DIY ethic

DIY stands for "do it yourself", as opposed to paying a professional to do it for you. DIY once just referred to hardware stores in Britain that supplied amateur repair people with tools. Today the term can indicate "doing" anything from healthcare to interior design, from publication to electronics. The DIY ethic is loosely tied to punk and various anticonsumerist movements, inasmuch as it amounts to a rejection of the idea that one must always purchase the things that one wants or needs from others. DIY questions the uniqueness of the expert's expertise, and promotes the ability of the ordinary person to learn to do more than he or she thought was possible.

Independent record labels

An example of DIY is making and promoting music without major record label backing, and without any great level of perceived "selling out". A popular slogan of the DIY movement is "DIY not EMI," an explicit rejection of the major record company of that name.

Related Topics:
Music - Record label - Selling out - EMI

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many DIY artists argue that a DIY-style career is not only an alternative to mainstream success; it is preferable. DIY artists share much more in common with and are thus more able to reach out to their audience than "arena rockers". A general feeling shared by most participants in DIY punk is that the practice blurs or eliminates distinctions between audience members and band members, thus fostering a sense of community.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There have been independently owned record labels nearly as long as there's been a music industry, but since the advent of punk in the 1970s, many bands have embraced the DIY ethic, promoting self-organized gigs in small halls and setting up small independent record labels and distribution networks such as California's SST Records and Bomp Records, Dischord Records (a renowned D.C. DIY label), Flat Earth Records (based in Leeds, UK), Sudden Death Records (started by the Vancouver band D.O.A.), Slampt (influential and now defunct punk label from Newcastle, UK), and Profane Existence http://www.profaneexistence.com/ (a fanzine, record label and anarchist collective based in Minneapolis, USA).

Related Topics:
Punk - Independent record labels - California's - SST Records - Bomp Records - Dischord Records - D.C. - Flat Earth Records - Leeds - UK - Sudden Death Records - Vancouver - D.O.A. - Slampt - Newcastle - UK - Profane Existence - Fanzine - Anarchist - Minneapolis - USA

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In England from the late 1970s to the early 1980s labels such as Falling A Records expanded the DIY idea into a movement that used the cassette tape medium as a cheaper and more easily accessible alternative to vinyl (although vinyl was still used by them at times), a trend referred to as the DIY cassette movement or cassette culture.

Related Topics:
1970s - 1980s - Falling A Records - DIY cassette movement - Cassette culture

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Such labels and collectives tend to have relatively small outputs and sales, although there are groups who have been able to achieve levels of mainstream success while maintaining a fiercely independent and uncompromising stance. Notable examples include the UK band Crass and US singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco. Dischord's Fugazi rarely charged more than $5-$10 admission to their live (all-ages) shows, and have kept their album prices at about $10, as with other bands on the label. Bassist/singer Mike Watt has practiced a DIY ethic for decades, describing his practice as "jamming econo," or, living frugally.

Related Topics:
Crass - Ani DiFranco - Fugazi - Mike Watt

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~