Practical Idealism: Live Music Associations and the Revitalization of the Music Festival Scene in Finland

Abstract

In the 1970s live music associations were established across Finland. They challenged the prevailing practices of event production and became major players in the live music business. In the City of Seinäjoki these associations were stabilized as part of the local music culture and still play a crucial role in transforming promotional practices related to popular music by running one of the biggest rock festivals in Finland since 1979. This article’s theoretical starting point is to take into account how music culture consists of ideas, activities, institutions and material objects in general along with how to understand the relationships between the promoters of live music events and their surrounding societies. It discusses the symbiotic relationship between the live music associations, the local and national political and cultural institutions and the developments that helped these associations to become transregionally and transnationally influential cultural actors.