Youth Culture and the Making of the Post-Fordist Economy: Dance Music in Contemporary Britain

It is argued that in dance culture, the dominant form of contemporary youth culture, young people are taking the central roles in creating a Post-Fordist economy which is fluid, diverse and decentralized, closely linked to a semi-formal economy. In scale, this is far beyond that of any previous youth culture. The dance scene is marked by a huge number of micro-labels releasing thousands of records a year. This music sector is built on technological developments which have led to the possibility of producing music cheaply and a musical aesthetic which appreciates the distinctive sounds from the technology. Within the culture, the key cultural arbitrator is the DJ who, as part of an underground scene, gives the micro-labels an edge over the major record companies. Young people are using the technology, establishing their own labels, getting into distribution, organizing parties, becoming DJs; often to a large extent separate from the formal economy, they are becoming the key producers of contemporary culture.