Hey DJ, don’t stop the music: Institutional work and record pooling practices in the United States’ music industry

Figures & data

Table 1. Institutional work during the emergence of record pooling practice.

Form of institutional work	Description	Explanation	Sources
Boundary	Framing meaning and purpose as emancipation	Developing shared sense of meaning and purpose through framing issue as ‘emancipation’ from imposed cultural categories	Billboard (1975); Lawrence, Love Saves the Day (2004); Melting Pot
Practice	Creation of shared understandings of the practice	Developing the shared understandings (normative, cognitive, and regulative structures) of the practice through a written procedure of record pooling represented in the formalisation of ‘Declaration of Intent’	Lawrence, Love Saves the Day (2004); 12th Sun (Meeting minutes); Village Voice (1975); Brewster and Broughton, The Record Players
Boundary	Creating a new boundary object	Traversing boundaries between record companies and DJs formalised in boundary object of ‘Declaration of Intent’	Lawrence, Love Saves the Day (2004); 12th Sun (Meeting minutes); Brewster and Broughton, The Record Players
Boundary and Practice	Mobilizing resources	Recruiting top-tier DJs and record companies to join and support the Pool, culminates in a summit with formal agreements to the ‘Declaration of Intent’; Member disco DJs and record companies begin carrying out record pooling	Meeting minutes; 12th Sun (Meeting minutes); ‘Disco File’, Record World (1975); Billboard (1975); Interview with Judy Weinstein, Tantum (2016)
Boundary	Establishing boundaries of membership	Negotiations with club owners, signatures of letters as proof of employment based on professional status	Village Voice (1975); Brewster and Broughton, The Record Players; Billboard (1975)

Table 2. Institutional work during the institutionalisation of record pooling practice.

Form of institutional work	Description	Explanation	Sources
Practice	Creating legitimation association	Creation and coordinating international forums and formation of National Association of Record Pools aimed at legitimating record pools in music industry	Billboard 1978; Billboard, March 1979; Billboard, 1979; Billboard 1980; Interview with Judy Weinstein, Tantum (2016)
Practice	Professionalising management	Ensuring adherence to rules systems by holding weekly meetings in order to coordinate DJ feedback, provide labels with accurate and up to date information, and set limits on the number of disks in its circulation	Billboard 1978; Billboard 1979; Billboard 1978; Billboard 1980; Brewster and Broughton, Last Night a DJ Saved My Life; Interview with Judy Weinstein, Tantum (2016)
Practice	Practice innovations	Promoting existing norms and belief systems by developing routine feedback systems, incentive schemes, computerized management systems	Billboard 1978; Billboard 1979; Billboard 1982; Radcliffe, Billboard 1982; Interview with Judy Weinstein, Tantum (2016)
Boundary	Enforcing boundaries of membership	Requiring multiple proofs of employment, encouraging sanctions	Billboard 1979; Radcliffe, Billboard 1982; Interview with Judy Weinstein, Tantum (2016)

Table 3. Institutional work during the digitalisation of record pooling practice.

Form of institutional work	Description	Explanation	Sources
Practice	Practice innovation (‘ripping’ and ‘reformatting’ audio)	Create their own digital promotions by ‘ripping’ promotional songs from CDs and vinyl records into digital files; Reformatting ‘ripped’ audio files to increase quality	Bruno, Billboard 2006; Interviews with XClass, Phenom and Quickie;
Boundary	Creation of new boundary object	Built a new digital interface for distribution of digital audio as well as online DJ registration systems, effectively moving record pooling communities online	Crosley, “Real Talk”; Interviews with XClass, Phenom and Quickie; Interview with Corey Llewellyn
Practice	Practice innovation (‘transfer software’)	Design and implement a large-data transfer software as a way to distribute digital music using a website Enabled record pooling to be completed only digitally, increasing global reach	Crosley, “Real Talk”; Market Wire 2007; Interviews with XClass, Phenom and Quickie; Interview with Corey Llewellyn
Practice	Practice innovation (‘feedback survey’)	Design and implement a digital feedback survey to collect the opinions of their member DJs, compiled into a report with statistical breakdown of DJs’ impression of new music	Bruno, Billboard 2006; Interviews with XClass, Phenom and Quickie; Interview with Corey Llewellyn
Boundary and Practice	Mobilising resources	Online chat room and popular live DJ show that encouraged young digital DJs to join formal and legal record pool rather than rely on low-quality pirated audio; Negotiating with record companies about the value of digital record pools	Bruno, Billboard 2006; Market Wire 2007; Interviews with XClass, Phenom and Quickie;
Boundary	Re-establishing boundaries of membership	Design and implement a digital subscription system; uploading proof of their exposure, number of live performances and number of radio appearances	Interviews with XClass, Phenom and Quickie; Interview with Corey Llewellyn