Paper short abstract:

The complexity around notions of 'creative labour' is explored in the context of contemporary electronic music production. Value becomes a flexible negotiation between integrity and enterprise, underpinning a path to commercial acceptance while not undermining a sense of ethical autonomy.

Paper long abstract:

Creative work is often valorised in Australian society, associated with freedom, flexible work conditions and self-realisation. Entrepreneurial artists and designers feature in colour supplements and airline magazines, set against a stylish backdrop of studios and exhibitions. Yet for many electronic musicians, the studio is the bedroom, and events can be poorly attended. In a context of music streaming, file sharing and festival culture, positive notions of meaningful and sustainable creative labour can translate into a fragile financial reality of derisory royalties and complimentary drink tickets. The ethnographic demands for 'telling it as it is' can conflict with bureaucratic and industry conceptions like the 'creative economy', revealing a gulf between the aspirations and actuality of peoples' lives and careers. Based on research among electronic music producers in Adelaide, this paper presents music making as a complex patchwork of contradictory motivations and outcomes. While digitalization has made it easier than ever to make music, the difficulties of getting heard amidst a flood of product have served to bolster mainstream broadcasting, performance and distribution models. The independence and authenticity of creative labour are often challenged by the promotional requirements of self-branding and the obligatory sociality of online marketing methods. Faced with a choice between 'selling out' and selling anything, value becomes a place of pragmatic compromise in strategies of personal and commercial satisfaction.