Organizers of music venues work within complex networks of individuals, regulations and ideologies. They occupy positions where decisions of different kind are made and as much as they are subject to gatekeepers, they also act as the same when determining conditions of participation for the venues performers and audience. The concept of music serves as a constitutional notion and becomes a node around which the venues are constructed. Besides what sounds, music is coupled with concepts such as culture, community and quality and thereby hold multiple meanings as it includes ideas of what it is and what it is for. Because of the concepts equivocal character and the position organizers occupy, their conceptualizations of music thus become central when they encounter others’ ideas of the same concept during negotiations of the venues terms.
Based on interviews with eight organizers during 2017, this paper discusses how the concept of music engages in multiple dimensions during the construction of six culturally diverse music venues in Sweden.