Music-making in a Northern Isle: Iceland and the “village” factor
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Date
04/07/2019Author
Thoroddsen, Arnar Eggert
Metadata
Abstract
The thesis delves into the social dynamics of music-making in Iceland. It builds on this
researcher’s twenty-year long career as a music journalist in his native country, making use of
the knowledge, connections and insights accumulated therein. This research project has made
use of participant observation, in-depth interviews, historical documents as well as
ethnography. Thirty musicians from the current Icelandic pop/rock world were interviewed,
focussing on how they manoeuvre themselves within a relatively small society. The thesis
was inspired by Ruth Finnegan’s book, The Hidden Musicians – Music-Making in an English
Town, similarly looking at the structure of a tightly knit music community, and how place
shapes and informs its residents. Iceland’s small size (pop. 350,000) is a defining factor; its
“village” feel feeds into the shaping of its music culture. My theoretical framework is built
around classic socio-musicological theories (derived from Pierre Bourdieu and Howard
Becker), more recent research carried out by Sara Cohen, Tia De Nora, and Nick Prior, as
well as theories on the difference between professional and amateur music-making (based on
the work of, among others, Canadian sociologist Robert A. Stebbins). A grounded theory
arose from the interview data, confirming the impact of a “village” factor, which
simultaneously liberates and restricts artistic work. The peculiarities of Iceland’s pop/rock
world manifests themselves in interrelated aspects, such as its status as a micro-nation and
this shapes much of the dynamism of its popular music culture. Co-operation across different
genres is high, and a lack of formal bureaucracy in terms of doing things was significant.
Support from institutions like the radio, music competitions and music offices is effective and
strong, making for a relative easy market access domestically and facilitating an optimistic
outlook from the interviewees towards their chosen field. The musicians’ inner need to make
music, perform and release it was scrutinised and the small size of Iceland’s population – and
therefore, the Icelandic popular music world - gives rise to a fuzzy distinction between
amateur and professional. This fact underscores the aforementioned prolific levels of activity
in Iceland’s musical community. Yet in spite of these positive elements, active Icelandic
musicians also admitted to experiencing much precarity and unpredictability in terms of their
creative work. All of these elements, detailed here, make for a vibrant and active music scene,
with participants effectively “punching above their weight”.