From the viewpoint of marketing theory and the potential blurring of the distinction between production and consumption in the sphere of arts, entertainment, and culture, we explore the lived tragedy and mythology of Chet Baker as an epiphenomenon of the market's thirst for self-destructing artists that has plagued jazz for much of the past century. Historically grounding the iconic self-destructing artist as an inheritance from Romanticism, we consider the competing career orientations arising from the contradictory demands for musicians to produce aesthetic experiences for an audience of experts, cognoscenti, or devoted fans while also facing the need to earn cash in the mass market constituted by non-experts. This conceptualization gives rise to a framing of the ideal bohemian musician as self-producer and self-consumer. In marketing terms, pure bohemia entails both the production and consumption of one's own artistic genius and aesthetic experience. But unfortunately — pushing the artist past the need to scuffle to make a living — the market, geared to Romantic expectations, may demand an additional component of self-destruction. Further, with reference to the consumer-research literature, we question the origins of this fascination with the artist as self-destructive icon and conclude by calling for ethical considerations in the consumption and production of jazz.
Adams, J. (2005) `The Drink that Fuelled a Nation's Art', Tate Etc.5(Autumn): 42—9.
2.
Baker, C. (1997) As Though I Had Wings: The Lost Memoir. New York: St. Martin's Press.
3.
Baldick, R. (1961) The First Bohemian — The Life of Henry Murger . London: Hamish Hamilton.
4.
Baumann, D. (2005) Martin Kippenberger — `We Believe that Taste Doesn't Apply to the Honesty of Exaggeration', Tate Etc.5(Autumn): 52—7.
5.
Becker, H.S. (1991) Outsiders. New York: Free Press.
6.
Burkeman, O. (2006) `Dark Clouds Gather Over the “Painter of Light”. The Guardian, 25 March, URL (consulted May 2006): http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1739383,00.html
7.
Campbell, C. (2005) The Romantic Ethic and the Spirit of Modern Consumerism . York: Alcuin Academics.
8.
Carr, R., Case, B. and Dellar, F. (1986) The Hip: Hipsters, Jazz and the Beat Generation . London: Faber and Faber.
9.
Caujolle, C. (1993) `Introduction', in W. Claxton Young Chet, pp. 7—10. London: Schirmer Art Books.
10.
Claxton, W. (1993) Young Chet. London: Schirmer Art Books.
11.
Craven, T. (1990) `A Postule on the Organism of Paris', in C. Grana and M. Grana (eds) On Bohemia: The Code of the Self-Exiled, pp. 424—42. London: Transaction Publishers.
12.
Danto, A.C. (2001) Introduction to The Unknown Masterpiece — Honore deBalzac. New York: New York Review of Books.
13.
Davis, M. and Quincy, T. (1989) Miles: The Autobiography. New York: Simon and Schuster.
14.
De Botton, A. (2004) Status Anxiety. London: Hamish Hamilton.
15.
De Valk, J. (2003) Chet Baker: His Life and Music. Berkely: Berkely Hill Books
16.
Easton, M. (1964) Artists and Writers in Paris — The Bohemian Idea, 1803—1867. London: Edward Arnold Publishers.
17.
Elias, N. (1993) Mozart — Portrait of a Genius (Edmund Jephcott, Trans.) Cambridge: Polity.
18.
Frankfurt, H.G. (2005) On Bullshit. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
19.
Frank, T. (1997) The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture and the Rise of Hip Consumerism. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.
20.
Frith, S. (1990) `Frankie Said — But What Did he Mean?', in A. Tomlinson (ed.) Consumption, Identity & Style — Marketing, Meanings and the Packaging of Pleasure , pp. 172—85. London: Routledge .
21.
Frith, S. and Horne, H. (1987) Art Into Pop. London: Methuen & Co.
22.
Gavin, J. (2003) Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker. London: Vintage.
23.
Gioia, T. (1992) West Coast Jazz: Modern Jazz in California, 1945—1960 . New York: Oxford University Press .
24.
Grana, C. (1964) Modernity and its Discontents. London: Harper Torchbooks.
25.
Griff, M. (1960) `The Commercial Artist: A Study in Changing and Consistent Identities', in M.R. Stein, A.J. Vidich and D.M. White (eds) Identity and Anxiety: Survival of the Person in Mass Society, pp. 219—41. Glencoe, Illinois: Free Press of Glencoe.
26.
Heath, D. and Boreham, J. (2002) Introducing Romanticism. Cambridge : Icon Books.
27.
Hirschman, E.C. (1983) `Aesthetics, Ideologies and the Limits of the Marketing Concept', Journal of Marketing47(3): 45—55.
28.
Holbrook, M.B. (2004) `Ambi-diegetic Music in Films as a Product-Design and Placement Strategy: The Sweet Smell of Success', Marketing Theory4(3): 1—28.
29.
Holbrook, M.B. (2005a) `Art Versus Commerce as a Macromarketing Theme in Three Films from the Young-man-with-a-horn Genre', Journal of Macromarketing25(1): 22—31.
30.
Holbrook, M.B. (2005b) `The Ambi-diegesis of “My Funny Valentine ”', in S. Lannin and M. Caley (eds) Pop Fiction: The Song in Cinema , pp. 47—62. Bristol: Intellect .
31.
Holbrook, M.B. and Zirlin R. (1985) `Artistic Creation, Artworks, and Aesthetic Appreciation: Some Philosophical Contributions to Nonprofit Marketing', Advances in Nonprofit Marketing1: 1—54.
32.
Holt, D.B. (2002) `Why do Brands Cause Trouble? A Dialectical Theory of Consumer Culture and Branding', Journal of Consumer Research29(1): 70—90.
33.
Holt, D.B. (2004) How Brands Become Icons — The Principles of Cultural Branding. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
34.
Holt, D.B. and Thompson, C. (2004) `Man-of-Action Heroes: The Pursuit of Heroic Masculinity in Everyday Consumption', Journal of Consumer Research31(2): 425—40.
35.
Jamison, K. (1993) Touched With Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament. New York: The Free Press.
36.
Kozinets, R.V. (2002) `Can Consumers Escape the Market? Emancipatory Illuminations from Burning Man', Journal of Consumer Research29(1): 20—38.
37.
Little, B. (1991) `Conversation with Russ Freeman', Chet's Choice1(2), URL (consulted October 2005): home.ica.net/~blooms/vol2001no2002.htm
38.
Little, B. (1992) Untitled. Chet's Choice3(1), URL (consulted October 2005): home.ica.net/~blooms/vol2003no2001.htm
39.
Little, B. (1994) `Frank Strazzeri', Chet's Choice5(1), URL (consulted October 2005): home.ica.net/~blooms/vol2005no2001.htm
40.
Moody, B. (2002) Looking for ChetBaker: An Evan Horne Mystery. New York: Walker & Co.
41.
Rigney, F.J. and Smith, D. (1990) `A Place of Fear', in C. Grana and M. Grana (eds) On Bohemia: The Code of the Self Exiled, pp. 343—47. London : Transaction Publishers.
42.
Schroeder, J. (2006a) `Introduction to the Special Issue on Aesthetics, Images and Vision', Marketing Theory6(1): 5—10.
43.
Schroeder, J. (2006b) `Aesthetics Awry: The Painter of Light and the Commodification of Artistic Values', Consumption, Markets and Culture9(2): 87—99.
44.
Steinert, H. (2003) Culture Industry (S.-A. Spencer, Trans.). Cambridge: Polity Press.
45.
Thompson, C. (2004) `Marketplace Mythology and Discourses of Power' , Journal of Consumer Research31(1): 162—80.
46.
Venkatesh, A. and Meamber, L. (2006) `Arts and Aesthetics: Marketing and Cultural Production' , Marketing Theory6(1): 11—40.
47.
Warren, S. and Rehn, A. (2006) `Guest Editors' Introduction: Oppression, Art and Aesthetics', Consumption, Markets and Culture9(2): 81—6.
48.
Williams, M. (1960) `Review of It Could Happen to You: Chet Baker', in E. Lees (ed.) Jazz Record Reviews , Vol. IV: 21. Chicago, IL: Maher Publishers.
49.
Wilson, E. (2000) Bohemians — The Glamorous Outcasts. London/New York: I.B. Tauris.
