Analysing the breakthrough of rock ‘n’ roll (1930–1970) Multi-regime interaction and reconfiguration in the multi-level perspective

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Abstract

The breakthrough of rock ‘n’ roll was part of broader transformations in the American music industry, involving changes in music instruments, music recording technology, audiences, radio programming and music styles. These transformations will be analysed as sociotechnical transition, using the multi-level perspective. One characteristic of the case is interactions between multiple regimes: radio and recording. Another characteristic is the presence of strong cultural components, with rock ‘n’ roll as proxy. These characteristics lead to theoretical adjustments in the multi-level perspective. Further analysis also suggests a particular transition path of reconfiguration, in which multiple niche-innovations cumulatively transform the regime.

Introduction

This article addresses transitions at the system level in Freeman and Perez's [1] innovation typology: (a) incremental innovation, (b) radical innovation and product discontinuities, (c) changes in technology system, (d) changes in techno-economic paradigm. Radical innovations and technological discontinuities have been addressed in business studies [2], [3] and changes in techno-economic paradigms have been studied in long-wave theories [1], [4]. But changes at the system level are under-addressed. These changes are complex and sociotechnical [5], involving technological discontinuities and social, political, cultural, infrastructural and economic changes. The analytical challenge is to understand the dynamic interactions between these processes.

Sociotechnical transitions are not only academically interesting, they also have societal relevance, for instance with regard to future transitions to sustainability. Policy makers, planners and scholars show increasing interest in this issue [6], [7], [8], [9]. Also TFSC dedicated a special issue to this important topic (July 2005, Vol. 72, No. 6). The promise is that shifts to new systems in transport, energy and agriculture may deliver large jumps in environmental efficiency. The governance of transitions, however, should be based on a good understanding of the underlying dynamics. As the editors of the special issue [10, p. 655] note in the introduction: “transitions are extremely complex processes”. Given the state of knowledge, this article practices ‘appreciative theorising’ [11]. This kind of theory allows for richer understandings than formal models; it appreciates the complexity of the phenomenon at hand and tries to find stylised patterns. So this article does not address the sustainability issue, but aims to better understand the dynamics of transitions. This understanding hopefully assists scholars who analyse future sustainability transitions.

The multi-level perspective on transitions is such an appreciative theory. This perspective argues that existing systems are stabilised by sociotechnical regimes, i.e. shared rules and practices that guide activities in particular directions [9], [12], [13], [14], [15]. Hence, radical innovations usually emerge outside the regime, in particular market or technological niches. Such radical innovations may diffuse more widely, when several processes link up: (a) external environmental changes, which create pressure on the regime, (b) weakening of the regime, e.g. increasing problems, loss of faith by main actors, (c) stabilisation of the niche-innovation in a dominant design, increasing support from powerful actors, and improving price/performance characteristics. If the radical innovation replaces the existing technology, this is accompanied by broader social, cultural, political and infrastructural changes.

This article aims to further develop the multi-level perspective with a historical case study of a transition that deviates from previous cases. The particular case study is the long-term transformation of the American music industry and the breakthrough of rock ‘n’ roll between 1930 and 1970. One reason to choose this case study is to explore a new aspect: multi-regime interaction. Previous empirical studies looked mainly at transitions which involved transformations in single regimes, e.g. natural gas replacing a coal-based regime [16], steamships replacing the sailing ship regime [17], mechanical elevators replacing manual unloading of ships [18], piped water systems replacing the water supply regime of pumps and wells [15]. An interesting aspect of the new case study is the presence of two regimes for the distribution and consumption of music: radio and records. Both regimes involve a range of technical and social elements, e.g. radio sets, phonographs players, jukeboxes, record companies, radio stations, advertising schemes, recording technologies and studios, radio programming, airwave regulations (Fig. 1). The case study makes it possible to explore multi-regime interactions in transitions, enabling new theoretical contributions to the literature.

As indicated in Fig. 1, the case study not only involves distribution and use, but also supply-side aspects, such as the performance of music by bands and singers, the creation of songs by songwriters and music publishers, and the manufacturing of music instruments. This means that the case study entails supply and demand side changes.

A second reason to choose the case study is that music is closer to societal end-use functions, with obvious cultural changes. The multi-level perspective has previously been applied to societal functions with strong technical components, e.g. shipping, energy supply, water supply, cargo handling. Transitions in the music industry clearly also involve cultural and demand side aspects. The breakthrough of rock ‘n’ roll is taken as a proxy for these demand side changes. The challenge is to explore the usefulness of the multi-level perspective in such a case, and see if modifications are needed. One common explanation of the emergence of rock ‘n’ roll highlights creative individuals (e.g. Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry). Another explanation emphasises macro-influences such as the emergence of an affluent teenage market, youth culture and generation conflict. The hypothesis is that the transition can also be analysed as sociotechnical change process. In particular, the idea is that creative artists took advantage of the opportunities that became available to them.

The empirical question in this article is: how did the transition to rock ‘n’ roll come about? The theoretical questions are: What was the role of multi-regime interaction? Can the multi-level perspective be usefully applied in this case, or are adjustments required?

The structure of the article is as follows. Section 2 briefly describes the multi-level perspective. Section 3 presents the case study about the reconfiguration of the American music industry and the breakthrough of rock ‘n’ roll (1930–1970). Section 4 draws conclusions, distills patterns and refines the multi-level perspective.

Section snippets

Conceptual multi-level perspective on transitions

This section briefly outlines the multi-level perspective on transitions, which has been described more elaborately elsewhere [9], [12], [13], [14], [15]. The perspective distinguishes three conceptual levels: sociotechnical regime, technological niche, and sociotechnical landscape.

The sociotechnical regime forms the meso-level in the multi-level perspective (MLP). This is an extended version of Nelson and Winter's [11] technological regime, which refers to shared cognitive routines (e.g.

The reconfiguration of the American music industry and the breakthrough of rock ‘n’ roll

The aim is not to find new empirical material, but to test the multi-level perspective for a case study that deviates on certain aspects from previous cases. Hence, data-collection is based on secondary sources from different fields: cultural studies, musicology, business history, history of technology. The case study is stylised and does not aim to include everything. The focus is on the stability of existing radio and record regimes, the interaction between both regimes over time, the

Analysis and conclusions

The empirical research question was: how did the transformation of the music system and the breakthrough of rock ‘n’ roll come about? Theoretical questions were: What was the role of multi-regime interaction? Can the multi-level perspective be usefully applied in this case, or are adjustments required?

Starting with the first theoretical question, analysis of the case study shows an important pattern in multi-regime interaction: the relationship between radio and recording regimes evolved from

Acknowledgements

I want to thank two anonymous referees, Deborah Tappi, Rob Raven, Geert Verbong, Rene Biasone, Ken Green, Vanesa Castán Broto and Staffan Hultén for their useful comments on previous versions of this paper. I also gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Dutch Knowledge Network on System Innovation (KSI).

Frank Geels is Assistant Professor at the Department of Technology Management, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands. Transitions and system innovations are the main topic of his work. He does both theoretical work on this topic as well as historical case-studies to test and refine theory. He also works on translating these insights to policy makers interested in bringing about transitions to sustainability.

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    Frank Geels is Assistant Professor at the Department of Technology Management, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands. Transitions and system innovations are the main topic of his work. He does both theoretical work on this topic as well as historical case-studies to test and refine theory. He also works on translating these insights to policy makers interested in bringing about transitions to sustainability.

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