Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Cripmerch

2022; Liverpool University Press; Volume: 16; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3828/jlcds.2022.34

1757-6466

Robbie McDermott,

Music History and Culture

As promotional material sells the records of musicians to the public, it can also sell the musicians themselves as a brand. In the article, a rich history of musicians presenting physical impairments as a saleable commodity is identified and explored. This forms the basis for the introduction of a new term, cripmerch. Framed by critical material from disability studies, popular music studies, and promotional culture, the article examines the case studies of three physically disabled musicians: Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen, Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia, and bionic pop artist and singer Viktoria Modesta. The research findings are underpinned by two overarching themes. The first theme suggests that the self-representation of disabled musicians is hard to separate from novelty. The second theme is centred on disabled musicians either fully incorporating impairment in their personal and professional brand identity or distancing the personal from the professional. The analysis indicates that physical impairment can be highly visualized and be brought to the public sphere with relative ease. Conversely, the risk is that the popular musician is defined by their impairment, with the musical side being repressed.