"Where Do the Boys Go?": Tracking the Development of Careers in the Music Industry By Stella Sakadakis Graduate program in Communications McGill University, Montreal March 1994 A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Researchin partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts c Stella Sakadakis 1994 ABSTRACT t<1u f:j ica l car8ers deve lop along part icular traj ectories as ;:; cOflsequr-::nce of the relationships that are established b("d" we8n t hl==: musician and the induRtry. This thesis studies Lt!""= naturp:! oL these relationships and the manner in which t Iv:y c'ontribute ta the development of a musical career. The dj chotomy between the artistic c( ncerns of the musician and the economic interests of the i,'dustry that informs many popular musjc studies is re-orlented in light of the economic interests that are inherent in the musician' s pursu Lt of a musical livelihood. The importance of commercial success in the maintenance of a musical living is explored in the case study of Men Wi\hout Hats, a Montreal based pop band that has maiI1tained oc fifteen year career despite a lack of commercial success o':er the past decade. This study suggests that the maintenance of a musical career over an extended period of time is a consequence of the types of relationships that are cultivated by the musician over the course of his/her career. RESUME Les carrières mus icales s' avancen t Sl: l on l~'s 1 t' : ,1 t i i.l!1~ entre les musiciens et. l'industrie. Cet t e t hès(' ,-'x,;.m i Ilt' ('t·~ relations et. la manière donc ils ('(1111 ) ~but;-"'llt dU développement. des carrières musi cales de j CUIlPS ,îrt l st t':; 1 1 exist.e une dichotomie entre les sens ibil i t ès al t i st i qUl'S cill mus icien et les intérêts économiques de l' illdust 1 il'. Ct,t t t' dichot.omie, qui inf orme plusieurs études su 1 1<1 mus i. 'lUt) populaire, est. mise en question quand Lps économiques, celles de vouloir gagner sa vie 011 f é1 1 S ,111 t d, ! la musique, sont prise en considerat ion. En pt ('11.1/1 t l'exemp..Le du groupe musical Men Wit.hout Hats, li tH" fOI rHd t i 0/1 montréalaise qui a réussi à mainteni rune card ère mus i (',11 r-' pendant. quinze ans sans avoir un grand succès r.omrllî' r (' i il 1 durant. les dix dernières années, il est possiblc' de m('t t CP en quest.ion l'importance du succès commercial fl l' F'nt r('t jf·/) d'une carrière musicale. Cet.t.e thèse propose que l'entn·tlPIl d'une carrière musicale compt.e sur les relat. Lons etabl in pa r" le musicien pendant. le développement de sa professionelle. 'l'J\.BLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION: Th~ social construction of musical careers .. 1 1. The complementary economic projects of th~ musician and the industry ....... 1 2. CDordinating relationships: The importance of the intermediary 7 3. Reaching an Audience . · .... ..... 14 4. Tracking Musical Careers . · ..... ... 18 5. Case Study: Men Without Hats · ..... .... 29 CHAPTER TWO "A Back'lJards Progression": Chronicling a career .... 35 CHAPTER THREE :;UCCt~SS r Pop Stardom and the Music Industry ....... 46 1. The Importance of Having a Hit: "The Safety Dance" and the 1980s 60 2. Constructing an Alternative Profile ... 64 3. Redefini~3 Success/Redefjning Failure '" ..... 68 CHAPTER FOUR The local scene and the cultivation of a reputation 72 1. Il Place for Himself .................... 79 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION .. ........................... 82 WORKS CITED ........................................ 85 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS l would like to express my gratitude t,~ tlh' 11lImt'!,)1l~ people who have lent their support and enCOlll ;lseIllt'lIt t 0 !llt~ during the course of this endeavour. explc'sS Illy :-:;il1Cf'lt'~t gratitude to my advisor, Will St-raw, WIIOSf' ,1ssi:-:;LlI1<'t~ in this project could never be adequélLely aCknow]t'd'.Jtê>d. 1 t I\Llllk Ivan Doroschuk and Men Without Hats who::;!" COOpt'l".il inn WdS vital to this project. l would especlally Lik(> to tl\dnk Carsten Knoch without whose help l would npVf-)\' hc:tvt'> IOlilld Ivan in the first place. Over the years havp i tI('lI! 1 ('ci numeru s debts w~th individuals at both é1C'ad(~l\1ic (llld personal levels, sa l would l ike to tllcmk the pp op 1(' ,-\ t Brave Ne~'LJla\œs who have been an insplral Lon inaRfIlucil dS they have been informative, and Phil Vitone who WclS bot l1 d teacher and a friend. My thanks ta P7A77 and ,J~f f HOlIS(~ fOl the obscure references and chatter, and to Ajain Dil!W' for linguistic input. l would also like to thank Ursula Muro! f , Chrys Botsas, and Adele D'Abarno for reassembLlng mr: wllf~n was falling apart. Finally, l should l ike to LhiHlk my family, and particularly my godfather, for UH:: tll~] P t hl ollqh the years. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION: The social construction of musical careers ,[ l '/'1: , j tr.t J 1:IJ"]1 1,111 dJ',--,,' 'Clic? r .• " "My sto.cy isn't unique. It's dealing with suc..:::ess, with record companies, with an i iustry, with money, with fame. There's a lot of peopl~ who are coping with it. It's just that music is a powerful platform" (Doroschuk qtd. in Siberok, 7) One of the central themes explored in the academic literature on popular music is the relationship of the musician and the industry, the clash of the artistic and economic and the ways in which this tension is resolved (e. g., Jon Stratton' s article, "Between two worlds: art and commercialism ln the record industry"). The debute becomes problematic wh en one takes the aspirations of up-and-coming musicians into consideration. These ambitions can be generally stated as the musician's desire to make music his/her livelihood, that is, to have the music heard and appreciated by a consuming publ ic. A musical career consolidates a number of elements il1 i ts development. ':L'he musician' s artistic sensibil i ties, meaning one's propensity for musical creation and performance, one's commitment to one's own music, as weil as 1 1 musician' s gl'eater goal of bpill~ 1 t.'mUIlt!Llt ,'li ri tl,llll' LIlly t dt his/her creative effot-t s Il ,"vid"lll economic asper::t is LnherenL in rht-' mltSiCldtl'H ,1HpiLIl 1"t1~;, and therefare thr-ô: debate that pusits ,1 ~t 11l'lC]l,' h,'lINt't'Il t Il,' artistic and the eCOllO:11lC in populal music :..;tlldl"S Illly 1>" overstating the case: "'ObvLfJusly, WF' W~lllt ,1 IlÏl '''ll1'll,',' Il,' [John Kastner of the Doughboysl says 'We ('.ln only ".Il ~;lIit for so long before the band i8 goin9 t: 0 hav!' t 0 b lf'dk IIp W" make a small living now, but it isn't Lhélt c:om[u][,lblt', W,' get by. But l think we deserve a lot mou' ~IL titis p()il1t. We've been working pretty hard'" (KastrH·~r qtd ill K,~lly, Il pag.l. The argument is not that the slruggl,· b(.>tW(·"tl tlt" artistic and economic interests in the music i ndust 1 y j S dtl invalid debate but rather that the situat.ion i::; h,·itl'l reduced ta the=: mo::., t essent ial fact ors of art i st i (' i nt ,'rl rIt Y versus capitallsm in the se analyses hdt these two concerns are convergent in cert~in resp0cts. In his article, "The production of br:;l il=·f· ('nnt r i bltt lOrI ta an economy of symbolic goods", Plr--,rrç~ Hr)llrdir'll drr-jljf'!'; that what underlies these creative activjejr.:.; Illd t 11(' analyses re8ulting from their study i8 t'cl cr) Il ;-, t d fj t , collective repres3ion of narrowl y 'Economic' i ntl=~U.SL and r)f the real nature of the practices revl'.?aIr:d by ",,:conr)rni r;' - 3 dfJdlï~,lS" I~Gl), 1'[,"0 ,-tr:arl",,:mic diO:hatiO:s th;:tt locaïiz'2 ~conomic (" )[)(',' r n~., <Cl;-; br; i n r ] S'~r)drate f rom art ist ie endeavours merely ("Hlt rlh\lL<~ Lo th,~-; repn::ssion, such ,=hat the "disavowal of tt;,~ 'r:~(JJn()mic'" (Rourdi~lI, 261) can b~ rr::gardeè as being ('h(\racr~:rist je of th,' meehanisms involved in the cultural Jnn Stratton argues that the artlst must define hirn/lv:::ni·~lf ln opposition to a record industry that i8 rlr:.p,~ndr:>nt- upon a rapid turnover of musical products (1982, 2'/'2). TIl(~ nature of the industry prompts execut ives to make dpm~nds of artists since the industry depends on the IHilsicians to create music which the record industry l rans!. orms into a ma rketable commodi ty. Il In this situation t hr? artist protects him/herself by mystifying the creative pl-ocess which is experienced as being distinct from the commercial, capital i st side of the industry which would In efer rat:i ana] , analysable standardisation" (Stratton, 1982, 272). The artist's opposition ta the industry seems necessary bccause of the differences inherent in the nature of the musician' s creative endeavours and the activities of the record industry. The opp~sition of the artist and the industry is based on the artist's notions of creativity and int t-:gr ity that are an Integral part of his/her music making rely on jdeas 1 .-' LeI t l 1l '1 t \' t ,lit' 11 t ,1111 1 , 11" cl' 'Il" 1,11 expreSS10n activities of wh i \'11 ,11' ' t, \\\',1 1,1 stimulating the product ion ,,[ rn\l~-; i ,'.11 Il.