The promotional state 'after neo-liberalism': ideologies of governance and New Zealand's pop renaissance

This article responds to Frith and Cloonan's (2008) call for researchers considering the relationship between the state and popular music to analyse more closely the ideologies of governance that undergird music policy. Building on Cloonan's 'promotional state' and drawing on recent New Zealand experience, this paper shows how New Zealand's Labour government (1999-2008) developed policies to support the export of 'Kiwi' pop which requires a reconsideration of state music policy as interventions in the market. The work of the New Zealand Music Commission in generating and coordinating working partnerships with diverse music industry actors illustrates emerging forms of'after neo-liberal' ideology and governance, wherein state-related actors and musicians each and together adapt to market arrangements through supply side, social inclusion and new institutional policy settings and modalities. This article offers points of comparison to types of ideological and governing/institutional formations we can expect to see emerging in promotional states elsewhere.