Murray 1

Local music scenes play an important role in the development of new genres,
ideas and fashion styles, the internet has played a key role in cultivating such an
existence and has made it more viable for people to create their own platforms and
bands. Music scene is defined as the contexts in which clusters of producers,
musicians, and fans collectively share their collective musical tastes (Bennett 1).
Outside of popular music, local music scenes are generally informal, but can become
imbedded in the music industry if popular enough. Many people use music as a means
to justify their existence, as Bennett puts it in Music Scenes: Local, Translocal, and
Virtual:
In The Local Economy of Suburban Scenes, Donna Gaines (1994)
describes the ways in which kids stuck in the wasteland of suburban American spawn
their own music scenes and subcults[sic] in an effort to invest their lives with new
meaning
Music scenes are created as a way to escape the mundaneness of everyday life.
The feeling of discontent with society, and your place in it, is not something new, nor is it
exclusive to American culture. The Student revolts of the 1960s and the pop music
subculture ( Kahanes 1) are examples of earlier precursors to much larger movements
later in the century. The grunge movement of the early 90s to late 2000s is a prime
example of the feeling of dissatisfaction and mundaneness transpiring and later
intertwining itself into the identity of the young, everyday American youth. The support
of locals within the music scene is important as they can operate as a way to
supplement the otherwise barren profits the bands would make. The people involved
with the grunge movement very unintentionally inspired the Seattle chic that was

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popular among youth in the late eighties through nineties, it was more of a statement of
being rather than fashion. As Rick Marin put it in Grunge - A Success Story:
A flannel shirt worn around the waist is a precaution against the Pacific
Northwest's mercurial clime. Army boots slog effectively through mud. It wasn't like
somebody said, 'Let's all dress like lumberjacks and start Seattle chic!' Mr. Poneman
said. This stuff is cheap, it's durable, and it's kind of timeless. It also runs against the
grain of the whole flashy esthetic that existed in the 80's.
Sometimes the fashion related to a genre is indicative of the listeners views on
society. A collaboration on fashion can occur when youth subcultures articulate
themselves through fashion (VanDyke). The fashion of a genre is generally created by
these youth subcultures. The flannel style that is prevalent within popular culture has its
roots planted within the grunge movement. Many such examples can be viewed in
recent history. The bobby-soxers of the 1950s were American teenage girls who
swooned over men, they wore rolled up denim jeans, ankle socks, felt poodle skirts and
sweaters (VanDyke). The Mods of the 1960s had a resonant influence on fashion and
menswear (VanDyke), it was a subculture of British youth which fancied themselves to
be more sophisticated, who pushed away the unhewn skiffle and trad music for jazz and
blues (VanDyke). Punk is one of the most influential and important collaborations
between music and fashion (VanDyke). This subculture began in London during the
1970s and almost immediately became a mix between fashion and music (VanDyke).
Punk was about speaking against the accepted social norms, and the fashion that came
with it did just that. Featuring shocking images, this is how punk was able to attain and
maintain its spectacle (VanDyke).

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As the internet has grown more popular, some spaces devoted to local
indie music have become less so (Kruse 625), yet independent music scenes are just
as important. Since the last two decades of the 20th century, independent music scenes
were prominent (Kruse 625). Although today the nature of the local music scenes has
changed. Now local music can be placed online for anyone around the world to see. It
has increased interconnectedness between people and has also increased awareness
for bands that would otherwise not have the reach they do. The internet is extremely
important to independent music and as Kruse puts it The internet has become a key
player in the production, promotion, dissemination and consumption of independent
music (Kruse 625). Many argue the internet has caused a clear break from the local
music practice that defined the local scenes. They are wrong however, local scenes
relied on inexpensive forms of production and dissemination (Kruse 626). The internet
has given these musicians within local scenes the ability to distribute their music to an
international audience.
In the 1980s, the college towns of Champaign-Urbana, not known for its
music scene, became the epicenter of many independent and non-mainstream rock
groups (Kruse 626). By the 1990s the towns had major record labels as well as minor,
independent ones. Independent record labels were important in the growth of local
music scenes as many of the bands themselves didnt have, or werent making enough
money for them to compete with bands that signed onto larger record labels. The
independent market gave way to a resurgence of vinyl records. The use of these vinyl
records was in part, a response to major record labels dropping vinyl in favor of cheaper
CDs, but more importantly came out of the limited capital of these labels and bands

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who couldnt afford to produce CDs (Kruse 626). It also created a select and limited
audience to experience their music. Before any official label moved into the town's,
many local bands would produce and distribute from their own and use a different
format from vinyl or CD. The aforementioned format is casette, usually four- or eighttrack was used. The reason why it was used was that relatively cheap analog recording
equipment enabled the bands to record locally without relying on signing any deals.
According to Trashcans founder, its entire purpose was to break the local scene (qtd
in Springer 8) (Kruse 627).
Local radio stations play an extremely important role in the dissemination
and spread of local music. During the 1980s and early 1990s in Champaign, the local
community station WEFT began mixing local alternative music into its programming
(Kruse 628). This allowed the local bands who did not get coverage from the college
radio station WPGU, to get their music to a larger group of people. About 20% of WEFT
slots were dedicated to alternative rock and pop (Kruse 4). Because of such limited
playtime it was described as so sporadic, its hard to know when you turn it on what
youre going to be hearing (Kurse 628). Frustratingly, a lot of venues would refuse to
play many of the local alternative bands.
Since indie music is closely tied with specific areas and spaces, the way it
is understood is very much about local identity. Since the beginning of the internet age,
scenes have been less isolated and more connected than ever. With this connection,
the focus on local music scenes have been less about the culture and identity of that
area and have transitioned into a more open platform for discussion of said music and
adoption of internet culture and its interpretation by the artists is common. As the

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options for dissemination increase online though, many local places take a hit in
popularity and this signals a change in the relationships and practices of local bands.
The internet has shaped the future of music listening forever, with services such as
Soundcloud, Spotify, and Pandora, enabling young musicians who record in their
garage or bathrooms to post their music to a much wider audience than previously
available. Also it provides new areas and more people to communicate and discuss
music with several websites, including ones such as eMusic and Pitchfork. This ability to
quickly consume and communicate within these communities has created a space in
which lesser known musicians are able to create a fanbase to surround them:
Increasingly, it is argued, geography doesnt matter, thanks to the
internets ability to facilitate virtual scenes. Andy Bennett and Richard Peterson
contrast virtual scenes with conventional local music scenes, which feature live offline
events like concerts. Virtual scenes are comprised of mediated one-to-one
communication, largely between fans, which, they argue, makes the virtual scene one
much more of the fans making (11). Specifically, they claim: Fan clubs dedicated to
specific artists, groups, and subgenres[sic] have proliferated by using the internet to
communicate with each other. Like the participants in 630 H. Kruse translocal scenes,
participants in virtual scenes are widely separated geographically, but unlike them,
virtual scene participants around the world come together in a single scene making
conversation via the internet. (Bennett and Peterson 10)
Despite this, authors argue that the local spaces and identities are still very much
important (Kruse 631). The local music scenes and environments affect the types of
music recorded and created a sense of place. Many people believe that staying local,

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and only playing small club and pub circuits is a larger connotation of authenticity than
breaking out of the local scene and playing somewhere larger (Kruse 631). Indie music
fans dont necessarily consume less, they just consume more from a variety of places
(Kruse 631). The internet has not killed the local scene as some may put it, but rather
expanded the ability and given the option to those within it to distribute to a wider
market. The idea of a local sound causes people to look for similar sounds within the
same general area as Kruse notes:
Of course, local sound is an ill-defined concept. In previous research I noted
that the assertion that a local sound exists leads one to listen for the similarities
between [and among] bands within a locality: those who seek to find a local sound
therefore tend to find it (Kruse, Site 133).
The ideas and beliefs of local sounds and locality still remain meaningful to local artists
and consumers, because of this similarities and differences between bands are created
and understood through general discourse and consumption within the local scene and
the internet scene.
The internet is key in creating inter-local connections, this cannot be denied. At
the basic level, internet forums and message boards help foster personal connections
across localities. It allows the separated fanbase to connect and exchange ideas and
thoughts about these bands. The internet also allows the fanbase of artists and bands
to connect with the artist and have interactions between them, the fan, and the creator
of the works they enjoy. It also allows people who usually would never meet under
regular circumstances within the local scene to come together and create contacts
within said scene (Kruse 636). This creates a more interconnectedness not seen before

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the internet era. People often use internet to maintain already personal relationships,
but those who do create online relationships often take the relationships offline (Kruse
636). This is relevant to relationships in local music scenes, which are easier to form
when people meet online before meeting in real life.
The economics of local music are vastly affected by the advent of the internet.
No longer is it about being signed to a label in order to have the ability to distribute and
sell records and CDs. In recent years many established acts such as Radiohead, the
Beastie Boys, and Nine Inch Nails have released their albums on their own, in part
online (Kruse 632). Furthermore, new groups are able to release their music online with
relative ease and with no oversight from a major label. It allows the bands to cultivate
their own identity and sound as well as create a new audience to expose to their music.
The advent of peer-to-peer file sharing has been a point of contention for major record
labels, who view it as cutting into their business and will attempt to punish anyone who
does it. On the other side of the coin independent record labels view it as the opposite,
they believe that it is good for business and helps the exposure of their relatively
obscure music (Kruse 633). New technology has been extremely important in making
local music available to a more regional, national, and international audience (Kruse
633). Now musicians can spend relatively little money and create professional quality
recordings. As talked about earlier the relatively inexpensive recording devices allowed
people in the 1980s to create their own music which gave rise to the independent and
alternative scenes. With the rise of the internet scene and the widespread availability of
music, we see a decentralization of music production and distribution (Kruse 634). This
creates a market in which every DIY artist is competing against the other to sell their

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records online. Because of this market, internet marketplaces and listening sites such
as Amazon, iTunes and Spotify, have created algorithms to help people sift through all
of the thousands of tracks available from different artists and look at what other people
with similar taste are listening to and give people suggestions based on that. As more
and more independent labels forgo regular means of distribution for the internet, access
to the internet may become crucial in participation of music scenes (Kruse 635-636).
Here in Asheville there is an extremely diverse scene of music, including
alternative and indie rock, reggae and jazz, art rock, noise, pretty much any genre you
can name is here in Asheville. This kind of music diversity comes from the diversity
within the local community here in Asheville. When asked about the future of the local
and regional scene Max Murray said:
I think, with the local scene especially, the future depends pretty heavily on
people involved with the scene providing real support to others also involved. Without a
real support network, the music scene in Asheville cannot hope to flourish or evolve. I
do think that the current music scene has a lot of people who are passionate about
maintaining and improving it, so its prospects are good overall.
This shows that local scenes do rely on the community to help support them especially
with many of these bands relying on local venues and the revenue coming from them.
The internet however, does not seem to have much of an effect on the local scene here
as a whole. Websites like soundcloud and bandcamp foster their own fan bases that
are separate from your typical venue goer (Murray). There are obviously exceptions to
stuff like that and the possibility of a band within this scene breaking out and becoming
big are possible, just not likely. The interaction between bands and setting up gigs is

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rather easy. It first requires there to be a group of bands working together who then go
to a venue and present them with the idea, if the venue wants them then it will work out
(Murray). On interaction within Asheville's local scene the people playing generally
want their peers to be successful. There is a real sense of comradery among the
different bands (Murray). This helps create a passionate scene where many people
arent at each other's throats, and allows the growth of the scene to be a much easier
process. The distribution of music is extremely difficult for local bands as most are not
on labels who would front the cost of printing and producing the physical copies. Many
bands create their own CDs entirely by hand in house (Murray). The internet is
wonderful for the distribution of music as it opens up your band to a potential audience
of thousands. According to Max The most difficult part of creating and maintaining a
local band is: Maintaining a healthy balance of playing regularly enough to garner
attention without over saturating your place within the local scene. This part shows that
local music is a difficult balancing act between staying just relevant enough to still be in
the scene but not be everywhere so much that you tire people out and lose your
potential market. Ashevilles diversity is something to be astounded and amazed by, with
its different cultures and the music that comes with those cultures. Its diversity is also its
greatest weakness, its ability to maintain the diversity for such a small town is a
worrying concern in the future of the scene. Ashevilles diversity is great for the listeners
but might provide too many ways for local bands to take off (Murray). Asheville has a
similar amount of diversity to other cities, but the key is that it doesnt have a unifying
genre (Murray).

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In conclusion, local music scenes have allowed people, and youth in particular, to
create an identity in which they can express themselves. The internet has changed the
entire world and music might be more affected than anything else, with distribution
shifting from physical to digital. It has made it easier for small indie groups to put
themselves out there and really make a name for themselves. Local music scenes have
inspired fashion trends and often themselves become synonymous with a specific style,
including punk in the 80s and Grunge in the 90s. The local music scene in Ashevilles
music scene is thriving and growing fast. From the beginning in which the only way to
be heard was through a venue or a community radio station, to the advent of the
internet and how that has made the distribution and consumption of music easier.