"Fiji Blues?": Taveuni and Qamea Musicians' Engagements with Recording Technologies

This article explores and discusses indigenous Fijian's (i taukei) engagement with the recording industry and recording technologies more generally. It focuses specifically on bands from Taveuni and the neighbouring island of Qamea. They are used as case studies to examine the role of recording technologies in small island cultures. There are no recording studios on either but in the past, the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation recorded bands on Taveuni using a mobile recording unit. Due to the prohibitive cost of journeying to recording studios, it is mainly the resort bands (funded by resort owners) who have been recorded, as well as some recordings made by visiting tourists and musicians. The Taveuni and Qamea musicians' experiences of being recorded, the distribution of their recordings, the negotiation of commercial arrangements between themselves and resort management and tourists are analysed, along with the recording relationships between musicians and a music researcher.