Wired for sound: an investigation into South African live music performance and the Johannesburg live music scene

[摘要] The Development Works Report (2004:28) described the role played by live musicperformers in the sub-Saharan region as a military force, a 'musician corps’ of foot soldiersout in the field of the music industry. Musicians have a vital role to play in defining theindustry in which they work. The phrase 'musician corps’ (2004:28) implies a well-trained,well-informed body of musicians, prepared for the terrain of the music industry. Locally thiscorps was unfortunately a fragmented body of soldiers, often ill equipped for its task. As ameans to better understand how the South African musician corps was performing this vitalrole of growing the local music industry, research was conducted via interviews and surveysamong local musicians in order to collaborate the experience of local performers. Othersources consulted in this research process included local music business conferences andreports and literature sources relevant to live music studies.This research aimed to uncover the state of the local musician corps, to assess the level ofindustry-relevant skills and knowledge that are required for effective troops and to reveal theattitudes and activities of local musicians. Through this process of data gathering, thequestion that this research aimed to uncover was whether or not local live performers weresufficiently skilled to develop the live music sector.The majority of the research findings were based on interviews and surveys conducted in thecity of Johannesburg.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand