Chapter 1 Introduction
The Ideology of Getting Signed
My Approach
Record Contracts
Making It, Breaking In, Blowin' Up: The Ideology is Everywhere
The Book Going Forward
Part I
Chapter 2 Record Contracts: Ideology in Action
Alienation and Ideology
Material Relations of Production
Institutions
Conclusion
Chapter 3 Copyright Enclosure
Musical Instruments and the Means of Production
Labor Theory of Value
Land Enclosures
Creating Intellectual Property
Contracts and Copyrights
Conclusion
Chapter 4 The Digital Turn: Music Business as Usual
Positioning Musicians in the Music Industry
From Bar Gigs to Social Media
Alternatives
Conclusion
Chapter 5 On Competition in Music
Competition in American Society
Competition as unique to music and other entertainment fields
Winning/Losing
Battle of the Bands
Competition between musicians, not labels
Conclusion
Part II
Chapter 6 We're Getting the Band Back Together
Division of Labor
Solidarity
Marx
Strained Solidarity: a new model of the division of labor
Solace: A Case Study of Strained Solidarity
Conclusion
Chapter 7 The Voice: Popular Culture and the Perpetuation of Ideology
The Show
Precarity
Ideology
Conclusion
Chapter 8 Conning the Dream
The Music Showcase
The Performers
Winning/Losing
Conclusion
Chapter 9 Conclusion
Techno-Utopian Mantras
Label Resources
Thinking of an Alternative
About the Author: David Arditi is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Texas at Arlington, USA, and author of iTake-Over: The Recording Industry in the Digital Era.
