Damon J. Phillips: Shaping Jazz: Cities, Labels, and the Global Emergence of an Art Form
分析了1917至1933年间早期爵士唱片市场的动态，覆盖从新奥尔良到加尔各答的全球地理范围，提出四个假设解释市场演化，对研究产品类别和组织类别的学者有参考价值。
This fascinating historical analysis of the dynamics of the early jazz industry should be of great interest to organizational theorists, cultural sociologists, and social-network analysts.Phillips studied jazz recordings made between 1917, when recorded jazz began, and 1933, a low point in the production of jazz recordings-the year before swing jazz was introduced and reinvigorated the market.This was an important era in the market for jazz: nine out of the ten most frequently recorded jazz tunes were first recorded during this period.Phillips' study is both historically sensitive and geographically broad.Unlike many previous studies in the ''production of culture'' perspective, which tend to focus on a single region, this analysis covers a vast geographic territory, from New Orleans to New York, Saint Louis to Stockholm and Sydney, Chicago to Calcutta.Phillips' theory about the dynamics of the recorded jazz industry is based on four assumptions: (1) tunes that are recorded frequently, such as ''Stardust'' and ''Summertime,'' constitute the core of the market for jazz; (2) the development of the market for jazz is path-dependent, meaning that actors and activities at any point in time are shaped by actors and activities at earlier points in time;(3) the market for jazz is also driven by exemplars like Charlie Parker, whom listeners and purchasers of records invoke when they think of the genre, rather than by typical representatives of the genre; and (4) the boundaries and meaning of jazz are dynamic, meaning that they shift over time, which is a clear and direct consequence of the first three assumptions.These assumptions may seem simple, but in combination, they allow Phillips to develop a complex, compelling picture of how the market for recorded jazz evolved across the globe.One of the most enjoyable things about this book is that it demonstrates the importance and historically contingent nature of social categories.There were many different styles of jazz, produced by a wide variety of combinations of instruments and voice, by ensembles that varied greatly in size and racial composition.Phillips shows that the prevalence, appeal, and legitimacy of these many different jazz styles shifted over time and varied among types of producing organizations at any point in time and over time for any particular type of producing organization.Other people who study product and organizational categories would do well to emulate his concern for concrete phenomenaactivities in the market for cultural products-and steer away from trying to develop a theory of categories disconnected from all cultural, economic, and political roots.His sensitivity to time and place are critical to the insights he