National identity versus commerce
an analysis of opportunities and limitations within the Welsh music scene for composers and performing musicians
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v5i3.265Keywords:
cultural authenticity, music industry, Welsh language music, Welsh national identityAbstract
This article investigates the sometimes opposing political, commercial and nationalistic pressures on Welsh musicians to sustain a living. Furthermore, it considers how these factors can potentially affect their Welsh identity, a term which was identified by Sarah Hill (2007) as being inherently problematic. After documenting a brief contextualization of the history of Welsh popular music and its dialogic relationship with the construction and portrayal of identity, the article outlines how opportunities and threats are impacted by this construction. It argues that both the government and the music industry need to negotiate the grey area between economics and cultural authenticity, leaving musicians free to portray their ‘Welshness’ as they see fit. The necessity for a unified industry that facilitates musicians to exploit their intellectual property rights inside and outside of Wales is also emphasized as an important factor regarding the capacity of the Welsh music industry to propagate employment for its workforce.
References
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Anonymous 2. 1997. ‘Super Furry Animals: Come in Number Four’. Welsh Band Weekly, Issue 3.
ap Siôn, P., et al. 2009. Building New Business Strategies for the Music Industry in Wales. Welsh Assembly Government.
Bakhtin, M. 1981. The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays, ed. Michael Holquist, trans. Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquis. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Brooks, S. 1996. Diwylliant Poblogaidd a’r Gymraeg. Tal-y-Bont.
Carr, P. 2011. Investigating the Live Music Industry within Wales: A Critical Analysis. The Welsh Music Foundation.
Chapman, M. 1997. ‘Thoughts on Celtic Music’. In Ethnicity, Identity and Music: The Musical Construction of Place, ed. M. Stokes, 29–44. Oxford: Berg.
Ellis, G. 2000. ‘Stereophonic Nation: The Bilingual Sounds of Cool Cymru FM’. International Journal of Cultural Studies 3.2: 188–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/136787790 000300207
Ewbank, A. J., and F. T. Papageorgiou. 1997. Whose Master’s Voice?: The Development of Popular Music in Thirteen Countries. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
Fox, A., and D. R. Woolf. 2002. The Spoken Word: Oral Culture in Britain, 1500–1850. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Gilroy, P. 1996. ‘British Cultural Studies and Pitfalls of Identity’. In H. A. Baker, et al., Black British Cultural Studies: A Reader, 145 –239. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Griffiths, D. 2000. ‘Home is Living Like a Man on the Run: John Cale’s Welsh Atlantic’. In Welsh Music History 4, ed. J. T. Koch, 159–85. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio.
Hansen, T., B. Hayward and A. Phelps. 2007. A Survey of Live Music in England and Wales in 2007. BMRB Social Research.
Hargreaves, I. 2010. The Heart of Digital Wales: A Review of Creative Industries for the Welsh Assembly Government. Cardiff: Welsh Assembly Government.
Hill, S. 2007. Blerwytirhwng? The Place of Welsh Pop Music. Abingdon: Ashgate.
Hobsbawm, E. J., and T. O. Ranger. 1992. The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
The Jason Mohammad Show, 2010. [Radio Broadcast] BBC Radio Wales, 1 March 2010 13.00.
Lanham, T. 1997. ‘That’s Adloniant! Tom Lanham Checks out the New Welsh Scene’. CMJ New Music Monthly, 03: 20–21.
Lipsitz, G. 1994. Dangerous Crossroads: Popular Music, Postmodernism and the Poetics of Place. London: Verso.
Llewellyn, M. 2000. ‘Popular Music in the Welsh Language and the Affirmation of Youth Identities’. Popular Music 19/3: 319–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0261143000000192
Mäkelä, J. 2008. ‘The State of Rock: A History of Finland’s Cultural Policy and Music Export’. Popular Music 27.2: 257–69.
Mwyn, R. 2009. ‘Mae hi ‘di canu arnom y tro hwn’. Liverpool Daily Post, December 23, 2009.
Office for National Statistics. 2004. ‘Welsh Language: Welsh Speakers Increase to 21%’ [Online]. Updated 8 January 2004. Available at: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/ Mae+hi+%27di+canu+arnom+y+tro+hwn.-a0215023484
Owens, D. 2006. ‘The Rise of Welsh Rock and Pop: Wales Arts International’ [Online]. Updated 23 November 2009. Available at: http://www.wai.org.uk/index/publications/ features
Owens, D. E., and D. Rhisiart. 2010. ‘An Assessment of the Feasibility of Establishing an Independent Music Licensing and Royalty Collection Agency for Wales’. Cambrensus Communications.
Pittock, Murray. 1999. Celtic Identity and the British Image. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Reiss, S. 2003. ‘Tradition and Imaginary: Irish Traditional Music and the Celtic Phenomenon’. In Celtic Modern: Music at the Global Fringe, ed. M. Stokes and P. Bohlman, 145–69. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
Stokes, M. 1997. Ethnicity, Identity and Music: The Musical Construction of Place. Oxford: Berg.
Strauss, N. 1996. ‘The Welsh Invasion’. Spin, December 1996: 76–84.
Suggett, R. 2002. ‘Vagabonds and Minstrels in Sixteenth Century Wales’. In The Spoken Word: Oral Culture in Britain, 1500—1850, ed. A. Fox and D. R. Woolf, 138–67. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Trew, J. D. 2003. ‘Diasporic Legacies: Place, Politics, and Music among the Ottawa Valley Irish’. In Celtic Modern Music at the Global Fringe, ed. M. Stokes and P. V. Bohlman, 93–117. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
Wallis, R., and K. Malm. 1984. Big Sounds from Small Peoples: The Music Industry in Small Countries. London: Constable.
Winter, T. et al. 2010. Performing Englishness in New English Folk Music and Dance. Sunderland: University of Sunderland.
Discography
Catatonia. 2006. The Platinum Collection. WEA Records, 463233.
Diwygiad. 2008. Hymn 808. Dockrad.
Goldie Lookin’ Chain. 2004. Greatest Hits. Warner Bros.
–2009. ABS04 Life. GLC, 4919582.
Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci. 1997. Barafundle. Polygram, 536122.
–1998. Gorky 5. Sony Music Distribution, 558822.
–2000. The Blue Trees. Mantra.
Matthews, C. 2009. Don’t Look Down. Rough Trade, 9169005.
Matthews, C. 2009. Plaid Edrych I Lawr. Rough Trade, 001.
Martina and The Diamonds. 2010. The Family Jewels. Chop Shop Records, 524155.
Super Furry Animals. 1996. Fuzzy Logic. Creation/Columbia, 67827.
–1996. Radiator. Sony/Creation, CRECD-214.
Anonymous 2. 1997. ‘Super Furry Animals: Come in Number Four’. Welsh Band Weekly, Issue 3.
ap Siôn, P., et al. 2009. Building New Business Strategies for the Music Industry in Wales. Welsh Assembly Government.
Bakhtin, M. 1981. The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays, ed. Michael Holquist, trans. Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquis. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Brooks, S. 1996. Diwylliant Poblogaidd a’r Gymraeg. Tal-y-Bont.
Carr, P. 2011. Investigating the Live Music Industry within Wales: A Critical Analysis. The Welsh Music Foundation.
Chapman, M. 1997. ‘Thoughts on Celtic Music’. In Ethnicity, Identity and Music: The Musical Construction of Place, ed. M. Stokes, 29–44. Oxford: Berg.
Ellis, G. 2000. ‘Stereophonic Nation: The Bilingual Sounds of Cool Cymru FM’. International Journal of Cultural Studies 3.2: 188–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/136787790 000300207
Ewbank, A. J., and F. T. Papageorgiou. 1997. Whose Master’s Voice?: The Development of Popular Music in Thirteen Countries. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
Fox, A., and D. R. Woolf. 2002. The Spoken Word: Oral Culture in Britain, 1500–1850. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Gilroy, P. 1996. ‘British Cultural Studies and Pitfalls of Identity’. In H. A. Baker, et al., Black British Cultural Studies: A Reader, 145 –239. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Griffiths, D. 2000. ‘Home is Living Like a Man on the Run: John Cale’s Welsh Atlantic’. In Welsh Music History 4, ed. J. T. Koch, 159–85. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio.
Hansen, T., B. Hayward and A. Phelps. 2007. A Survey of Live Music in England and Wales in 2007. BMRB Social Research.
Hargreaves, I. 2010. The Heart of Digital Wales: A Review of Creative Industries for the Welsh Assembly Government. Cardiff: Welsh Assembly Government.
Hill, S. 2007. Blerwytirhwng? The Place of Welsh Pop Music. Abingdon: Ashgate.
Hobsbawm, E. J., and T. O. Ranger. 1992. The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
The Jason Mohammad Show, 2010. [Radio Broadcast] BBC Radio Wales, 1 March 2010 13.00.
Lanham, T. 1997. ‘That’s Adloniant! Tom Lanham Checks out the New Welsh Scene’. CMJ New Music Monthly, 03: 20–21.
Lipsitz, G. 1994. Dangerous Crossroads: Popular Music, Postmodernism and the Poetics of Place. London: Verso.
Llewellyn, M. 2000. ‘Popular Music in the Welsh Language and the Affirmation of Youth Identities’. Popular Music 19/3: 319–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0261143000000192
Mäkelä, J. 2008. ‘The State of Rock: A History of Finland’s Cultural Policy and Music Export’. Popular Music 27.2: 257–69.
Mwyn, R. 2009. ‘Mae hi ‘di canu arnom y tro hwn’. Liverpool Daily Post, December 23, 2009.
Office for National Statistics. 2004. ‘Welsh Language: Welsh Speakers Increase to 21%’ [Online]. Updated 8 January 2004. Available at: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/ Mae+hi+%27di+canu+arnom+y+tro+hwn.-a0215023484
Owens, D. 2006. ‘The Rise of Welsh Rock and Pop: Wales Arts International’ [Online]. Updated 23 November 2009. Available at: http://www.wai.org.uk/index/publications/ features
Owens, D. E., and D. Rhisiart. 2010. ‘An Assessment of the Feasibility of Establishing an Independent Music Licensing and Royalty Collection Agency for Wales’. Cambrensus Communications.
Pittock, Murray. 1999. Celtic Identity and the British Image. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Reiss, S. 2003. ‘Tradition and Imaginary: Irish Traditional Music and the Celtic Phenomenon’. In Celtic Modern: Music at the Global Fringe, ed. M. Stokes and P. Bohlman, 145–69. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
Stokes, M. 1997. Ethnicity, Identity and Music: The Musical Construction of Place. Oxford: Berg.
Strauss, N. 1996. ‘The Welsh Invasion’. Spin, December 1996: 76–84.
Suggett, R. 2002. ‘Vagabonds and Minstrels in Sixteenth Century Wales’. In The Spoken Word: Oral Culture in Britain, 1500—1850, ed. A. Fox and D. R. Woolf, 138–67. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Trew, J. D. 2003. ‘Diasporic Legacies: Place, Politics, and Music among the Ottawa Valley Irish’. In Celtic Modern Music at the Global Fringe, ed. M. Stokes and P. V. Bohlman, 93–117. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
Wallis, R., and K. Malm. 1984. Big Sounds from Small Peoples: The Music Industry in Small Countries. London: Constable.
Winter, T. et al. 2010. Performing Englishness in New English Folk Music and Dance. Sunderland: University of Sunderland.
Discography
Catatonia. 2006. The Platinum Collection. WEA Records, 463233.
Diwygiad. 2008. Hymn 808. Dockrad.
Goldie Lookin’ Chain. 2004. Greatest Hits. Warner Bros.
–2009. ABS04 Life. GLC, 4919582.
Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci. 1997. Barafundle. Polygram, 536122.
–1998. Gorky 5. Sony Music Distribution, 558822.
–2000. The Blue Trees. Mantra.
Matthews, C. 2009. Don’t Look Down. Rough Trade, 9169005.
Matthews, C. 2009. Plaid Edrych I Lawr. Rough Trade, 001.
Martina and The Diamonds. 2010. The Family Jewels. Chop Shop Records, 524155.
Super Furry Animals. 1996. Fuzzy Logic. Creation/Columbia, 67827.
–1996. Radiator. Sony/Creation, CRECD-214.
Published
2012-01-25
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Carr, P. (2012). National identity versus commerce: an analysis of opportunities and limitations within the Welsh music scene for composers and performing musicians. Popular Music History, 5(3), 265-285. https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v5i3.265
