The Rise of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Musicians in Detroit: Do-It-Together or Do-It-Alone: Working Musicians in Detroit Maneuver the Adversities of the New Work Mode in the Creative Economy

Detroit recently became the focal point of a resurgence, supposedly driven by the creative economy. The creative economy promises to make creative output crucial to the economy of the early 21st Century. A promise direly needed in an environment that has consistently decreased opportunities for musicians outside the large music metropoles (i.e. Los Angeles, Nashville and New York City). From the perspective of the musician, Detroit combines the promises of the creative economy and the decline of support through the music industry. In order to better understand these how musicians manage these drastic developments I conducted six semi-structured interviews with working musicians in Detroit. The creative economy has not had any remarkable improvement on the conditions of these musicians. Nevertheless, it does seem to have affected the way musicians operate. One group of musicians assumed to become entrepreneurs that attempted to succeed by adopting to the notion of the creative economy while the other group of musicians decided to further distance themselves from the market and build alternative support structures instead. Further research into how musicians operate in these alternative structures and the threat to the definition of the artist by the creative class is suggested.