2021/06/30 by Shams Bin Quader
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Cultural Industries and Urban Development #Diverse Music Education Insights #Music History and Culture
paper · doi:10.1080/10304312.2021.1944985
openalex publication_date 2021/06/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2025/11/06
This article examines how members of the Central Sydney independent music scene practice independence within its cultural economy. Based on qualitative strategies of inquiry including semi-structured interviews with 15 individuals over the age of 18 who are involved with the scene, and participant observation at live gigs recording detailed field notes, I argue that members of the Central Sydney independent music scene can afford to be their own aesthetic boss within the scene as long as they accept dependence on other strategies and resources beyond independent music. Accumulated economic resources, musical literacies, social networks, and experience associated with long-term and recurrent involvement with music-related work were found to be crucial factors in the ways scene members fashion cultural practices based around aesthetic independence.