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21 Structuring the Social Impact of an Extreme Music Festival through Its Boundaries: Lessons from Hellfest’s Strategic Trajectory

  • Emilie Ruiz , Corentin Charbonnier , Romain Gandia and Lise Bodin
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De Gruyter Handbook of Creative Industries
This chapter is in the book De Gruyter Handbook of Creative Industries

Abstract

The cultural and creative industries (CCIs) are significant for their value generation, including profits, innovation, and employment. Among these, the music industry and more precisely the live music remains under-studied, even though it is crucial for artists’ income and post-pandemic recovery. Live music is mainly structured by festivals that act as socio-technical spaces, fostering innovation and interactions between stakeholders inside spatial and temporal boundaries. Festivals contribute to the creative industries by structuring resource transactions, symbolic capital and social dynamics. But beyond economic contributions, festivals’ survival and growth depend on the structuring of a social impact, which remains little studied. To address this, we rely on a longitudinal case study of a major French extreme music festival: the HellfestHellfest Open Air. This chapter shows how the structuration of the festival’ boundaries shape the social impact and how it is intertwined with the economic impact. It also enhances the understanding of festivals’ roles in creative industries and the complexities of analyzing social impact over time, as well as provides recommendations to festival organizers.

Abstract

The cultural and creative industries (CCIs) are significant for their value generation, including profits, innovation, and employment. Among these, the music industry and more precisely the live music remains under-studied, even though it is crucial for artists’ income and post-pandemic recovery. Live music is mainly structured by festivals that act as socio-technical spaces, fostering innovation and interactions between stakeholders inside spatial and temporal boundaries. Festivals contribute to the creative industries by structuring resource transactions, symbolic capital and social dynamics. But beyond economic contributions, festivals’ survival and growth depend on the structuring of a social impact, which remains little studied. To address this, we rely on a longitudinal case study of a major French extreme music festival: the HellfestHellfest Open Air. This chapter shows how the structuration of the festival’ boundaries shape the social impact and how it is intertwined with the economic impact. It also enhances the understanding of festivals’ roles in creative industries and the complexities of analyzing social impact over time, as well as provides recommendations to festival organizers.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. De Gruyter Handbooks in Business, Economics and Finance V
  3. Foreword VII
  4. Contents IX
  5. Editors and Contributors XIII
  6. A Quarter-Century of Creative Industries: Promises, Disillusions, and Hopes 1
  7. Part A: Work in the Creative Industries
  8. 1 Creative Industries, ‘Conspicuous Production’, and the Social Life of Markets 9
  9. 2 From Creation to Monetization: Value Capture in the Digital Creator Economy 27
  10. 3 Creating Digital Value: The Role of Independent Creators as Multi-platform Users 41
  11. 4 Platformization of Performing Arts and Streaming Culture in China 55
  12. 5 Fair Practice and Creative Industries: Evidence from Cultural Policy Lens 69
  13. 6 Broadcasting Eating: North Korean Women in Digital Creative Industries 81
  14. 7 Identity Tensions Among Artists and Creative Workers 93
  15. Part B: Spatial Dynamics in the Creative Industries
  16. 8 Unpacking Creative Ecosystems: A Place-Based Perspective 107
  17. 9 Theme Parks as Creative Industries: From Entertainment Venues to Creative Clusters 123
  18. 10 The European Creative City: Contextualising Urban Policies and Strategies for Creative Industries 135
  19. 11 Middleground Hubs in Entrepreneurial Ecosystems of Innovation: The Case of GameBCN 151
  20. 12 Music Scenes and Music Zones: Cultivating the Independent Venue Ecosystem as a Talent Catalyst 167
  21. 13 The Regeneration of a Creative Hub: Critical Episodes of Organizationality 181
  22. 14 Researching Creative Ecosystems: Reflections on Applying an Ecological Approach 197
  23. Part C: Current Issues in the Creative Industries
  24. 15 The Precarity of Diversity Services in the Creative Industries 213
  25. 16 Strategic Sustainability Communication in the Branding Strategy of Cultural Institutions 229
  26. 17 Doing Sustainability Begins with Being Sustainable: Five Learning Principles for Inclusive Gamification 243
  27. 18 Stronger Together? The Resilience Challenge of Meta-Organizations in CCIs 257
  28. 19 Tourism and Creative Industries: Insights from France and Italy 269
  29. 20 Openness, Trust, and Sharing in the Creative Industries: Lessons from the Finnish Video Game Industry 283
  30. 21 Structuring the Social Impact of an Extreme Music Festival through Its Boundaries: Lessons from Hellfest’s Strategic Trajectory 295
  31. Part D: Emerging Outlooks in the Creative Industries
  32. 22 Mapping and “Futuring” Strategic Competencies for the Creative Workforce: A European Outlook 309
  33. 23 The Impact Challenge: Moving from Output to Impact 323
  34. 24 Blockchain and NFTs: Shaping the Futures of the Music Industry 335
  35. 25 Artificial Intelligence and the Creative Industries 351
  36. 26 Randomly Uniform: Horkheimer and Adorno’s Critique of Culture and Creative Industry 365
  37. 27 A Performative Genealogy of the Creative Industries and Policy Implications 377
  38. Index 393
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111351209-022

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. De Gruyter Handbooks in Business, Economics and Finance V
  3. Foreword VII
  4. Contents IX
  5. Editors and Contributors XIII
  6. A Quarter-Century of Creative Industries: Promises, Disillusions, and Hopes 1
  7. Part A: Work in the Creative Industries
  8. 1 Creative Industries, ‘Conspicuous Production’, and the Social Life of Markets 9
  9. 2 From Creation to Monetization: Value Capture in the Digital Creator Economy 27
  10. 3 Creating Digital Value: The Role of Independent Creators as Multi-platform Users 41
  11. 4 Platformization of Performing Arts and Streaming Culture in China 55
  12. 5 Fair Practice and Creative Industries: Evidence from Cultural Policy Lens 69
  13. 6 Broadcasting Eating: North Korean Women in Digital Creative Industries 81
  14. 7 Identity Tensions Among Artists and Creative Workers 93
  15. Part B: Spatial Dynamics in the Creative Industries
  16. 8 Unpacking Creative Ecosystems: A Place-Based Perspective 107
  17. 9 Theme Parks as Creative Industries: From Entertainment Venues to Creative Clusters 123
  18. 10 The European Creative City: Contextualising Urban Policies and Strategies for Creative Industries 135
  19. 11 Middleground Hubs in Entrepreneurial Ecosystems of Innovation: The Case of GameBCN 151
  20. 12 Music Scenes and Music Zones: Cultivating the Independent Venue Ecosystem as a Talent Catalyst 167
  21. 13 The Regeneration of a Creative Hub: Critical Episodes of Organizationality 181
  22. 14 Researching Creative Ecosystems: Reflections on Applying an Ecological Approach 197
  23. Part C: Current Issues in the Creative Industries
  24. 15 The Precarity of Diversity Services in the Creative Industries 213
  25. 16 Strategic Sustainability Communication in the Branding Strategy of Cultural Institutions 229
  26. 17 Doing Sustainability Begins with Being Sustainable: Five Learning Principles for Inclusive Gamification 243
  27. 18 Stronger Together? The Resilience Challenge of Meta-Organizations in CCIs 257
  28. 19 Tourism and Creative Industries: Insights from France and Italy 269
  29. 20 Openness, Trust, and Sharing in the Creative Industries: Lessons from the Finnish Video Game Industry 283
  30. 21 Structuring the Social Impact of an Extreme Music Festival through Its Boundaries: Lessons from Hellfest’s Strategic Trajectory 295
  31. Part D: Emerging Outlooks in the Creative Industries
  32. 22 Mapping and “Futuring” Strategic Competencies for the Creative Workforce: A European Outlook 309
  33. 23 The Impact Challenge: Moving from Output to Impact 323
  34. 24 Blockchain and NFTs: Shaping the Futures of the Music Industry 335
  35. 25 Artificial Intelligence and the Creative Industries 351
  36. 26 Randomly Uniform: Horkheimer and Adorno’s Critique of Culture and Creative Industry 365
  37. 27 A Performative Genealogy of the Creative Industries and Policy Implications 377
  38. Index 393
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