« A Record Market Utopia: the Economy of Avant-garde Rock »
Communication dispensée par Jacopo COSTA (membre du GREAM) dans le cadre du « 2nd International Conference of the Progect Network for the study of Progressive Rock, 2016 », à University of Edinburgh d'Edimbourg (Royaume-Uni), le 25 mai 2016 de 11h30 à 12h00.
The production and the distribution of music by Rock In Opposition bands, former Rock In Opposition artists and musicians inspired by them (a broad scene often referred to as 'avant-garde rock') has almost always been a do-it-yourself business. The case of Recommended Records, the label and distribution service run by Chris Cutler since the late 1970s, is probably the best example to mention if we want to understand the economy of avant-garde rock, at least with regard to the record market: the experience of Recommended Records raises interesting questions on independent productions (as opposed to the mainstream record industry), methods of distribution and on the ideology and/or commercial strategy supporting the artistic choices made by labels. While the distinctive feature of Recommended Records' aesthetic policy has always been a wide pluralism (Rock In Opposition records are distributed alongside twentieth century classical music, radical improvisation artists, musique concrète, and so on), other labels decided to focus instead on the “progressive side” of avant-garde rock: such is the case of the Italian Altrock (founded by Marcello Marinone), perhaps the biggest label to have appeared over the last years for this type of music.
My aim is to analyse the characteristics of the avant-garde rock record market: this research will allow us to study this particular (although vast and eclectic) kind of music in the general context of the economy of popular music. Recommended Records and Altrock will be the two main case studies for my work, which will be based on interviews to Chris Cutler, Marcello Marinone and some of the artists signed to their labels. In trying to illustrate the different strategies pursued by the labels in response to the changing musical market, I will adopt a broadly historic perspective.
