Music Production and Cultural Entrepreneurship in Today’S Havana: Elephants in the Room
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MUSIC PRODUCTION AND CULTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN TODAY’S HAVANA: ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM by Freddy Monasterio Barsó A thesis submitted to the Department of Cultural Studies In conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada (September, 2018) Copyright ©Freddy Monasterio Barsó, 2018 Abstract Cultural production and entrepreneurship are two major components of today’s global economic system as well as important drivers of social development. Recently, Cuba has introduced substantial reforms to its socialist economic model of central planning in order to face a three-decade crisis triggered by the demise of the USSR. The transition to a new model, known as the “update,” has two main objectives: to make the state sector more efficient by granting more autonomy to its organizations; and to develop alternative economic actors (small private businesses, cooperatives) and self-employment. Cultural production and entrepreneurship have been largely absent from the debates and decentralization policies driving the “update” agenda. This is mainly due to culture’s strategic role in the ideological narrative of the ruling political leadership, aided by a dysfunctional, conservative cultural bureaucracy. The goal of this study is to highlight the potential of cultural production and entrepreneurship for socioeconomic development in the context of neoliberal globalization. While Cuba is attempting to advance an alternative socialist project, its high economic dependency makes the island vulnerable to the forces of global neoliberalism. This study focuses on Havana’s music sector, particularly on the initiatives, musicians and music professionals operating in the informal economy that has emerged as a consequence of major contradictions and legal gaps stemming from an outdated cultural policy and ambiguous regulation. The research privileges the analysis of alternative music scenes such as hip-hop, electronic dance music, rock and reguetón. Several case studies of cultural producers/entrepreneurs that operate at the margins of the state institutions are presented. By using a tailored variation of the creative economy paradigm applied to the Cuban context the study demonstrates the importance of recognizing the new models of cultural management that have emerged in Havana as legitimate economic actors. Although the potential of partnerships between private and state actors is acknowledged, the research concludes that the majority of these new models would have a larger positive impact by operating from a properly regulated non-state sector, where the most important incentives for artists and cultural entrepreneurs are currently located. This would require major transformations in Cuba’s cultural policy. ii Acknowledgements Big thanks to those who contributed with support, trust, inspiration, information and knowledge in the production of this thesis: My family in Havana, Kingston, Miami and Toronto. My Dissertation Committee (what a privilege!): Kip Pegley, Lynda Jessup, Matt Rogalsky and Robin Moore. Special thanks to the greatest supervisors since day one: Karen Dubinsky and Susan Lord; to my brother Scott Rutherford; to my informal supervisors in Havana: Darsi Fernández and Joaquín Borges-Triana; to Zaira Zarza, for the love; to all the people that kindly agreed on being interviewed for this project, and to the ones that didn’t but still provided great insights in casual conversations; and last but not least, to the Cuban musicians, music professionals and entrepreneurs that inspired this study. This thesis is dedicated to you and to the city of Havana. iii Statement of Originality I hereby certify that all of the work described within this thesis is the original work of the author. Any published (or unpublished) ideas and/or techniques from the work of others are fully acknowledged in accordance with the standard referencing practices. (Freddy Monasterio Barsó) (September, 2018) iv Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................... iii Statement of Originality ............................................................................................................................... iv List of Acronyms ........................................................................................................................................ vii Chapter 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................1 1.1 Music Production Before the Special Period .......................................................................................6 1.2 Music Production in the Special Period and its Aftermath ................................................................15 1.3 The “Update” .....................................................................................................................................23 1.4 Some Important Definitions ...............................................................................................................28 1.5 Organization, Chapters Summary and Methods ................................................................................34 Chapter 2 Cuban Alternative Music in the Special Period and its Aftermath: The Hip-Hop and Electronic Dance Music Scenes ....................................................................................................................................40 2.1 The Rise and Fall of the Hip-Hop Scene ...........................................................................................43 2.1.1 The Alamar Festival and the Golden Years ................................................................................47 2.1.2 The Fall .......................................................................................................................................58 2.2 The Electronic Dance Music Scene ...................................................................................................76 2.2.1 The Utopia of the Future .............................................................................................................76 2.2.2 Matraka’s Festival .......................................................................................................................79 2.2.3 The Post-Rotilla EDM Scene ......................................................................................................93 Chapter 3 Outdated Cultural Policy and Ambiguous Regulation ..............................................................108 3.1 The Law and the Gray Zones ...........................................................................................................114 3.1.1 The Guidelines for the Update of the Socioeconomic Model ...................................................116 3.1.2 The Media Monopoly of the State ............................................................................................120 3.1.3 Copyrights and Royalty Payments ............................................................................................122 3.1.4 Live Music ................................................................................................................................126 3.1.5 More Centralization in the Cultural Sector ...............................................................................138 3.1.6 Post-17-D-2014 US Foreign Policy toward Cuba ....................................................................140 3.2 Unnecessary Competition? ..............................................................................................................146 3.3 Their Satanic Majesties Request ......................................................................................................159 3.4 Sony and EGREM............................................................................................................................164 3.5 El Quinquenio Prieto .......................................................................................................................169 3.5.1 Neoliberal Socialism? ...............................................................................................................174 v Chapter 4 The Creative Economy: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing? .............................................................179 4.1 The Creative Economy as a Development Strategy ........................................................................184 4.2 The Creative Economy in Context: Creative Economies in Developed Countries .........................197 4.2.1 Memphis (US) ...........................................................................................................................197 4.2.2 Vancouver (Canada) .................................................................................................................199 4.3 The Creative Economy in Context: Creative Economies in Developing Countries ........................202 4.3.1 Argentina ...................................................................................................................................204 4.3.2 Brazil .........................................................................................................................................207 4.3.3