Die Wiener Indie-Szene. Independent Networking innerhalb einer verworrenen Mikroökonomie.

Based on qualitative interviews with musicians, label owners, owners of clubs and journalists, this paper describes Vienna's independent music scene from different angles. Beside of the pure description of the field of creative production (Bourdieu), we focus on the economic aspects of the scene and the relationships between the members of the scene. We show that the music production within the scene does not follow the rules of the market. It is neither organized within hierarchies, but mostly works on the basis of informal exchange. This works because the scene members are motivated intrinsically. So the artistic expression, high quality and originality are most important - and not money or fame. The Viennese music scene is therefore another example for an interesting phenomenon: a non-market or demandoriented production field within a highly capitalistic environment.