself digital music trend is new and ‘independent’.