For the last decade we have been engaged in the study of the history, economics, and sociology of live music in Britain. In this article we will consider the value of “ecology” as an analytic concept (rather than just a buzzword) and compare an ecological account of the setting in which music happens to the use of previous spatial metaphors, from Durkheim’s milieus to Straw’s scenes. To illustrate our argument, we present case studies of three Scottish concerts: one in a small-scale venue (Glasgow’s King Tut’s), one in a mid-size venue (Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall), and one in a large-scale venue, the 12,000-seater SSE Hydro
In recent years Popular Music Studies has witnessed a turn towards concentrating on music at a local level (Cloonan) and its use in what DeNora ("Music") calls everyday life. In a separate, but overlapping, development there has been a growing interest in the Night Time Economy. At an academic level this has included some interest in the role popular music plays in that economy (c/f Bennett, Björnberg and Stockfelt) and at UK governmental level it has included responses to 'binge drinking' (Home Affairs Select Committee, Prime Minister's Strategy Unit, Scottish Executive) and to licensing. 1 But there has been less attention paid to the role that music plays within a key part of that economypubs. In this article we examine the use of music in city centre pubs in Glasgow, Scotland. We include the role of music in attracting customers to pubs, the different types of clientele attracted, the relationship between music and alcohol sales and the ways in which music can act as both a trigger for disorder and a means of preventing it. We develop a typology of uses of music and explore the implications for Popular Music Studies.
This article considers live music policy in relation to wider debates on the cultural (as opposed to instrumental) value of the arts. The findings are based on research into amateur/enthusiast, state-funded and commercial concerts across a range of genresclassical, traditional folk, jazz, singer-songwriter and indieusing the Edinburgh Queen's Hall venue as a case study. We argue that (1) articulations of the cultural or intrinsic value of live music across genres tend to lapse back into descriptions of instrumental value; (2) although explanations vary from audiences, artists and promoters as to why they participate in live music, they also share certain characteristics across genres and sometimes challenge stereotypes about genre-specific behaviours; and (3) there are lessons to be learned for live music policy from examining a venue that plays host to a range of genres and promotional practices.
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