Anonymity and hype create collective memory: itineraries in 21st century Italian independent music
In 21st-century Italy, one prominent mechanism for remembering music has prevailed in the independent music scene: the technique of anonymity. With the spread of new media, anonymity has become a key factor in the success of many independent Italian artists. Notable examples include Sick Tamburo (2007), who still perform with balaclavas covering their faces, and I Cani (2010), who used anonymity to explore new online possibilities. Other notable artists using this approach include Gazzelle (2016), Myss Keta (2016), Tha Supreme (2017), Liberato (2017), and Legno (2018).
The absence of personal information about these artists sparked curiosity and interest, encouraging audiences to focus on the message or the work itself rather than the artist’s identity. Anonymity created a sense of memory by purifying the artistic experience, uniting individuals into a community that generates meaningful narratives and deeper connections to universal themes. These dynamics have influenced contemporary understandings of music, making it unique and unforgettable despite the lack of a recognizable face, all embedded in a particular cultural imagery. In contemporary Italian popular music, memory, anonymity, and hype have emerged as marketing strategies initiated from the grassroots by independent record labels as a counter to mainstream industry dynamics.
Between the summer of 2016 and early 2017, a mysterious singer-songwriter, Cambogia, gained minor headlines within the indie scene. Cambogia’s first public appearance was on YouTube, with a video for a new single that hinted at a forthcoming, elusive second album. The artist announced that the first album would have been released on tape cassette, in very limited copies, making it untraceable on any streaming or download platform.
In June 2017, Cambogia released a new track, accompanied by a video featuring a Japanese woman in a rabbit costume who takes Cambogia to a movie theater. There, a message was displayed at the bottom of the screen:
“Cambogia does not exist. He is a fictional character created by the record label Ground’s Oranges as an exaggerated representation of an indie singer and as a social experiment. The project aims to highlight the excessive focus on hype rather than genuine musical value. […] Among us, there are no marketing experts or well-known artists in disguise. There is no press office. […] Can you imagine what a genuine label with a substantial press office could do? Could it make you appreciate a mediocre product?”
The goal of this project was to demonstrate how trivial and easy it is to create an artist only to generate appeal in a target audience and to gain notoriety by creating a lasting memory. This concept has become more relevant with new technologies that manipulate how we remember and interact with music, from streaming services to YouTube and social media. The research examines popular music studies, as well as sociological and anthropological aspects of the music scene.
Keywords: collective memory, anonymity, Italian independent music
Biography
Saverio Beccaccioli is a PhD student at the Conservatoires of Terni and Ravenna in Popular Music. He graduated in Renaissance and Baroque Trombone at the Conservatorio “G. Briccialdi” in Terni with top marks, honors, and honorable mention. Saverio is a master student in Musicology at La Sapienza University, Rome. He is the artistic director of the PalArte Theatre in Fabrica di Roma (VT) and has been awarded for various projects in the fields of culture and creativity. Saverio has performed with symphonic, early, and modern ensembles in Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.
Conservatorio di Terni e Ravenna, Italy
saverio.beccaccioli@briccialditerni.it