Vinyl records, metal fandom and fan labour: Productions and exchanges at the intersection of the cultural and financial economies

Abstract

This article presents a case study of how obsolete vinyl records are transformed into concert souvenirs through fan labour, using it as a springboard for an enquiry into fan creativity – both in terms of making do with a culture that excludes materially disenfranchised fans, and also in terms of re-purposing objects and discovering new ways of deriving pleasure from their use. It shows how embodied knowledge and dispositions are deployed to casually resist an economy of alienation and obsolescence, how fan productions are often exchanged in both the cultural and financial economies, and, in so doing, makes an intervention into an under-researched aspect of metal culture and fan cultures more generally.