Purpose

This paper aims to explore how music festival organisers negotiate diversity and inclusion in marketing and promotion practices through symbolic and social boundaries.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on semi-structured interviews with 18 festival organisers in Rotterdam and participant observation with six festival photographers I show that symbolic and social boundaries are employed in three areas: (1) boundaries in festival format (i.e. [partially] free or ticketed), (2) boundaries in distribution partners and technologies and (3) boundaries in promotional content.

Findings

Symbolic and social boundaries are intentionally used by festival organisers to build and delineate festival audiences. Implications are drawn on current understandings of the accessibility of music festival spaces, arguing that festival research should move beyond within-space dynamics to grasp the negotiation of diversity and inclusion at festivals more fully.

Originality/value

While music festivals are often marketed as celebratory spaces that are “welcoming to everyone”, few studies have investigated diversity and inclusion nor marketing and promotion practices at music festivals. This study shows how festival audiences are shaped through marketing and promotion practices.

中文翻译：

---

“我不想和一个白人女孩一起宣传”：流行音乐节的营销实践和边界工作

目的

本文旨在探讨音乐节组织者如何通过符号和社会边界来协商营销和促销实践中的多样性和包容性。

设计/方法论/途径

基于对鹿特丹 18 个节日组织者的半结构化采访以及对六位节日摄影师的参与观察，我发现象征性和社会边界被运用在三个领域：(1) 节日形式的边界（即[部分]免费或收费），( 2) 分销合作伙伴和技术的界限以及 (3) 促销内容的界限。

发现

节日组织者有意利用象征性和社会界限来建立和划分节日观众。根据当前对音乐节空间可达性的理解，认为音乐节研究应该超越空间内的动态，以更全面地掌握音乐节多样性和包容性的谈判。

原创性/价值

虽然音乐节经常被宣传为“欢迎所有人”的庆祝场所，但很少有研究调查音乐节的多样性和包容性以及营销和促销实践。这项研究展示了如何通过营销和促销实践来塑造节日观众。