The Practice of the Independent Record Label in Taiwan - A Case Study of White Wabbit Records

本研究以一家台灣獨立唱片廠牌─小白兔橘子唱片為個案，探討其實際運作情況及其音樂產品由生產到消費的過程。透過深入訪談及實物蒐集，我由四類不同身分參與者的實作層次與意識層次觀點切入研究問題，其中受訪對象包括：獨立唱片廠牌經營者、獨立音樂唱作者、獨立音樂產品消費者以及樂評人等。研究結果的討論在實作層次包括三個層面，即產製面、消費面及互動面，而在意識層次則主要討論各類參與者對於獨立音樂產品之「獨立性」的看法與實踐。 研究結果發現，獨立音樂的產製具有低資本與高自主性的特色。首先，獨立音樂廠牌的經營規模較小，而低經濟資本的經營方式反映在實際的產製過程中，在相關合作對象與宣傳管道的選擇上產生一些限制；不過，廠牌經營者所擁有的社會資本常成為廠牌成立與存續的重要助力。再者，相較於主流音樂而言，獨立音樂的唱作人對於產品與宣傳活動的展現方式有相當高的自主性，但相對而言也必須更為自立，無法在所有環節上都依賴廠牌。而獨立音樂的消費者在消費資訊的取得方式上是較為積極主動的，而不是被動地依賴較容易取得的主流媒體資訊。 以全球化的觀點論之，小白兔橘子唱片作為一個本地獨立廠牌，雖然擁有與跨國集團有所區隔的獨特利基，但仍是以英美語系音樂產品的輸入作為最重要的經營項目。對台灣的獨立音樂產業而言，如何活絡「本地音樂產品」的發展，而不只是存在著「本地廠牌」，需要各方參與者及政府機構更多的投入與努力。This research is a case study of White Wabbit Records (hereafter WWR), an independent record label in Taiwan. I investigated the mode of WWR’s operation as well as the process from production to consumption of its music merchandise. Through in-depth interviewing and archival strategies, I collected data on the views and experiences of four different actors in the independent music business: the executive of the independent record label, the independent bands and artists, the consumers of independent music, and music critics. There are two primary aspects involved in this research: 1) “performance”, which includes production, consumption, and interactions amongst the actors; and 2) “ideology”, which comprises the views and practice of each actor with respect to the “independent-ness” in independent music products and production. The research found that two distinguishing features – “low cost” and “high autonomy” – are involved in the production of independent music. First, independent record labels are predominantly small companies, and thus the executive’s social capital is crucial to the establishment and ongoing operation of the company. However, in order to cut costs, many procedural restrictions exist, such as in the choice of collaborationists and promotional methods. Second, the autonomy in creativity that independent bands and artists enjoy during the production and promotional processes is much higher than that of their major record label counterparts. Nevertheless, artistic freedom comes at a cost: greater autonomy means the bands and the artists are unable to rely on their record labels to provide the bulk of the necessary resources. Moreover, the consumers of independent music are more proactive in accessing musical information, as they do not depend passively on the information transmitted to them through major broadcasting venues and the mass media. With respect to issues of globalization, even though WWR is a local independent record label with a particular niche different from that of transnational corporations, Anglo-American recordings continue to be WWR’s most important merchandise. Ultimately, while an “independent record label” already exists in Taiwan, the independent music industry here still needs to facilitate its development in the production of home-made music, rather than rely on Western imports. The achievement of this goal needs further participation and efforts of related actors as well as the government of Taiwan