“You’re Not the Boss of Me!”: The Relationship Between EDM and DIY in Australia

Abstract

In this chapter we look at the history of electronic music scenes in Australia’s three eastern state capitals (Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane) and examine how these cities have reacted in different ways to the commodification of cultural production and consumption promoted in ‘creative cities’ style policy (Florida 2005). Rather than discussing the response of the economy or the industry, we will examine how makers and participants respond to such changes in both policy and regulation. Historically, many cultural phenomena that find their way into mainstream sphere of production and consumption are drawn from the underground or various forms of fringe and alternative (sub)cultures (Bennett and Guerra 2019). Taking into account the fact that much of the DIY cultural sector is itself becoming a robust scene of trans-locally connected and increasingly professionalised cultural production, in this chapter we offer a comparative account of how this scenario is playing out among the local EDM scenes in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.