[csaa-forum] "The Problematic Section": Record stores and physical media after #metoo (Catherine Hoad, ACS Virtual Lecture Series, October 24)

[Timothy Laurie]

**apologies for cross-posting**


Dear colleagues,

*a reminder about this week's VLS event*

The Association for Cultural Studies<http://www.cultstud.org/wordpress/> (ACS) welcomes you to an upcoming talk in its Virtual Lecture Series, by Catherine Hoad (Massey University), titled ‘‘The Problematic Section’: Record stores and physical media after #metoo' (followed by a Q&A), which will take place on October 24th, 12:00 (noon) NZDT/ New Zealand Daylight Time (GMT +13) (more information underneath).

For more information on the Virtual Lecture Series and upcoming talks, please visit: https://www.cultstud.org/wordpress/virtual-lecture-series/<https://www.cultstud.org/wordpress/virtual-lecture-series/>



Catherine Hoad (Massey University) – ‘The Problematic Section’: Record stores and physical media after #metoo
October 24th, 2024

12:00 (noon) NZDT/ New Zealand Daylight Time (GMT +13)

NOTE: THE TALK WILL NOT BE RECORDED

Abstract: This paper explores how independent record stores grapple with the material of problematic artists. Where much of the current discussion of de-platforming and non-distribution of racist, misogynistic, and otherwise offensive artists, labels, and material has focused on online multinational music streaming services, the position of physical music retailers has been largely underdiscussed in scholarly research. Similarly, where record stores have often been theorised as spaces that enable community and identity formation, facilitate localised music archiving, and provide sites for the performance of fandom and subcultural capital (c.f. Arnold et. al, 2023), the ways in which record stores might potentially foster harmful content requires further exploration. Moreover, the independent status and relative financial precarity of bricks-and-mortar record stores adds additional complicating factors to this discussion, particularly when we enter in to the difficult territory of which businesses can, or can’t, afford to ‘walk away’ from problematic artists (Domanick, 2018).

Through this presentation, I hope to expand upon the common question of what we ‘do’ with the music of problematic artists, particularly when we move that question into a physical retail space. Drawing on interviews with a selection of independent record stores across Aotearoa, this paper maps the various perspectives, tactics, and approaches undertaken by personnel when choosing – or refusing – to engage with material by problematic artists. As this discussion explores, record store personnel face a myriad of complex ethical, legal, and commercial frameworks that shape both their sense of their social responsibilities and the viability of their financial operations. Such tensions make clear the entanglements of communal spaces with capitalist power structures, as these inform the material conditions of music and its communities.

References

Arnold, G., Dougan, J., Feldman-Barrett, C., & Worley, M. (Eds.). (2023). The life, death, and afterlife of the record store: a global history. USA: Bloomsbury.

Domanick, A. (2018, May 12). ‘How easy is it for businesses to walk away from problematic artists?’. Noisey/Vice, https://www.vice.com/en/article/xwm8p4/how-easy-is-it-for-businesses-to-walk-away-from-problematic-artists<https://www.vice.com/en/article/xwm8p4/how-easy-is-it-for-businesses-to-walk-away-from-problematic-artists>.



Bio: Dr Catherine Hoad is a senior lecturer in Te Rewa o Puanga School of Music and Screen Arts at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University, Aotearoa New Zealand, and Chair of the Australia-Aotearoa branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music. Her published research explores politics of identity and belonging in heavy metal and hardcore scenes, with a wider research focus on diversity, access, and inclusion in creative industries.



To register for this free event, please email: vls at cultstud.org<mailto:vls at cultstud.org>

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