Work hard, party harder: o trabalho dos DJs no lazer noturno paulistano

Abstract

This research analysed the work of DJs in the city of São Paulo, who are responsible for the creation and presentation of musics resulting from interventions in existing musics. The discussion revolved around the values ​​articulated in the process of identifying DJs as workers, considering the distinctive elements of artistic and musical work, historically distant from traditional representations of productive work. This study case opens the way to rethink conceptual pairs of sociology of work, such as polyvalence/specialization, formality/informality, creativity/reproducibility, autonomy/subordination. DJs are inserted in the context of an increasing valuing of self-employment, where what was previously perceived as a precarious situation, now ends up positively resignified in the semantic field of ‹ cultural entrepreneurship ›. The trajectories of the DJs point to a borderline position, located between the discourses of the ‹ professionalization › of the musical work, as a collective effort of regularization, and the discourses of the maintenance of the creative autonomy. Social networks play a leading role in the access of DJs to the market, explaining the relevance of informal partnerships for surveying the presentation opportunities. It is an activity that has always endured the direct consequences of intermittency and informality, born in a context of flexibility, in which the ideals of learned skills and innate ‹ talent › are confronted. The research methodology was qualitative, based on field observation, visiting DJs presentation from different musical styles in São Paulo, as well as semi-structured interviews.