Pamela Popielarz, Chair and Advisor William Bielby Paul-Brian McInerney Jennifer C. Lena ...

198 Pages·2016·4.42 MB·English

Vinyl Revival
Social and Technological Change in the Field of Music Retail
BY
JEROME M. HENDRICKS
B.A., Northeastern Illinois University, 2008
M.A., University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, 2010
THESIS
Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology
in the Graduate College of the
University of Illinois at Chicago, 2016
Chicago, Illinois
Defense Committee:
Pamela Popielarz, Chair and Advisor
William Bielby
Paul-Brian McInerney
Jennifer C. Lena, Columbia University
John W. Mohr, University of California Santa Barbara
This thesis is dedicated to my wife, Jill Hendricks, without whom it would never have
been accomplished.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my thesis committee-- Drs. Pam Popielarz, Paul-Brian McInerney,
William Bielby, John Mohr, and Jennifer Lena --for their unwavering support and
assistance. They provided guidance in all areas that helped me accomplish my research
goals and become the sociologist I am today in the process. I would also like to
acknowledge my colleagues in the University of Illinois at Chicago Center on
Organizational Dynamics for the many helpful comments on the drafted works that have
become the product I submit today. Specifically, I am not sure I would have made it
through the process without the support and insights from Kirsten Andersen, Carla Ilten,
and Melissa Abad.
JMH
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
1. INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………... 1
1.1 The Changing Space of Markets and Meaning ……........ 1
1.2 The Issue of Embeddedness ……………………………... 5
1.3 General Methodology ……………………………………... 10
1.4 A Few Important Themes of Value ……………………….. 17
1.4.1 Value in the Market ………………………………………… 17
1.4.2 The Value of a Format …………………………………….. 20
1.4.3 The Value of Place ………………………………………… 25
1.5 Summary of Chapters ……………………………………... 29
2. SURVIVING DECLINE: A FIELD ANALYSIS OF CHALLENGER
EMERGENCE AND LEGITIMACY IN CHANGING MARKETS … 34
2.1 Introduction ………………………………………………… 34
2.2 Strategic Action Fields …………………………………….. 37
2.3 Data and Methods …………………………………………. 42
2.4 Field Development ………………………………………… 46
2.4.1 Destabilizing Changes …………………………………….. 48
2.4.1.1 D1: The Price Wars ………………………………………... 49
2.4.1.2 D2: The Internet Revolution ………………………………. 52
2.4.1.3 A Crisis of Value ……………………………………………. 55
2.4.2 Innovative Collective Action ………………………………. 57
2.4.2.1 R1: Coalition Formation …………………………………… 57
2.4.2.2 R2: Exclusive Content …………………………………….. 60
2.4.2.3 Emergence, Legitimacy, and Inter-field Relationships …. 62
2.5 The Role of Culture in Strategic Action Fields …………… 64
3. NOTIONS OF IDENTITY: BROKERING DISTINCT AUDIENCE
CLAIMS UNDER CONDITIONS OF DRASTIC
TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE ………………………………………. 72
3.1 Introduction ………………………………………………… 72
3.2 Organizational Identity and Form ………………………… 75
3.2.1 Dimensions of Identity …………………………………….. 77
3.3 Data and Methods …………………………………………. 80
3.4 Network Results …………………………………………… 87
3.4.1 Period 1 (1994-1996): Strong Market Stability ………….. 89
3.4.2 Period 2 (2000-2002): The Rise of Online Music ……….. 92
3.4.3 Period 3 (2005-2007): The Crash of Brick-and-Mortar
Music Retail ………………………………………………... 95
3.4.4 Period 4 (2010-2012): The Indie Survivor ……………….. 98
3.5 Authentic Organizational Identity ………………………… 99
3.5.1 Early Notions of Authenticity ……………………………… 100
3.5.2 The Internet and a Crisis of Authenticity …………………. 101
3.5.3 A Contemporary Authenticity in Music Retail ……………. 103
3.6 Discussion and Conclusion ……………………………….. 105
4. CURATING VALUE IN CHANGING MARKETS: INDEPENDENT
RECORD STORES AND THE VINYL RECORD REVIVAL …….. 111
4.1 Introduction ………………………………………………… 111
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4.2 Economic Sociology on Culture and Markets ………….. 114
4.3 Analyzing Change through Public Discourse …………... 117
4.4 The Independent Record Store Perspective …………… 124
4.4.1 Inspired Worth and Consumption Practices ……………. 127
4.4.2 Project-Oriented Worth and Store Strategy …………….. 130
4.4.3 Reinforcing Market Relevance by Curating Value …….. 133
4.5 Conclusion …………………………………………………. 135
5. CONCLUSIONS ……………………………………………………… 139
5.1 A Message of Worth ………………………………………. 139
5.2 Research Limitations ……………………………………… 141
5.3 Empirical Summary and Contributions …………………... 142
5.4 Theoretical Summary and Contributions ………………… 151
5.5 Implications and Future Directions ……………………….. 156
REFERENCES ……………………………………………………….. 162
APPENDIX ……………………………………………………………. 176
VITA ……………………………………………………………………. 184
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LIST OF TABLES
TABLE PAGE
I. CONTENT ANALYSIS DATA SOURCES ……………………….. 12
II. CODED CATEGORIES ………………………………………………….. 14
III. INFORMANTS ……………………………………………………………. 45
IV. DATA STRUCTURE: EMERGENCE OF FIELD DIMENSIONS ……... 47
V. CULTURAL INFLUENCE ON DIMENSIONS OF STRATEGIC
ACTION ……………………………………………………………………. 66
VI. REPRESENTATIVE CODING EXAMPLES ……………………………. 84
VII. OPERATIONALIZATION OF IDENTITY MEASURES ………………... 86
VIII. DATA SEGMENTS REFERENCING INDEPENDENT RECORD
STORES BY TIME PERIOD ………………………………………. 120
IX. ORDERS OF WORTH …………………………………………………… 121
X. SELECT CODING EXAMPLES: INDEPENDENT RECORD
STORE ACTORS ………………………………………………….. 122
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LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE PAGE
1. Vinyl record sales by year (in millions) ………………………………… 19
2. Percentage of year-end unit sales by organization 1995-2011 20
3. U.S. music retail field and select market indicators: 1993-2015 50
4. Time period 1: 1994-1996 ……………………………………….. 88
5. Time period 2: 2000-2002 ……………………………………….. 91
6. Time period 3: 2005-2007 ……………………………………….. 94
7. Time period 4: 2010-2012 ……………………………………….. 97
8. The orders of worth presence in each time period ………………. 125
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AIMS Association of Independent Media Stores
CIMS Coalition of Independent Music Stores
MMN Music Monitor Network
RSD Record Store Day
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SUMMARY
This work broadly considers how markets “between” products and consumers affect the
way we value goods and services. As consumers are exposed in person and online to an
increasing variety of choices and opinions regarding those choices, the multiple registers
of assessment embedded in goods and services become more evident. Through a
longitudinal, multimethod analysis of industry and media archives, I use the case of
independent record stores to explore the relationship between a changing music industry,
retailers working to survive, and consumers confronted with more choices that mean
different things in a new market reality. In the three-paper dissertation that follows, I
investigate how these specialist retailers have been able to act strategically despite drastic
technological change, what actions mean for a public notion of a record store identity, and
how the store actors negotiate the sometimes conflicting realities they are faced with on a
day to day basis. The music retail industry has changed significantly over the past twenty
years. But with major technological advancements has also come a contemporary thirst
for authentic experiences. The relationship that independent record stores maintain with
the vinyl record surge of the past ten years situates these stores as cultural authorities
and locates a viable niche for survival in an otherwise depressed market.
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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Changing Space of Markets and Meaning
In a 2012 study on sustainable citizenship, Micheletti and Stolle illustrate how the often
aggressive campaigns of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have generated an
increased public awareness about animal mistreatment despite controversial tactical approaches.
For example, PETA’s sexy vegetarian angle has drawn criticism for its derogatory emphasis on
female bodies and sexuality. Fourcade (2011) recounts the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the
development of “passive use” damage valuation (52) in her work on commensuration to isolate
the processes whereby economic reparations were achieved through symbolic mobilization. And,
in Ross’s (2003) study of new media companies during the dot com explosion, he details the rise
and fall of 360hiphop.com; a multimedia website looking to tap into the economic and political
“potential of the hip-hop generation” (194). The site’s ultimate failure brings to light the complexity
of fusing technological and cultural idealism in commercial spaces where financial viability is
paramount. While diverse in their aims and scope, these studies bring to our attention the
relationship between culture and markets and the role of symbolic resources in establishing
criteria, making assessments, and reinforcing market value.

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