Legitimate forums and authentic speakers.

Before I even started this blog I noticed and intended to blog about the facebook of local indie/electro club night, Pistol Whipped. Pistol Whippd facebook page is set up as a person, not an 'event' - so it has a wall, can add friends, send private messages and stays the same regardless of when the next club night is scheduled for. It is managed by a person or persons unknown (at least to me).

I added the club night's profile as a friend because I meant to head along to it (and still haven't gotten around to it, admittedly), so its status updates started showing up on my feed. I noticed that while many of these were simply promoting the next event, a few seemed aimed at generating discussion about various music related topics. Click here to see a flickr set of screenshots I took of these discussions. The updates and comments cover such topics as what music people are listening to right now, whether they like a new song, and whether they think tickets to Splendour in the Grass are too expensive. One question about a Crystal Castles song turns into a discussion about another festival, Parklife, and how well it was organised.

These discussions are good examples of those Wendy Fonarow talks about in her book Empire of Dirt - those that form part of the constant negotiation and redrawing of boundaries, which she sees as defining indie. The facebook page also posts plugs and links to other subcultural institutions, such as other club nights, gigs, and a new street culture. This support between venues, club nights, magazines and so on can be seen as maintaining and strengthening the network - allowing various parts of the local indie infrastructure to gain customers and therefore survive. This kind of activity is referred to again and again in scholarship that uses the 'scene' framework, and in many is emphasised as being crucial to subcultures on a local level. Based on that, I would consider the facebook page relevant for creation, negotiation and maintenance of the local indie scene, its particular boundaries and proclivities.

I do wonder though, would everyone agree with me? Would some people consider the Pistol Whippd page less relevant or influential because it is a marketing tool? Is it somehow less authentic because it is prompted by someone carrying out ad hoc market research? I know (from reading and from common sense) that subculture is inseparable from corporate and capitalist structures. What prompted me to ask these questions regarding marketing and authenticity was a discussion at the music blogger forum at elbo.ws. Check out the thread here. To give a summary, poster and blogger 'SFCritic' takes issue with a new poster called 'Bea', who is asking ethnographic questions of the bloggers (for academic research, as it turns out). 'SFCritic' does not think the Bea should be allowed on the forum, as she may be a market researcher, and that such people turn music fans into commodities owned by economists.

So presumably, 'SFCritic' would not reply to any of Pistol Whippd's facebook statuses. Or would he? For someone with his point of view, is market research only inauthentic and not allowed if it is carried out by a large corporation? Is it okay if the questions are being asked by a local business person, trying to gain information to conduct a local night for indie enthusiasts? Or should these discussions about interests and taste only happen between music consumers or musicians - not organisers or entrepreneurs?

I find this tension between indie authenticity and market necessity terribly fascinating - so much so that I think I'll do my essay on it. I'm off to get started!