Table Of ContentCorporations engage young people and musicians in brand-building activities. These
activities unfold in media-dense social spaces. Social networking sites, the user-
generated content of web 2.0, live music events, digital cameras and cell phones are
all used in constructing valuable brands. This book addresses the integration of pop-
ular music culture, corporate branding, and young people’s mediated cultural prac-
tices. These intersections provide a rich site for examining how young people build
brands within spaces and practices that they perceive as meaningful. The book is based
on extensive ethnographic empirical research, drawing on participant observation, tex-
tual analysis and interviews with young people, musicians, marketers and other par-
ticipants in the cultural industries. Contemporary theories of marketing and branding
are brought together with critical and cultural accounts of mediated social life. The
book explores the distinctive concerns and debates of these different perspectives and
the lively interface between them.
“Students are going to love this book. Employing ethnographic approaches and
critical questioning, Pop Brandsconsiders how corporations like Coca-Cola, Jack
Daniel’s, Adidas and Virgin partner with young people, helping music fans to feel
empowered even as those fans actively engage in producing the culture of brand-
ing that threatens the very authenticity and freedom young people would most like
to seek out and celebrate.”
—Lynn Schofield Clark, Associate Professor, Director of Graduate Studies,
and Director, Estlow International Center for Journalism & New Media,
Department of Media, Film, & Journalism Studies, University of Denver
“Nicholas Carah’s Pop Brandsis an exemplar of recent work bringing cultural
studies sensibilities and methods to our understanding of cultural industries and
commercialism. By combining a variety of methods including ethnographies of
branded music events and interviews with fans and music professionals, Carah very
smartly engages the complexities of popular music production, promotion and fan-
dom in an age of integrated marketing and global-scale corporate branding.”
—Matt McAllister, Professor of Communications, Department of Film/Video
& Media Studies, College of Communications, Penn State University
Nicholas Carah is a Lecturer in Communication at the
School of Journalism and Communication at the Uni-
versity of Queensland, Australia. He was awarded his
Ph.D. from the University of Queensland in 2008. His re-
search examines the interrelationship between corporate
brands, popular culture, and interactive media.
w w w . p e t e r l a n g . c o m
pop brands
Sharon R. Mazzarella
General Editor
Vol. 11
PETER LANG
New York (cid:121) Washington, D.C./Baltimore (cid:121) Bern
Frankfurt (cid:121) Berlin (cid:121) Brussels (cid:121) Vienna (cid:121) Oxford
NICHOLAS CARAH
pop brands
branding, popular music,
and young people
PETER LANG
New York (cid:121) Washington, D.C./Baltimore (cid:121) Bern
Frankfurt (cid:121) Berlin (cid:121) Brussels (cid:121) Vienna (cid:121) Oxford
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Carah, Nicholas.
Pop brands: branding, popular music, and young people /
Nicholas Carah.
p. cm. – (Mediated youth; v. 11)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Music and youth—Social aspects. 2. Mass media and youth.
3. Branding (Marketing)—Social aspects. 4. Popular music—
Social aspects. I. Title.
HQ799.2.M35C36 302.230835—dc22 2009038353
ISBN 978-1-4539-0054-3
ISSN 1555-1814
Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data is available
on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.
Cover photo taken by the author
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity
of the Council of Library Resources.
© 2010 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York
29 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY 10006
www.peterlang.com
All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited.
Printed in the United States of America
For Nicola
Contents
Acknowledgments ................................................................................... ix
Preface .................................................................................................... xi
Chapter One
‘Money and TV destroyed this thing!’: Mediated Youth, Popular Music
and the Brandscape ................................................................................ 1
Chapter Two
Music…as It Should Be: The Work of Meaning Making ..................... 20
Chapter Three
‘I Pushed My Way to the Front with Every Band I Saw’: Mediating
Live Music ............................................................................................. 43
Chapter Four
‘We Are Not Here to Endorse Products; We Are Just Here to Play
Music’: Musicians in the Brandscape ................................................... 63
Chapter Five
‘Enjoy Responsibly!’: Young People as Brand Co-creators .................. 91
Chapter Six
‘I’m Here to Party…’: The Social Narratives of Brands .................... 110
Chapter Seven
Brand Builders .................................................................................... 128
viii Pop Brands
Chapter Eight
The Future of Mediated Youth ........................................................... 152
Notes .................................................................................................... 177
Bibliography ........................................................................................ 187
Index .................................................................................................... 197
