Build an Active Foundation for Heavy Metal Subculture Community
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Build an Active Foundation for Heavy Metal Subculture Community Success in Contemporary Society A thesis submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Design in the Myron E. Ullman Jr. School of Design College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning by Zixuan Yang Bachelor of Engineering, Beihang University Committee Chair: Ashley Kubley Committee Member: Gerald Michaud 3/27/2019 iv ABSTRACT Since the first album that Black Sabbath released in 1970, the 50-year-long history of heavy metal music makes it has developed into a diversified but controversial subculture all over the world. Even though several big names, such as Metallica, Iron Maiden or Judas Priest, have gained commercial success and mainstream exposure, most of the heavy metal bands, fans and communities are still far from a stable status. The market scale is threatened by poor social acceptance and incorrect stereotypes and is too limited to develop an operational model for heavy metal music communities as mature as mainstream music production in this current state. The goal of this thesis is to: 1) explore the core value of heavy metal subculture and design an organizational strategy to strengthen the connection between various roles within the community. The research was divided into three parts. The first part is the quantitative research on the development of heavy metal music in different regions, shows the regional trends of heavy metal subculture. The second part is the qualitative evaluation of heavy metal albums’ covers and lyrics, and documentary films about heavy metal music. The third part is the interviews with record shop owners. The first part Borrowing the CIS (Corporation Identity System) from the business field, the data collected during the second stage could be categorized into visual identities, communication identities, and behavior identities. The data collected from interviews are organized into a system map to show the current organizational strategy. The conclusion, this thesis proposes a new type of organizational strategy that supports the local heavy metal subculture community, in order to help stabilize the market and strengthen connections of community members through v participation in it. Furthermore, inspired by the proposed strategy, more universal strategies and guidelines for other types of subculture are discussed. vi vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Prof. Kubley, for her patience, motivation and immense knowledge. Her insightful suggestions and deep understanding of my topic helped me throughout developing this thesis. And she also provided me the remarkable resource to support me testing out ideas. I could never achieve where I am today without her guidance. Besides my advisor, I would like to thank the other member of my thesis committee: Prof. Michaud. During the process of writing this thesis, his inspiring comments and encouragement helped me shape my thoughts and study. Also, I appreciate the tough questions he put forward, which incensed me to widen my research from various perspectives. My sincere thanks also go to my interviewees - 666 Rock Shop (Beijing, China), Everybody’s Records (Cincinnati, US), Shake-it Records (Cincinnati, US), Hail Dark Aesthetics – Oddities and Record Store (Covington, US), and Nick Kubley (Passafire, US). Talking with them was enjoyable and inspiring. Their insights greatly helped me understand the Heavy Metal subculture, its passionate audiences, and talented artists. Without their selfless support, it would not be possible to acquire a deep understanding of my thesis topic. Also, I want to thank all the School of Design faculties and MDes classmates at DAAP,University of Cincinnati, for all the time we spent together and all the fun we have had in the past two years. We are families and we support each other. viii Last but not least, I would like to thank my family and my lover. Thank you for always being there and supporting me spiritually throughout writing this thesis and my life in general. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS viii TABLE OF CONTENTS x LIST OF TABLES xii LIST OF FIGURES xiii GLOSSARY, LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS xvii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 4 2.1 What is Subculture? 4 2.2 Heavy Metal as a Subculture 6 2.3 Corporate Identity 9 2.4 Subcultural Identity 11 2.5 The Internet and Streaming Service’s Impact on Record Sales 12 CHAPTER 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 15 CHAPTER 4. METHODOLOGY 19 4.1 Understand the Context: Data Research 20 4.2 Understand the Heavy Metal Subculture: Subcultural Identity 21 4.3 Understand the Community: Interviews and ERAF Diagram 22 CHAPTER 5. DATA COLLECTION AND RESULTS 25 5.1 Data Research 25 5.1.1 The Popularity of Different Genres of Heavy Metal in Each Country/Region 25 5.1.2 The Preferences of Genres Across Different Countries/Regions33 5.1.3 The Development of Subgenres 35 5.1.4 The Development of Subgenres in Each Country/Region 36 5.2 Media Research 44 5.2.1 Sonic Identity 44 5.2.2 Communication Identity 47 5.2.3 Visual Identity 56 5.2.4 Rhetoric Mix According to Themes 59 5.2.5 Behavior Identity 67 5.2.6 Perception/Opinion 76 5.3 Interviews 80 5.3.1 Basic Business Situation 82 x 5.3.2 Passion-driven Motivation, Vision, and Strategy 84 5.3.3 Connection 86 5.3.4 Differentiation 89 CHAPTER 6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 91 6.1 Conclusion 91 6.1.1 Misconception 91 6.1.2 The Significance of Visual Identity in Metal Subculture 92 6.1.3 The Binary Pursuit of Connection and Differentiation 94 6.1.4 Subcultural Adoption and Engagement Map 96 6.2 Proposal 98 6.2.1 New Organizational Strategy 98 6.2.2 Major Activities 100 6.2.3 Business Canvas 110 6.3 Expansion of the Theory 111 6.3.1 Background 112 6.3.2 Engaging Model 113 6.3.3 Curation Strategy Guidelines 114 6.4 Discussion 118 6.4.1 Future Vision 118 6.4.2 Deficiencies During the Research 120 6.4.3 Future Tests and Workshops 121 6.4.4 Personal Concerns 122 REFERENCES 124 APPENDIX A 136 APPENDIX B 138 APPENDIX C 143 xi LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Top 25 nouns in metal songs investigated ...................................................... 48 Table 2. Top 25 nouns in metal songs investigated ...................................................... 51 Table 3. Top 25 themes in the metal albums investigated ............................................ 53 Table 4. Top 10 nouns in investigated albums relevant to occultism/mysticism ............ 60 Table 5. Top 10 verbs in investigated albums relevant to occultism/mysticism ............. 61 Table 6. Top 5 icons in investigated album arts relevant to occultism/mysticism .......... 61 Table 7. Top 10 nouns in investigated albums relevant to horror .................................. 62 Table 8. Top 10 verbs in investigated albums relevant to horror ................................... 63 Table 9. Top 5 icons in investigated album arts relevant to horror ................................ 64 Table 10. Top 10 nouns in investigated albums relevant to legend ............................... 65 Table 11. Top 10 verbs in investigated albums relevant to legend ................................ 66 Table 12. Top 5 icons in investigated album arts relevant to legend ............................. 66 Table 13. The activities each shop hosts ...................................................................... 86 xii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Kendall Jenner wearing a t-shirt with ACDC’s graphic. Credit: Lenny Abbot / CRI / Splash News ................................................................................................... 2 Figure 2. A conceptual model based on Balmer’s affinity audit. Credit: Cees B.M. van Riel and John M.T. Balmer ..................................................................................... 10 Figure 3. Thesis development plan ............................................................................... 17 Figure 4. An example of a research structure based on Grounded Theory ................... 19 Figure 5. ERAF Diagram ............................................................................................... 23 Figure 6. The composition of heavy metal genres in America ....................................... 25 Figure 7. The composition of heavy metal genres in Brazil ........................................... 26 Figure 8. The composition of heavy metal genres in China ........................................... 27 Figure 9. The composition of heavy metal genres in Germany ..................................... 28 Figure 10. The composition of heavy metal genres in Japan ........................................ 29 Figure 11. The composition of heavy metal genres in Russia ....................................... 30 Figure 12. The composition of heavy metal genres in Scandinavia .............................. 31 Figure 13. The composition of heavy metal genres in the United Kingdom ................... 32 Figure 14. The comparison of the popularity of different genres in different countries/regions .................................................................................................... 33 Figure 15. The development of different genres globally............................................... 35 Figure 16. The development of different genres in America .......................................... 36 Figure 17. The development of different genres in Brazil .............................................. 37 Figure 18. The development