From the ‘Musical Agora’ to an ‘Extreme Sport’: Negotiating Live Music’s Values in a Context of Urban Informality, Corruption and Violence in Mexico City

IF 1.4 1区社会学 Q2 SOCIOLOGY

Cultural Sociology Pub Date : 2023-09-21 DOI:10.1177/17499755231197868

Michaël Spanu

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Abstract

Mexico City’s live music industry is well integrated into transnational economic flows, sharing certain features of the Global North, while simultaneously maintaining an informal organization and conflicting dynamics typical of the Global South. Since the late 1990s, both the government and the entertainment industry in Mexico City have increasingly invested in live music, reflecting a strong emphasis on economic and political capitalization. In contrast, a notable segment of live music professionals has developed a distinctive yet contentious set of values, in which live music constitutes an essential component of urban life. This article investigates independent promoters and venue managers through 21 detailed interviews. Beginning in the informal economy of the city, interviewees started live music projects for creative purposes and brought people together to form emotional connections. The concept of ‘musical agora’ embodies their unique combination of values, emphasizing their potential contribution to local cultural democracy. However, factors such as the market structure, bureaucracy, corruption and violence turn most independent live music activity into an ‘extreme sport’, reflecting the complex nature of professionalization processes within cultural sectors in Mexico City.

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从“音乐集市”到“极限运动”:在墨西哥城城市非正式、腐败和暴力的背景下谈判现场音乐的价值

墨西哥城的现场音乐产业很好地融入了跨国经济流动，分享了全球北方的某些特征，同时保持了全球南方典型的非正式组织和冲突动态。自20世纪90年代末以来，墨西哥城的政府和娱乐业都越来越多地投资于现场音乐，这反映了对经济和政治资本化的强烈重视。相比之下，有一部分现场音乐专业人士已经形成了一套独特但有争议的价值观，其中现场音乐构成了城市生活的重要组成部分。本文通过21个详细访谈对独立发起人和场馆经理进行了调查。从城市的非正式经济开始，受访者开始了现场音乐项目，以创造性为目的，将人们聚集在一起，形成情感联系。“音乐集市”的概念体现了他们独特的价值观组合，强调了他们对当地文化民主的潜在贡献。然而，市场结构、官僚主义、腐败和暴力等因素使大多数独立的现场音乐活动变成了“极限运动”，反映了墨西哥城文化部门专业化进程的复杂性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Cultural Sociology SOCIOLOGY-

CiteScore

3.30

自引率

10.50%

发文量

期刊介绍： Cultural Sociology publishes empirically oriented, theoretically sophisticated, methodologically rigorous papers, which explore from a broad set of sociological perspectives a diverse range of socio-cultural forces, phenomena, institutions and contexts. The objective of Cultural Sociology is to publish original articles which advance the field of cultural sociology and the sociology of culture. The journal seeks to consolidate, develop and promote the arena of sociological understandings of culture, and is intended to be pivotal in defining both what this arena is like currently and what it could become in the future. Cultural Sociology will publish innovative, sociologically-informed work concerned with cultural processes and artefacts, broadly defined.