Contextualising the Subculture/Post-Subculture Debate: Young Indonesian Musicians Navigating Careers in the Digital Era

This article critically engages with the subculture/post-subculture debate through the lens of young Indonesian musicians navigating career pathways in the digital era. Drawing on qualitative data, it examines how these musicians negotiate cultural identity, creative autonomy, and economic precarity through their engagement with digital platforms and networks. The lived experiences of young Indonesian musicians reveal hybrid practices that reflect both subcultural allegiance and strategic self-positioning within digital and market-driven terrains, shaped by unequal access to resources and platform infrastructures. These experiences illustrate a complex interplay between cultural commitment and economic adaptation, mediated by local socio-political conditions and global digital dynamics. By situating these dynamics within Indonesia’s broader socio-cultural and economic context, the article contributes to a more grounded understanding of youth cultural practices in the Global South and offers theoretical insights into the intersections of music, identity, and labour in contemporary digital cultures.