The end of the world as we know it: Popular music's cultural mobility

Journal/Book: Cult Stud. 1995; 9: 11 New Fetter Lane, London, United Kingdom EC4P 4EE. Routledge Journals. 486-504.

Abstract: Popular music has moved to the centre of economic life, suggesting a shift in the political economy of advanced societies. The transition has been marked by a concomitant shift in the centrality of popular music in social life, assisted by new technologies. More importantly, the changes have been brought about by the reorganization of record company ownership and activity since the 1980s. This paper suggests that cultural studies could apply aspects of the research and analysis methods developed in institutional economics, to a study of the relationship between cultural and economic formations. Institutional economics, especially as proposed by Thorstein Veblen, provides a pragmatic critique for cultural industries in an era of globalization and rising corporate power. In this paper I have used institutional economics to illustrate how the shift in the organization of popular music has taken place within the corporate economy. The use of popular music as a feature of the corporate economy has involved the expansion of all forms of entertainment into the information economy, This convergence of activities and interests located in and around popular music is described by the term 'cultural mobility'.

Note: Article M Breen, Univ Melbourne, Dept English & Cultural Studies, Parkville, Vic 3052, Australia

Keyword(s): popular music; Thorstein Veblen; institutional economics; cultural policy; corporate economy

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