Making a scene
The Bergen wave in popular music, 1990–2008
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v6i3.251Keywords:
Bergen, charts, cluster, music awards, popular music, scenes, wavesAbstract
Music scenes have frequently been closely related to geographical locations: Merseybeat and Liverpool; Motown, techno and Detroit; and grunge and Seattle. In Norway, the term ‘the Bergen wave’ characterizes periods where specific artists from Bergen have been particularly prominent. The term emerged in the beginning of the 1990s, but resurfaced—linked to a new generation of artists—around ten years later. This article investigates to what extent a specific phenomenon within music, such as the Bergen wave, is evident through chart and critical success. The data shows that while the second Bergen wave was characterized by both high sales and critical acclaim, the first wave was primarily a media phenomenon, with critical acclaim but limited commercial success.
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Anand, N., and Mary R. Watson. 2004. ‘Tournament Rituals in the Evolution of Fields’. Academy of Management Journal 47(1): 59–80. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/20159560
Appleby, Stefan. 2006. ‘Datarock’. Drowned in Sound, 4 August. http://drownedinsound.com/releases/7942/reviews/1052998-datarock-datarock-datarock
Barrett, Christopher. 2002. ‘Outta Bergen’. Billboard, 12 October: 45.
Bennett, Andy. 2004. ‘New Tales from Canterbury: The Making of a Virtual Scene’. In Music Scenes: Local, Transnational and Virtual, eds Andy Bennett and Richard A. Peterson, 205–220. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.
Blom, Trond. 2009. ‘Bergensbølgen’. In Jo Gjerstad et al., Rock & Sprell Mellom Syv Fjell, 287–96. Bergen: Bodoni Forlag.
Brabazon, Tara, and Stephen Mallinder. 2008. ‘Lots of Planets Have a North: Remodeling Second-Tier Cities and their Music’. Nebula 5.1/5.2: 51–73.
Connell, John, and Chris Gibson. 2003. Sound Tracks: Popular Music Identity and Place. London: Routledge. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203448397
—2004. ‘World music: Deterritorializing Place and Identity’. Progress of Human Geography 28(3): 342–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1191/0309132504ph493oa
Engelstad, Einar. 2002. ‘Med Dugnad på verdenskartet’. Bergens Tidende, 2 March: 55.
—2004. ‘Bergensbølgen—det er oss det’. Ballade, 16 April. http://www.ballade.no/nmi.nsf/doc/art2004011511155329635614
Fossen, Erik. 2002. ‘Musikkbyen Bergen surfer videre’. Bergens Tidende, 31 December: 55.
Frith, Simon. 2001. ‘The Popular Music Industry’. In The Cambridge Companion to Pop and Rock, ed. Simon Frith, Will Straw and John Street, 26–52. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CCOL9780521553698.004
Gaston, Peter. 2006. ‘Artist of the Day: Magnet’. Spin, 13 February.
Gourvish, Terry, and Kevin Tennent. 2010. ‘Peterson and Berger Revisited: Changing Market Dominance in the British Popular Music Industry, c. 1950–80’. Business History 52(2): 187–206. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00076791003610717
Hallencreutz, Daniel, Per Lundequist and Anders Malmberg. 2004. Populärmusik från Svedala. Stockholm: SNS Förlag.
Hann, Michael. 2009. ’First Sight: Casiokids’. The Guardian, 13 March: 14.
Hesmondhalgh, David. 2007. The Cultural Industries. London: Sage.
Johnsen, Frank. 2010. ’Platerush. Hele “Bergensbølgen” i studio: Trengs MER penger’. Bergensavisen, 23 February: 18.
Kalsnes, Bente. 2004. ‘The Lasting Impact of the Bergen Wave’. mic—listen to Norway, 12 February. http://listento.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2004021210121184794689
Kampwirth, Kevin. 2007. ‘Datarock can dance if they want to’. CMJ New Music Monthly 148 (July): 33–36.
Kristiansen, Kai. 2009. ‘Man knuger på det man får til—man deler’. Adresseavisen, 27 November: 8–9.
Kvamme, Paal. 1995. ‘Ny plate fra Luedy & Co.’. Bergens Tidende, 23 May: 28.
McNair, James. 2009. ‘Röyksopp—a Chilled Duo Find Warmth’. The Independent, 13 March. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/ryksopp--a-chilled-duo-find-warmth-1643721.html
Mosnes, Kjetil. 2011. Øving er for drittband. Bergen: Kapabel Forlag.
Myhre, Stig. 1999. ‘Barbie Bones ser tilbake—og frem mot Popium’. Puls, 30 June. http://www.puls.no/969.html
Paphides, Pete. 2005. ‘Bergen, Norway—It’s the New Seattle’. The Times, 12 August. http://cma.staging-thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/music/article2417066.ece
Peterson, Richard A., and David Berger. 1971. ‘Entrepreneurship in Organizations: Evidence from the Popular Music Industry’. Administrative Science Quarterly 10(1): 97–107. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2391293
—1975. ‘Cycles in Symbolic Production’. American Sociological Review 40(2): 158–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2094343
Petridis, Alexis. 2005. ‘We’re Mere Rookies’. The Guardian, 3 June: 8.
Power, Dominic, ed. 2003. Behind the Music—Profiting from Sound: A Systems Approach to the Dynamics of the Nordic Music Industry. Uppsala: Uppsala University.
Power, Dominic, and Daniel Hallencreutz. 2002. ‘Profiting from Creativity? The Music Industry in Stockholm, Sweden and Kingston, Jamaica’. Environment and Planning A 34(10): 1833–854. http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/a3529
Schmutz, Vaughn C. 2009. The Classification and Consecration of Popular Music. Rotterdam: Erasmus Research Centre for Media, Communication and Culture.
Shuker, Roy. 2001. Understanding Popular Music. 2nd edn. Oxon: Routledge.
Slaughter, James. 2004. ‘Sondre Lerche: Two Way Monologue’. Blender, 3 September.
Stokes, Martin. 1994. Ethnicity, Identity, and Music: The Musical Construction of Place. Oxford: Berg.
Tønder, Finn Bjørn. 2003. ‘Christine Gulbrandsen på CD’. Bergens Tidende, 30 August: 51.
Von Appen, Ralph, and André Doehring. 2006. ‘Nevermind The Beatles, here’s Exile 61 and Nico: “The top 100 records of all time”—a Canon of Pop and Rock Albums from a Sociological and Aesthetic Perspective’. Popular Music 25(1): 21–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0261143005000693
Wald, Elijah. 2009. How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ’n’ Roll. New York: Oxford University Press.
Published
2012-11-12
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Tenold, S. (2012). Making a scene: The Bergen wave in popular music, 1990–2008. Popular Music History, 6(3), 251-268. https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v6i3.251
