Maffesoli's 'Urban Tribe'

According to Maffesoli 'Urban Tribes' are micro groups of people who share common interests in urban areas. These small groups of people tend to have similar views on the world, dress sense and behaviour patterns. They also share a common interest in urban areas.

An example of Urban Tribes is 'Indie Scenesters' as shown below. These are famous for wanting to get the new music before it becomes popular and this becomes their life. Being in the leading edge group this is a very influential group right now and are affecting our cultural choices and are those types of people who want to get involved whether that be through music or another form of media.

The whole idea of personal classification into 5 main groups then splitting into sub-groups has been used by many producers to target a particular audiences taste and readings of media.

Main Groups:

• Mainstream
• alternative
• Leading edge
• Urban
• Aspirant

Sub-Group examples:

• Chavs
• Boy Racers
• Nerds
• Skaters
• Hipsters (the list goes on...)

I would think myself as a 'Boy Racer' because my life revolves around my car and everything to do with cars. Modding, Red-lining and bursting ear drums. As a boy racer I'm highly influenced with my attraction to Dubstep and electronic music. The whole culture is brought about over a love of cars and speed, its almost like a private club for fast car owners and yet is similar to that of a gang such as chavs or townies. This group isn't very apparent within society and yet people who follow this tribe are either loved or loathed by people outside of the group.

Different groups incorporate music in different ways. For 'Boy Racers' we tend to listen to our music through our cars either on a CD or through our USB sticks in our stereos. The louder the music the better and therefore it isn't necessarily the tune that is the centre of attention but where the sound is coming from i.e. the massive sub-woofer. 

Different music genres are linked to Urban Tribes and this is normally recognised within society. For example the 'Chavs' - Council house and are known for wearing tracksuits and consuming lots of alcohol. They would listen to rap/grime music. You will normally see them consuming this media by playing the music out loud on their mobile phones or loud while driving around in their cars. For example "Bassline Junkie" is a song by British rapper Dizzee Rascal the artist in the video represent the same 'Urban Tribe' by holding large speakers and rapping about the drugs culture in Britain.

An example of another Urban Tribe is the Metal Heads. Similar to Punks but a lot darker and violent in their manner. They are known for dressing mainly in black leather and Doc Martin boots and wearing lots of silver metal on their clothes.They would listen to heavy metal rock bands like Slipknot.Consuming their favourite music would probably be through using their headphones or at a Concert. A song associated with them would be "Psychosocial" which is a song by American metal band Slipknot and incorporates lots of guitar, screaming and pounding metal sounds. 

Another Urban Tribe is that of Goths, whom have traits within their very nature to act similar to eachother in that they have obsessions over death, violence and depressive moods and also an interest in Old Victorian attire and literature. They are very much associated with dark hair, dark make-up and dark clothes, usually with some kind of symbolic looking artefact either on their clothes or as an accessory. Tending to wear a lot of lace and victorian style attire. Often listenign to very dark music where it can either be high tempo such as screamo or a very slow and suicidal themed song in which usually involves death or something similar. Marilyn Manson is a big influence to this group and also an influence in fashion as well as music taste.