Punk Record Labels and the Struggle for Autonomy

Alan O'Connor is associate professor in the cultural studies program at Trent University in Canada.

Alan O'Connor's Punk Labels and the Struggle for Autonomy is an important, detailed, and long overdue account of the business of hardcore and punk music in North America. By focusing on the business and personal relationships, and the ethics, that govern the labels that put out the music, and by telling the story through personal narratives, O'Connor puts a human face on businesses integral in the emergence and growth of the hardcore scene. Particularly significant and groundbreaking in O'Connor's research is his examination of the relationships among occupation, class, race, and gender in the American punk scene, and what these relationships portend for the possibility of social change through DIY values in punk. Using the work of Pierre Bourdieu as a guide, this book views the problematic punk identity through the prism of the labels that produce it and the companies that distribute it, and it is a must-read for anyone interested in the struggle for independence in the business of cultural production.

• Chapter 1 Table of ContentsChapter 2 EpigraphChapter 3 IntroductionChapter 4 1 The Struggle for AutonomyChapter 5 2 Commercial and DIY LabelsChapter 6 3 The Problem of DistributionChapter 7 4 Punk Labels and Social ClassChapter 8 5 The Dynamics of Record LabelsChapter 9 Conclusion: What about the Music?Chapter 10 Appendix A: Interview with Lengua ArmadaChapter 11 Appendix B: Record Labels Interviewed and Statistical DataChapter 12 BibliographyChapter 13 IndexChapter 14 About the Author