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The Sound of Berlin: Subculture and the Global Music Industry

Author

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  • INGO BADER
  • ALBERT SCHARENBERG

Abstract

In recent years, Berlin has become a ‘world media city’. Our thesis is that a key reason for this development can be found in its dynamic subculture. In the 1990s the club and music scene thrived, in particular in the deindustrializing inner‐city areas, thereby paving the way for large media and music corporations to move to Berlin. The rise of the Berlin techno and electronic music scene, and recently also of hip‐hop, to a successful cultural district, is therefore closely connected to the urban transformation since the fall of the Berlin Wall, as well as to the increasing importance of the ‘creative class’ in the local economy. The article examines the connections between the specific local urban environment of the city and the development and rise of its creative and subcultural milieus. The relation between subculture and the music industry, however, cannot simply be described as a commodification of underground and its use as a brand name. Rather, it highlights the fact that flexible integration of the creative districts of subcultural music production is becoming one of the new organizational models of the industry. Résumé Depuis peu, Berlin est devenue une «ville mondiale des médias». Cette évolution est due en grande partie au dynamisme de sa sous‐culture. Dans les années 1990, les clubs et la scène musicale ont prospéré, en particulier dans les quartiers déshérités du centre en voie de désindustrialisation, ouvrant ainsi les portes à l’installation à Berlin de grosses compagnies du secteur des médias et de la musique. L’essor de la scène musicale techno et électronique, et récemment aussi du hip‐hop, en un quartier culturel florissant est donc étroitement liéà la transformation urbaine depuis la chute du Mur, ainsi qu’à la place grandissante de la «classe créative» dans l’économie locale. L’article examine les rapports entre le contexte urbain local spécifique, d’une part, et l’évolution et l’ascension de ses milieux créatifs et sous‐culturels, d’autre part. Toutefois, on ne peut ramener la relation entre sous‐culture et industrie musicale à une marchandisation de l’«underground» et à son utilisation comme un nom de marque. En revanche, elle met en avant le fait que l’intégration progressive des secteurs créatifs de la production musicale sous‐culturelle devient l’un des nouveaux modèles organisationnels de cette industrie.

Suggested Citation

  • Ingo Bader & Albert Scharenberg, 2010. "The Sound of Berlin: Subculture and the Global Music Industry," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1), pages 76-91, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:ijurrs:v:34:y:2010:i:1:p:76-91
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2427.2009.00927.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Ida Andersson & Laura James, 2018. "Altruism or entrepreneurialism? The co-evolution of green place branding and policy tourism in Växjö, Sweden," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(15), pages 3437-3453, November.
    3. Oğuzhan Okumuş, Mehmet, 2020. "How Berlin attracts the Turkish "New Wave": Comparison of economic and socio-cultural pull factors for highly skilled immigrants," IPE Working Papers 142/2020, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    4. Henning Füller & Boris Michel, 2014. "‘Stop Being a Tourist!’ New Dynamics of Urban Tourism in Berlin-Kreuzberg," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 1304-1318, July.
    5. Adriana Kemp & Henrik Lebuhn & Galia Rattner, 2015. "Between Neoliberal Governance and the Right to the City: Participatory politics in Berlin and Tel Aviv," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(4), pages 704-725, July.
    6. David B. Audretsch & Erik E. Lehmann & Nikolaus Seitz, 2021. "Amenities, subcultures, and entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 571-591, February.

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