How Cymru Became Cool: An Examination of Wales' Culture Production System 1990 - 2000

Historically, Welsh Nationalism and aspects of Welsh culture had been perceived by many as backward looking, and set firmly in the past. By contrast, today the nation is perceived by many as "Cool Cymru", a new, proud, positive, trendy Wales. It would seem that some seismic change had occurred in perceptions of Wales, Welsh cultural identity, and in particular, the perceptions of Welsh popular music through bands that have made a major impact on the UK popular music scene. In order to try and explain this phenomenon, the research explored Solomon et al's (1999) Culture Production System Model. It used contemporary, context-sensitive materials as datasets, backed up with new empirical research among members of the Creative, Managerial and Communications subsystems identified by Solomon et. al. The findings suggest that Wales' Symbol Pool had changed between 1990 and 2000. During this time, members of the Creative and Managerial Subsystems were producing a new Welsh cultural identity, and this was being reflected in the positive communications being filtered via the Cultural Gatekeepers to consumers who have evidenced increased purchasing of Cool Cymru's overall cultural products, and in particular its popular music.