Theorizing the Field of Localized Music Venues: Hierarchies and Segmentation

• In Event: 545 - Section on Sociology of Culture Roundtable Session.
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 18. Status and Hierarchies

Abstract

This paper addresses the theoretical understanding of the field of music venues within a localized context. Perspectives from the sociology of organizations and the sociology of culture are used to create testable theoretical hypotheses about the shape of the field of music venues. This paper works to establish the building blocks for looking at how the structural organization of music venues within a localized scene can create a variety inequalities for musicians. This specific paper focuses on the organization of venues within the field and hypothesizes that venues are both hierarchically and segmentally organized the basis of a number of organizational and cultural characteristics. These same characteristics can then be used to identify the core and periphery positions within the field of a music scene. Throughout the paper a number of theoretical hypotheses and predicted findings are offered, as well as identifying the data sources that will be used to complete and empirical analysis.

Author

• Nikki-Marie Brown, McMaster University