How media prosumers contribute to social innovation in today's new networked music culture and economy (original) (raw)

The forms of value creation in music intermediaries-Intermediation and disintermediation in the music industry

This thesis project aims to research and analyze the changes that digitalization brought to the music industry while in particular; the research focuses on the forms of value creation in music intermediaries. Accordingly, the qualitative research’s target is to investigate the means that music intermediaries use in order to create value, remaining relevant in the era of digitalization and online distribution, where physical record sales tend to disappear. Moreover, the research was designed and based on two theoretical arguments. On one hand a number of writers and researchers that indicate the end of music intermediation as emerging technologies remove the barriers between artists and listeners. For them, this new era of independents, eliminates traditional monopolies in music production and consumption such as the record labels and the radio. On the other hand, many suggest that digitalization brings new aspects in the music industry as it creates new necessities. Therefore this projects aims to dive deeper in the changes that digital technology brings in the field of music intermediation as well as the transformations that music intermediaries have to confront. Thus, through a holistic approach to music intermediation, the research tried to investigate how music intermediaries continue to create value in an uncharted period where new models of music consumption, such as Spotify or YouTube, emerge. Furthermore, the research approach was based on the importance of traditional or new gatekeepers in the field of music business as well as the elements that help them to remain sustainable for the industry. Thus, through ten exploratory expert interviews, relevant questions based on a given literature were asked. Subsequently, music intermediaries from several types of companies such as record labels, music media, radio or live events operators were contacted and answered questions based on given themes. Hence, concepts like the “digitalization of record industry», the “necessity of contemporary intermediation” and the” positive or negative aspects of digital transformation in music intermediaries”, were explored throughout the interviews. Ultimately, besides the methods that music intermediaries use in order to remain relevant in the music industry, this project also wants to fuel the conversation regarding intermediation in the larger spectrum of media, culture and entertainment. Similarly, as the web creates new frames in creation and distribution, it challenges simultaneously, the role of intermediaries not only in music but in several fields such as media and creative industries. Keywords: digitalization, intermediaries, intermediation, music, media, digital transformation, music industry, music business

The Music Business and Digital Impacts Daniel Nordgård Innovations and Disruptions in the Music Industries Music Business Research

Daniel Nordgård

Music business research is a new multidisciplinary field that puts a number of different analytical approaches into mutual dialogue. It is located at the intersection of economic, artistic, musical, cultural, social, legal, and technological understandings of this cultural industry and it aims to generate a better understanding of the creation, distribution and consumption of music as a cultural good. As a field it is therefore characterised by methodological diversity and involves linking academic research with music business practices. The book series welcomes monographs and edited volumes that feature groundbreaking research into this dynamic and exciting field.

School of Journalism and Mass Communications Faculty of Economic and Political Sciences Digital Music Business Models Specialization: Digital Media, Communication, Culture

2019

The Internet and modern-day technologies have changed the way people connect with the world around them. The music industry is one of the areas that is undoubtedly affected by the Internet. Music technologies have faced a drastic reorganization process due to the digital revolution that changed the way people consume, source, listen, purchase, discover, experience, produce, read and learn music. These technological advancements have induced great changes for artists, listeners, and producers. This study will attempt to investigate the business models of digital music that can be profitable in the future. As previous studies suggest (Arditi, 2017), with the introduction of the technological revolution the whole revenue mechanism has shifted. This study attempts to give insight into the changing revenue mechanism of how musicians, record labels, make money from digital music by analyzing the digital music business models from the perspective of the consumer, the record labels and the artists. The fundamental questions this study attempts to address are a) how technology has changed by presenting an overview of the music industry, b) what kind of digital music business models exist by analyzing their effects from the perspective of the listeners, artists and record labels, and c) what happens if the business model does not meet the demand of the users by explaining the ‘piracy’ phenomenon. The present research seeks to identify where digital music services in the contemporary era are heading, to investigate the effectiveness and operation of digital music services and to offer implications about what can be expected in the future. To answer the given research questions, the literature on related topics suggests that both a quantitative and a qualitative approach are considered as the necessary methods for the present study. In the first phase, drawing on relevant literature review qualitative analysis is used to present the theoretical background for the thesis. In the second phase quantitative analysis is utilized. The primary tool is the questionnaire, which contains three sections of questions. The first section focuses on the personal background of the participants, determining the type of the person under examination. The second section includes questions regarding music consumption habits. The last section analyzes listeners’ perception towards piracy phenomenon. As an artist, I will also myself make empirical analysis based on my observations and experiences during my work with Sony Music Turkey in 2015 in the conclusion.

The music industry in the digital age: consumer participation in value creation,

Researchers in the fields of arts and culture in recent years have extensively investigated the participation of consumers in value creation. Surprisingly, however, the music industry, which has undergone profound changes, has not been the subject of much research. The author uses the data from 18 qualitative interviews to try to better understand consumers’ participation in value creation and to put the phenomenon into perspective in terms of the literature.

The Influence of the Digital Economy Development on the Global Music Industry

European Journal of Accounting, Finance & Business

The 21st century music industry uses digital technology in a wide range of applications, including interpretation, composition, recordings and publications. This technology is constantly transforming music and the way people approach many musical activities. The value chain research of the global music industry represents the specialized analysis of the target field constituents. The investigation emphasizes the functional components and subcomponents of the global music industry, their interference and mutual influence. The author specifically addresses the production, distribution and consumption in the global music industry, treating them both theoreticallyreferentially, and practicallyaxiomatically. When presenting the study, preference was given to the descriptive method with the application of elements of comparison, analysis and deduction, as well as information sites that capitalize on the music industry. The research completes the range of sources that address the global music industry, especially the sources with reference to the pandemic, post-pandemic and forced digitization of the music industry. The author's conclusions represent a culturological update of the value chain in the global music industry.

Political economy of music in the digital age

𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝐼𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐸𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑠 (Canada), University of Alberta, vol. 33, no. 1, 2024

This paper seeks to unravel and understand the conditions and ways in which cultural capitalism operates that drive its production, exchange, distribution and consumption in the digital age; as well as understanding the powers that hold it and those it serves, the circuits in which it is heard, the spaces in which it is prohibited, its context and historical transformations. Music as an artistic production and symbolic object has always been linked to its characteristic instruments and technologies of its time. But when the economy catches up with it and it becomes merchandise, other means and channels are put into play for its dissemination, storage and control. It seeks to demonstrate those stealthy operations with which intermediaries operate. An analysis is made regarding the logic of consumption and production of users, on power relations and asymmetries between some actors in the music industry.