You Can't Always Get What You Want: Gatekeeping and Social Capital in the Live-Music Scenes of Atlanta and Taipei Open Access

Abstract

This dissertation examines live-music markets (or "scenes") in the following cities: Taipei in Taiwan and Atlanta in the US. This examination is informed by three broad approaches to creative markets in sociology (field theory, the art worlds framework, and the music scenes framework), all of which share an emphasis on "embeddedness." In particular, I focus on the impact of both gatekeepers and social capital within each of those scenes, and how both play out in two different places with regards to the music featured at a range of venues. I do this by analyzing self-gathered data collected from local newspapers as well as from surveys and interviews with band-bookers that act as gatekeepers. This self-gathered data documented 175 live-music venues in Atlanta and 145 venues in Taipei in 2012--with 5,531 performers offering some 11,000 appearances in Atlanta venues, and 2,467 performers offering some 4,700 appearances in Taipei venues. Comparatively speaking, in 2012, Atlanta had a bigger, busier, more affordable but less connected live-music scene, while the live-music scene in Taipei was smaller, more expensive, and had less busy days and months but involved a denser network of music venues. Despite the distinct "ecologies" of these two live-music scenes, social capital at the aggregate level operated in a similar manner for both, as live-music venues within several homophilous niches (based on ticket-price and featured genres) converged in terms of band-booking similarity. Not only did the attributes of venues (e.g., pricing, genres) matter for social capital, so too did the manner of their connections--as venues with common "friend(s)" were more likely to be linked in terms of booking the same performers. Furthermore, inequality in live-music scenes also matters, as I find that a status order, with its attendant "competitive jostling" and "emulation," emerged among venues occupying different positions in the status order. This dissertation thus demonstrates how the market for live music is a domain in which social factors are intertwined with economic elements.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

PRELUDE........................................................................................................1 CHAPTER ONE ................................................................................................................. 4 MARKETS AND MUSIC: THREE APPROACHES CHAPTER TWO .............................................................................................................. 42 THE CITIES AND THEIR SCENES: THE ECOLOGY OF PLACE CHAPTER THREE ........................................................................................................ 112 GATEKEEPER DECISIONS AND CONNECTIONS IN THE TAIPEI LIVE-MUSIC SCENE CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................................... 188 GATEKEEPING, HOMOPHILY AND STATUS ORDERS AMONG LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN ATLANTA CHAPTER FIVE ............................................................................................................ 233 CONCLUSION REFERENCES.............................................................................................246 List of Tables TABLE 2-A. THE "TOP 10" LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN ATLANTA AND TAIPEI (IN TERMS OF 2012 PERFORMANCE NUMBERS) ................................................................................ 85 TABLE 2-B. THE "TOP 10" PERFORMING ACTS IN ATLANTA AND TAIPEI (IN TERMS OF 2010 PERFORMANCE NUMBERS) ......................................................................................... 86 TABLE 2-C. NICHE ELEMENTS OF LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN ATLANTA ............................. 101 TABLE 2-D. NICHE ELEMENTS OF LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN TAIPEI .................................. 101 TABLE 3-A. THE LIST OF SURVEYED LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN TAIPEI ............................. 165 TABLE 3-B. IMPORTANCE OF INCOME SOURCES AND OPERATIONAL COSTS AMONG SURVEYED LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN TAIPEI .............................................................. 173 TABLE 3-C. CONNECTIONS INVOLVED IN BOOKING BANDS BY SURVEYED LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN TAIPEI ..................................................................................................... 174 TABLE 3-D. THE NUMBER OF ACTOR TYPES CONSULTED BY BOOKERS AT SURVEYED LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN TAIPEI ......................................................................................... 174 TABLE 3-E. PERCEPTIONS AMONG SURVEYED LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN TAIPEI REGARDING MEDIA COVERAGE ................................................................................................... 174 TABLE 3-F. FREQUENCY OF FOREIGN BANDS AMONG SURVEYED LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN TAIPEI ....................................................................................................................... 175 TABLE 3-G. INTERNET USAGE AMONG SURVEYED LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN TAIPEI ........ 175 TABLE 3-H. THE EXTENT OF PRICE AND GENRE HOMOPHILY AMONG ALL LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN TAIPEI, 2012 ........................................................................................... 177 TABLE 3-I. ERG MODELS: EFFECTS OF PRICE HOMOPHILY, GENRE HOMOPHILY, AND NETWORK STRUCTURE ON BOOKING CONNECTIONS AMONG ALL LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN TAIPEI, 2012 ......................................................................................................... 178 TABLE 4-A. THE EXTENT OF PRICE AND GENRE HOMOPHILY AMONG ALL LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN ATLANTA, 2012 ...................................................................................... 222 TABLE 4-B. THE EXTENT OF STATUS GROUP HOMOPHILY AMONG ALL LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN ATLANTA, 2012 ...................................................................................... 222 TABLE 4-C. QAP CORRELATION OF BOOKING SIMILARITY AND TICKET PRICE LEVEL AMONG LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN ATLANTA, 2012 .................................................... 222 TABLE 4-D. QAP CORRELATION OF BOOKING SIMILARITY AND MUSIC GENRES AMONG LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN ATLANTA, 2012 ................................................................. 223 TABLE 4-E. QAP CORRELATION OF BOOKING SIMILARITY AND STATUS (AS INDICATED BY PREVIOUS AJC COVERAGE) AMONG LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN ATLANTA, 2012 ........ 223 TABLE 4-F. QAP CORRELATION OF BOOKING SIMILARITY AND STATUS (AS INDICATED BY CONTEMPORANEOUS CL COVERAGE) AMONG LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN ATLANTA, 2012 ................................................................................................................................. 224 TABLE 4-G. EFFECTS OF HOMOPHILY / HETEROPHILY ON THE BOOKING SIMILARITY OF LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN ATLANTA, 2012 (MULTIPLE REGRESSION QUADRATIC ASSIGNMENT PROCEDURE) ....................................................................................... 225 TABLE 4-H. ERG MODELS: EFFECTS OF PRICE HOMOPHILY, GENRE HOMOPHILY, STATUS HOMOPHILY AND NETWORK STRUCTURE ON BOOKING CONNECTIONS AMONG ALL LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN ATLANTA, 2012 ................................................................. 227 TABLE 5-A. THE THREE BROAD APPROACHES AND LIVE-MUSIC SCENES ....................... 244 TABLE 5-B. THE ECOLOGIES OF THE LIVE-MUSIC SCENES IN ATLANTA AND TAIPEI ....... 244 TABLE 5-C. SELECTED FINDINGS FROM NETWORK ANALYSIS IN TWO LIVE-MUSIC SCENES ................................................................................................................................. 244 TABLE 5-D. THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE DISSERTATION FINDINGS ................................... 245 List of Figures FIGURE 2-A. MAP OF ATLANTA MUSIC VENUES: THE FULL PICTURE ............................... 87 FIGURE 2-B. MAP OF ATLANTA MUSIC VENUES: INSIDE THE PERIMETER, WITH THE TOP 10 VENUES IN TERMS OF APPEARANCES ......................................................................... 88 FIGURE 2-C. MAP OF ATLANTA MUSIC VENUES: INSIDE THE PERIMETER (NORTH AND SOUTH), WITH THE TOP 10 VENUES IN TERMS OF APPEARANCES ............................... 89 FIGURE 2-D. MAP OF TAIPEI MUSIC VENUES: THE FULL PICTURE AND A CLOSER LOOK .. 90 FIGURE 2-E. MAP OF TAIPEI MUSIC VENUES: THE TOP 10 VENUES IN TERMS OF APPEARANCES ............................................................................................................ 91 FIGURE 2-F. ATLANTA: NUMBER OF LIVE-MUSIC APPEARANCE BY WEEKDAY ................ 92 FIGURE 2-G. TAIPEI: NUMBER OF LIVE-MUSIC APPEARANCE BY WEEKDAY ..................... 93 FIGURE 2-H. ATLANTA: NUMBER OF LIVE-MUSIC APPEARANCE BY MONTH .................... 94 FIGURE 2-I. TAIPEI: NUMBER OF LIVE-MUSIC APPEARANCE BY MONTH ........................... 95 FIGURE 2-J. ATLANTA: NUMBER OF LIVE-MUSIC APPEARANCES BY GENRE ..................... 96 FIGURE 2-K. TAIPEI: NUMBER OF LIVE-MUSIC APPEARANCES BY GENRE ......................... 96 FIGURE 2-L. ATLANTA: NUMBER OF LIVE-MUSIC APPEARANCES BY TICKET PRICE LEVEL ................................................................................................................................... 97 FIGURE 2-M. TAIPEI: NUMBER OF LIVE-MUSIC APPEARANCES BY TICKET PRICE LEVEL .. 98 FIGURE 2-N. ATLANTA: NUMBER OF LIVE-MUSIC APPEARANCES BY TICKET PRICE AND GENRE ........................................................................................................................ 99 FIGURE 2-O. TAIPEI: NUMBER OF LIVE-MUSIC APPEARANCES BY TICKET PRICE AND GENRE ...................................................................................................................... 100 FIGURE 2-P. THE NICHES OF ATLANTA LIVE-MUSIC VENUES: AVERAGE TICKET PRICE LEVEL AND GENRE ................................................................................................... 102 FIGURE 2-Q. THE NICHES OF TAIPEI LIVE-MUSIC VENUES: AVERAGE TICKET PRICE LEVEL AND GENRE .............................................................................................................. 103 FIGURE 2-R. MAP OF ATLANTA LIVE-MUSIC VENUES: AVERAGE TICKET PRICE LEVEL . 104 FIGURE 2-S. MAP OF TAIPEI LIVE-MUSIC VENUES: AVERAGE TICKET PRICE LEVEL ...... 105 FIGURE 2-T. MAP OF ATLANTA LIVE-MUSIC VENUES: GENRE ........................................ 106 FIGURE 2-U. MAP OF TAIPEI LIVE-MUSIC VENUES: GENRE ............................................ 107 FIGURE 3-A. LOCATION OF THE SURVEYED LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN TAIPEI ................... 166 FIGURE 3-B. NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES AMONG THE SURVEYED LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN TAIPEI ....................................................................................................................... 167 FIGURE 3-C. AVERAGE TICKET PRICE AMONG THE SURVEYED LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN TAIPEI (IN TERMS OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF THEIR EMPLOYEES) .......................... 170 FIGURE 3-D. THE SEATING CAPACITY OF SURVEYED LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN TAIPEI .... 171 FIGURE 3-E. AVERAGE TICKET PRICE AMONG THE SURVEYED LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN TAIPEI (IN TERMS OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF THEIR SEATING CAPACITY) .............. 172 FIGURE 3-F. THE NETWORK OF CONNECTIONS (SHARED BANDS) AMONG ALL LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN TAIPEI, 2012 ........................................................................................... 176 FIGURE 4-A. THE NETWORK OF CONNECTIONS (SHARED BANDS) AMONG ALL LIVE-MUSIC VENUES IN ATLANTA, 2012 ...................................................................................... 221 FIGURE 4-B. ERG MODELS: GOODNESS-OF-FIT PLOTS GENERATED BY MULTIPLE SIMULATIONS ........................................................................................................... 230 FIGURE 4-C. THE DEGREE DISTRIBUTION OF THE ATLANTA-LIVE MUSIC VENUES NETWORK ................................................................................................................. 232

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Sociology
Degree	PhD
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	Sociology, General
Keyword	music scenes gatekeeping social capital
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Dowd, Timothy J, Emory University
Committee Members	Kornrich, Sabino R, Emory University Boli, John E, Emory University Lechner, Frank, Emory University

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