Methodological challenges of researching an emerging scene: experimental electronic music in contemporary Manchester

Taylor, Steven (2023) Methodological challenges of researching an emerging scene: experimental electronic music in contemporary Manchester. DIY, Alternative Cultures and Society, 1 (2). pp. 138-150. ISSN 2753-8702

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Abstract

The process of researching a music scene retrospectively, even one which has recently formed, rests on a relatively simple ontological foundation; that the scene is broadly agreed – by both participants and observers – to already exist and to be available as an object for study, whether that proceeds on a musicological, sociological or geographical basis. But what if the scene is merely purported, suspected or intuited to be in the process of formation; to be, in some sense, imminent rather that existent? What methods are appropriate to investigating a music scene under such conditions? What constitutes, if not ‘evidence’, then sufficiently persuasive indications that a scene is emerging? These considerations are explored in this article, in the context of the author's early-stage fieldwork into a putative new underground electronic music scene in Manchester, UK, along with reflexive observations on the researcher's insertion into a potential process of scene-formation.