Global Journal of Human Social Science, C: Sociology and Culture, Volume 23 Issue 2

© 2023 Global Journals Volume XXIII Issue II Version I 18 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2023 C “If you haven’t been Exploited, you are not in the Live Music Industry”: Decent Work and Informality in the Live Music Ecosystem in South Africa compliance certificates, or unable to produce cancelled contracts for work (Joffe 2019). It has also though highlighted the importance of social capital generated within communities of practice within the live music sector, in social structures at community level or through strong intermediaries active in the broader CCE (IKS Consulting 2021). A strong legacy that the live music ecosystem builds on in South Africa as well is that of a robust civil society, innovative labour legislation and a progressive constitution. In this paper we first offer theoretical considerations focused on the intersections between cultural and creative work, decent work and informality. The methodology section examines the focus on the live music ecosystem in South Africa and highlights current research limitations. A brief overview of South Africa’s live music ecosystem follows noting the value chain and cultural occupations as well as the underpinning support institutions. The research findings are presented using the 10 ILO Decent Work indicators. The paper concludes by suggesting several areas where opportunities exist to support the live music ecosystem. II. T heoretical C onsiderations Research on the nature of informal cultural work has increased in the last few years but it remains embryonic (Alacovska 2018; Alacovska and Gill 2019; PEC and British Council 2021; Dinardi 2019; Joffe et al. 2022; Mcguigan 2010; Snowball and Hadisi 2020) while that about decent work in the cultural and creative economy has not yet penetrated the academic realm beyond ILO considerations (ILO 2019; Saxena 2021). There has however been robust theorizing about the nature of cultural work and creative labour, specifically in the global north (Gill and Pratt 2008; Hesmondhalgh and Baker 2010; Mcguigan 2010; Oakley 2006). This paper highlights three key characteristics of creative and cultural work (CCW): First, it is atypical, characterised by non-standard employment contracts, from freelance to own-account work, from part time to temporary, and from casual to permanent: These work modalities require that creative and cultural workers are in a ‘permanently transitional’ state (McRobbie 2004). CCW can be distinguished by the prevailing labour contract: freelancers and fixed term or permanent (Brook et al. 2020: 573). There are many reasons for the growth of freelancing notably the “integration of global markets, government policies that promote privatisation, and the advent of digitalisation” (Mackinlay/Smith 2009). Distinctive characteristics of CCW include the uncertainty of demand and markets; the passion and pleasure that cultural and creative workers experience from their work; the time bound nature of work and innovation; the multiplicity and diversity of skills needed and the implications for collaborative work as well as collective action; and the increasing fragmentation and casualisation of jobs (Comunian and England 2020; Merkel 2019; Morgan and Nelligan 2018). Several barriers exacerbate the insecurity of CCE working conditions such as class (Eikhof and Warhurst 2012); gender (McRobbie 2016); race and ethnicity (Malik et al. 2017;); social networks (Nelligan 2015); and education (Banks and Oakley 2015). Notable South African academic research focused on gender and music include the work of Moelwyn-Hughes (2013) and Allen (2000) on representation, gender and women in black South African popular music. Second, it is precarious: This precariousness has become commonly accepted especially after the 2008 global financial crisis with commonalities emerging between low paid unskilled workers as part of the gig economy with more highly skilled workers typical of the CCE. The reasons for this precariousness is multifaceted (De Peuter 2011; McRobbie 2016) and include the fuzzy boundaries of what constitutes CCW work such as the uncertain length of employment (ranging from short term contracts, sub- contracting and freelancing); the ‘fragmented and individualized’ nature of CCW making collective action unusual; the presence of very few regulatory frameworks that support workers or provide social protection; and, the persistence of unpaid work (internships or work for ‘exposure’) despite some being able to earn substantial income. In addition, work-life balance is blurred across many cultural occupations. This blurring is not only required (much of live music for instance takes place at night or on weekends) but is also often accommodated as artists and creatives are ‘doing what they love’ so that “the passion and pleasure taken from work have strong implications for the ways CCW behave in the labour market and their freedom and autonomy to create” (Hesmondalgh and Baker 2010). This results in ‘always being on’ (Gill 2010) with implications for whether payment is received. Artists and creatives hold dear to the idea of being their own boss or what Florida refers to as ‘soft control’ (Florida 2002:130), involving “forms of self-management, peer recognition and pressures and intrinsic forms of motivation”. Finally, the rise of neo- liberalism with its attendant insecurity and instability have resulted in cultural policy trends validating entrepreneurialism, job creation, above the public good of cultural work (O’Connor 2022). This was heightened by Covid-19 as the “pandemic brought the hype of the African cultural economy into question with signs of distress almost immediate” (Joffe 2021, p.3) and amplified “some long- instituted feelings of precariousness as well as the inscribed social tendency to sacrifice labour to the prevailing demands of economic priority” (Banks 2020, p. 3). Third, it is underpinned by informality in the African context: This axiomatic precariousness of CCW is overlaid by informality defined by the ILO as “all economic activities by workers and economy units that are—in law or in practice— not covered or insufficiently covered by formal arrangements” (ILO 2002). In the Global South informality underpins much of CCW and exacerbates the precarity of employment in the CCE. Contrary to the belief that the informal economy was marginal and with economic growth would be absorbed by urban industrialization (Moser 1978), the informal economy remains large and is growing: the ILO reports that 60% of employed people work in the informal economy, 93% of this population live in developing countries. In Africa, over 95% of youth employment is informal (Munyati 2020). There has been little consideration about the informal economy in relation to CCW. While some