ABSTRACT
An enduring symbol of popular music, the vinyl record has been subject to a huge increase in attention and consumption over the past 15 years in the UK. As a result, vinyl has re-emerged as a performative symbol used in so-called open decks events, a participatory event where participants/performers play records of their own choice in a shared eventscape. This research explores this recent trend in the context of the burgeoning field of events and well-being research, utilising qualitative interviews with three event managers to conceptualise and understand the potential well-being outcomes from these events. In doing so, the research proposes the ‘lure of vinyl’ as an elusive and intangible eudaemonic feeling generated through the tangible presence of the vinyl record. This symbolises and encapsulates the various personal and community well-being outcomes within the open decks eventscape, a necessarily public domain which repositions the playing of records as active musical performance. Concomitantly, the event as a nexus of personal enjoyment and collective consumption is explored to further examine the role of music in the eventscape. Thus, this research introduces a new event type to the literature whilst contributing an original conception of the impact of events on subjective personal well-being.
