Mapping sounds in Porto Alegre:

Initial notes on the independent authorial music scene

Belisa Giorgis • Master of Cultural Processes and Manifestations • Feevale University

• Changes on the music industry with the popularisation of the use of the Internet in the 2000's

• More possibilities for the authorial independent artists and bands to promote their work and merchandise their products

• Many independent authorial gigs have been taking place in Porto Alegre, also mixing different music genres

Research question

How, possibly being part of the creative industry, the independent authorial music scene in Porto Alegre happens and is configured?

Objectives

The main objective was to produce initial notes in order to understand how the independent authorial music scene in Porto Alegre works and is configured.

The specific objectives were:

• Describe the creative industry and music scenes theory.

•Identify the venues where artists and bands perform their concerts and gather more details abour them, using the mapping methodology.

•Use the ethnographic methodology to gather more information about the music scene, with research and interviews.

•Relate the described theories with theinformation gathered, in order to understand how this music sceneis developed.

Methodology

• Bibliographic review about• Creative industry • Music scenes • Mapping • Ethnography

• Interviews with people involved on the scene.

• Gathering information about the places and the concerts using the Internet.

• Music scenes "ground their distinctiveness in an ethics of cultural consumption (which music to buy, and where?)" (STRAW, 2006).

• Perception of the Internet as a culture element and not as a separated entity, seeing the online and offline environments as integrated, avoiding a dichotomy and considering ethnography on a broad concept (FRAGOSO; AMARAL; RECUERO, 2011, apud POLIVANOV, 2013)

• Brennan-Horley; Luckman; Gibson; Willoughby-Smith (2010): mapping can enhance the ethnographic methodologies, specifically interviews with practitioners

• Drifting as a nonlinear yet not a random methodology, being consciently adopted as a strategy and having an intention while dealing with uncertainty (SANMARTIN; HERSCHMANN, 2014)

Mapping and ethnography

Map of the venues where independent authorial gigs take place in Porto AlegreAvailable on http://bit.ly/mapacenaautoralpoa01

• Starting from the mapping and gigs whose information were published on the biggest newspaper of Porto Alegre, and also researching on Facebook to verify the venues where independent authorial gigs were scheduled to take place, it was possible to verify, in July, August, September and October of 2014, that 28 venues had these gigs in a regular basis.

• It is important to explain that is not a definitive list, but it shows enough information in order to consider the real existence of an independent authorial music scene in Porto Alegre.

• It was observed that most of the venues are located in the Cidade Baixa neighbourhood, with some of them on Centro and Bom Fim, which are traditional places of entertainment and creativity in this city.

Mapping and ethnography

• Lítera and Isidoro Pilsen, bands whose members were interviewed as a complimentary approach to the mapping in order to understand the scene, started between the end of 2000's and the beginning of 2010's, with the changes of the music industry.

• Making music to correspond to artistic wishes

• There is an instability of creative work (as brought by Hesmondhalgh), as the artists have multiple occupations: they all have jobs because they are still unable to maintain their lives only working with music, and invest their earnings on their music career

• They would like to strictly make music for a living, but value the freedom of developing their work the way they consider it's better.

Understanding how the mapped scene happens

• Technology, as brought by Hesmondhalgh, (2008), is changing the work practices and bringing autonomy.

• Music production and also making their vídeos and taking their photos.

• They can produce their EP's and other contents in order to gain the producers and venues attention, and also build an audience with their websites and profiles on social network websites.

• Bands build relations with each other using Internet and attending to the concerts.

• There is a growing in the audience of the gigs and different people are now attending the concerts, not only the musicians.

• Producers keep a cast of bands and artist to sell their concerts to venues, also acting as a press office.

Understanding how the mapped scene happens

Understanding how the mapped scene happens

• Their fans are spread on different geographic places.

• The interactions on social network websites and on its tools such as events on Facebook do not mean there will be a good audience for a gig.

• A possibility is that it happens because of the music content availability.

• Related to the behavior of people from Porto Alegre: they prefer already well known bands; they usually go to gigs accompanied; their choices have to be accepted by their friends; the concerts start too late in the evening.

Understanding how the mapped scene happens

• According to Cohen (2012), "the process of mapping live music across space and time thus enabled new perspectives and insights, showing how it contributes to the commemoration and characterisation of cities in distinctive and dynamic ways." So it is possible to say that verifying how this kind of art works in an urban space collaborates to understand this place and its sociocultural relations.

• The interviewed artists consider the city has an interesting, diverse and growing artistic production and see a develpment of places and spaces for that.

• Even with all its specific characteristics, they consider Porto Alegre as a city with an important creative potential.

• It was also possible to establish a broad notion of how the scene works and how its actors relate.

• An important element was the critical view and approach of the interviewed people.

• This study is surely to be continued and expanded• A broader mapping• Interview with other actors• Gathering different materialities

• Porto Alegre could possibly be considered a creative city, even with its specific difficulties, because of the different initiatives and its growing and development.

Considerations

Thank you!

belisa@gmail.com

facebook.com/belisagiorgis • twitter / instagram @belisa_

All images by Belisa Giorgis