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PUTTING CIRCUITS INTO FIELDS, OR HOW ITALIAN CANZONE GAINED THE STATUS OF ‘ART’ IN THE MUSIC MARKET

2013; Routledge; Volume: 15; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/14616696.2013.767928

1469-8307

Marco Santoro,

Cultural Industries and Urban Development

ABSTRACT This article shows how deep moral issues can impinge upon popular culture without this losing its commercial appeal, a process made possible by the role of consecrating institutions in the music market. The article focuses on the fabrication and establishment of a new genre within Italian musical culture and music market, the so-called canzone d'autore, and it is set after the suicide in 1967 of singer-songwriter Luigi Tenco during the most important Italian song festival (Sanremo's Festival della canzone italiana). Drawing upon Zelizer's notion of 'circuits of commerce' and Bourdieu's theory of cultural fields, the article will shed some light on the specific dynamics of the interplay between moral issues and commercial appeal in the Italian music market.