Jungle DJs: valuing music in dance culture

The intention behind this paper is to consider the way Jungle DJs form value judgements within their particular musical domain. Its safe to say that any certainties of cultural value we may have once felt we had have been well and truly disturbed in today's Postmodern climate. The Jungle DJ as an organic 'music specialist ' situated within a subculture of the technology-and consumer-based world of club culture provides an especially relevant 'arbiter of taste ' to investigate. By analysing interviews with two semi-professional Jungle DJs this paper explores the basis for, and the role of, value judgements within this area of dance culture. Firstly, it is necessary to consider the approach this paper takes concerning the process of evaluation. The raw material for the DJs ' performance is the twelve inch record. And like any cultural text it survives in the market place due to its ability to meet the needs and desires of those with cultural power. Obviously, within dance culture, the record's function as a cultural text is seen ultimately in its 'provocation of people to dance'. The directness of this social function encourages the perspective that the text is not the issuing source of value. The value of the record is a construction arising from particular interests, located in a specific social and historical context. The source of value in this case is the site where the construction o