A research report submitted to the Wits School of Arts, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa in partial fulfilment of a Degree of Master’s of Arts. Sunday 11 October 2015 / This qualitative research report explores the motivations for, and barriers to, young people attending and consuming live music in small to medium venues in Johannesburg. With the average age of South Africans being just 25 years, young people represent a large, existing and potential new audience for live music venues looking to grow new audiences. Yet there are challenging racial, spatial and economic legacies of apartheid which live music venues need to overcome to reach out to more young people. Young South Africans are often described as one entity, defined by their ‘race’, age and education level. This research uncovers new insights into what motivates young South Africans to attend live music from socialising with friends to deeper emotional connections with music and artists. Broader themes such as young people’s desire for authenticity, uniqueness and self-identity are explored in the context of live music as well as their preferences for open spaces and freedom of movement during their live music experiences. This research explores how to segment South African live music audiences based on motivation and consumption patterns, to understand if it could help inform future audience development strategies in South Africa. Live music venues’ understanding and practice of audience development has been analysed to better understand how embedded the arts marketing profession is within the sector and what appetite there could be for the introduction of a motivation-based audience segmentation tool. Finally, the report reflects on the findings and makes recommendations on how live music venues could authentically engage with young audiences; what measures could be taken to cultivate more artistically-led, but audience-focused venues; and ultimately, how to attract more young audiences to their venues. Keywords Audience development, arts motivation, arts marketing, arts consumption, arts audiences, hedonic consumption, authenticity, live music, live music venues, barriers to arts attendance, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, young people, Morris Hargreaves and McIntyre, Concerts SA, The Orbit, Niki’s Oasis, Afrikan Freedom Station and the Soweto Theatre.

This study offers an ethnographically contextualised close reading of the music played by three 'jazz' groups in eight concerts held in Durban and Johannesburg between June 1994 and December 2003. These performances were videotaped and then analysed with reference to 1) the compositional and improvisational techniques employed in the creation of the performances; 2) the stage behaviour of the musicians; 3) audience behaviour, and 4) the physical contexts in which the performances occurred. The performances constitute the primary texts on which this study is based. Secondary texts, in the form of discourse produced because of the concerts, are also examined. These take the form of open-ended interviews with thirteen participant musicians and twelve audience members. The primary and secondary texts are then compared with each other and situated within their broader musical and social contexts. This exploration of the ways in which social processes inhere in musical processes draws on a notion of expressive discourse as 1) a multifaceted practice in which textuality, subjectivity, place, history, and power function as interdependent parts of a complex social ecology and 2) a dialogically-constituted system of utterances. The study then argues that musical details articulate social meanings - and thus function as utterances - because of their dual existence within 1) systems of intra- and intertextual relationships and 2) processes of dialectical interaction between texts and socio-historical contexts. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

During the middle decades of the twentieth century, the exiling from South Africa of jazz musicians, including The Blue Notes, brought the discourses of local jazz, its performance culture and repertoires, to international attention. This process points to jazz’s global reach and raises questions about its adoption by differently constituted cultural subjects. Arjun Appadurai’s arguments about global homogenisation and heterogenisation come into play here, and have special significance today, when the study of jazz performance and history is increasingly part of the music education of young South Africans. Questions about who ‘owns’ jazz and what constitutes its authenticity loom large, as do questions about its global entanglement. The careers of The Blue Notes emerge from a background of South African syncretic musical performance; as such, they belong within the protracted history of African cultural engagement with European and American mediations of modernity. Among other issues, my thesis examines the use of jazz-influenced repertoires in the narration of cultural identities in postcolonial South Africa, under apartheid, and in exile. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

This thesis explores some of the ways in which listening to South African popular music allows individuals to enter into imaginative engagements with others in South Africa, and in so doing, negotiate their place in the social landscape. Taking as its starting point the notion of the "musical imaginary" - the web of connotational meanings arising out of the interaction between music and society, rendering it a particularly suitable medium through which to imagine social actors - it focuses specifically on the role of music in constructions of 'race' and, to a lesser extent, of 'nation'. It examines some of the ways in which dominant discourses exert pressure on what is imagined, as well as highlighting the creativity of listeners who appropriate the musical imaginary for their own ends of identification. It attempts to depict the complexity of musical identification in postapartheid South Africa, in which individuals must negotiate multiple boundaries marking difference, including categories of 'race', ethnicity, gender and class. It also investigates perceptions of the role of music in generating new identities and modes of social interaction, and offers some speculations as to how an analysis of these perceptions may contribute to current theoretical models of change in multicultural societies. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

Abstract not available / Thesis (M.A.-Music)-University of Natal, 2000

The censorship of popular music in South Africa during the 1980s severely affected South African musicians. The apartheid government was directly involved in centralized state censorship by means of the Directorate of Publications, while the South African Broadcasting Corporation exercised government censorship at the level of airplay. Others who assisted state censorship included religious and cultural interest groups. State censorship in turn put pressure on record companies, musicians and others to practice self-censorship. Many musicians who overtly sang about taboo topics or who used controversial language subsequently experienced censorship in different forms, including police harassment. Musicians were also subject to anti-apartheid forms of censorship,such as the United Nations endorsed cultural boycott. Not all instances of censorship were overtly political, but they were always framed by, and took place within, a repressive legal-political system. This thesis found that despite the state's attempt to maintain its hegemony, musicians sought ways of overcoming censorship practices. It is argued that the ensuing struggle cannot be conceived of in simple binary terms. The works of Antonio Gramsci, Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu, in particular, are applied to the South African context in exploring the localized nuances of the cultural struggle over music censorship. It is argued that fragmented resistance to censorship arose out of the very censorship structures that attempted to silence musicians. Textual analysis brought to light that resistance took various forms including songs with provocative lyrics and titles, and more subtle means of bypassing censorship, including the use of symbolism, camouflaged lyrics, satire and crossover performance. Musicians were faced with the challenge of bypassing censors yet nevertheless conveying their message to an audience. The most successful cases negotiated censorial practices while getting an apparent message across to a wide audience. Broader forms of resistance were also explored, including opposition through live performance, counter-hegemonic information on record covers, resistance from exile, alignment with political organizations and legal challenges to state censorship. In addition, some record companies developed strategies of resistance to censorship. The many innovative practices outlined in this thesis demonstrate that even in the context of constraint, resistance is possible. Despite censorship, South African musicians were able to express themselves through approaching their music in an innovative way.

Text in Afrikaans / Die doel van hierdie studie is om op die liedtekste van die kunstenaars, Bok van Blerk, Fokofpolisiekar, The Buckfever Underground (en Toast Coetzer) en Karen Zoid te fokus en om te bepaal wat hulle funksie in die eietydse Afrikaanse kultuurlandskap is, en wat hulle rol in die definiëring van kulturele identiteit is. In hierdie studie sal daar ook klem gelê word op die sosiopolitieke faktore wat tot die opbloei van die Afrikaanse musiekbedryf gelei het. Deur die analise van dié kunstenaars se lirieke, sal ek vasstel of hulle wel betekenisvolle werk van literêre gehalte lewer. Ek het spesifiek hierdie musikante gekies omdat hulle jong eietydse musikante is. / The purpose of this study is to focus on the song texts of artists, Karen Zoid, Fokofpolisiekar, The Buckfever Underground (and Toast Coetzer) and Bok van Blerk and to determine their function in today’s cultural reality, and whether these musicians and their music have an influence on today’s youth and their search for a Cultural Identity. This study will also focus on the socio-political factors that led to the rise of the Afrikaans Music Industry. By analyzing these artists’ lyrics, I want to determine whether they are significant works of literary quality. These musicians were chosen because they are regarded as young contemporary musicians. / Afrikaans & Theory of Literature / M.A. (Afrikaans)

Text in Afrikaans / Die doel van hierdie studie is om op die liedtekste van die kunstenaars, Bok van Blerk, Fokofpolisiekar, The Buckfever Underground (en Toast Coetzer) en Karen Zoid te fokus en om te bepaal wat hulle funksie in die eietydse Afrikaanse kultuurlandskap is, en wat hulle rol in die definiëring van kulturele identiteit is. In hierdie studie sal daar ook klem gelê word op die sosiopolitieke faktore wat tot die opbloei van die Afrikaanse musiekbedryf gelei het. Deur die analise van dié kunstenaars se lirieke, sal ek vasstel of hulle wel betekenisvolle werk van literêre gehalte lewer. Ek het spesifiek hierdie musikante gekies omdat hulle jong eietydse musikante is. / The purpose of this study is to focus on the song texts of artists, Karen Zoid, Fokofpolisiekar, The Buckfever Underground (and Toast Coetzer) and Bok van Blerk and to determine their function in today’s cultural reality, and whether these musicians and their music have an influence on today’s youth and their search for a Cultural Identity. This study will also focus on the socio-political factors that led to the rise of the Afrikaans Music Industry. By analyzing these artists’ lyrics, I want to determine whether they are significant works of literary quality. These musicians were chosen because they are regarded as young contemporary musicians. / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / M.A. (Afrikaans)

This dissertation seeks to explore how the exercise of political power and the music industry impacted each other in South Africa under apartheid during the 1980s. It does so by looking firstly at the ways in which the South African government used music to promote apartheid. Secondly, it looks at the role of South African popular musicians in the struggle against apartheid in the country, specifically their role in civil society and the methods they employed to fight apartheid while avoiding censorship. It looks at key musical developments of the decade and explores their political implications, focusing on three popular genres: bubblegum (or disco), crossover and reggae. Thirdly, it explores the role of South African music and musicians in the struggle against apartheid outside South Africa. Finally, it looks at the role of music in the international anti-apartheid movement and the contribution of the international music community to the struggle. / Political Sciences / M.A. (African Politics)

This dissertation seeks to explore how the exercise of political power and the music industry impacted each other in South Africa under apartheid during the 1980s. It does so by looking firstly at the ways in which the South African government used music to promote apartheid. Secondly, it looks at the role of South African popular musicians in the struggle against apartheid in the country, specifically their role in civil society and the methods they employed to fight apartheid while avoiding censorship. It looks at key musical developments of the decade and explores their political implications, focusing on three popular genres: bubblegum (or disco), crossover and reggae. Thirdly, it explores the role of South African music and musicians in the struggle against apartheid outside South Africa. Finally, it looks at the role of music in the international anti-apartheid movement and the contribution of the international music community to the struggle. / Political Sciences / M.A. (African Politics)