Valuing Independence: Esteem Value and Its Role in the Independent Music Scene

This article reports on a qualitative study investigating the characteristics, motivations, and organization of a sample of self-identified “Indies.” It identifies three characteristic dimensions of life for the Independent musician in the digital age: the “intrinsic motivation for extrinsic value” dimension; the “independence as network” dimension; and the “artist as business” dimension. The author argues that these dimensions are linked by their relevance to the esteem that musicians must generate in pursuit of a sustainable career. They also characterize levels of artistic control, network diversity, and business intimacy within a musician's relationships. These dimensions are rarely occupied at their extremes; rather, a wide variety of positions are taken up between totally independent and totally “indentured” musicians. Seeing relative “independence” as a combination of these three dimensions helps us more clearly understand the dynamics of emergent new music industries.