Arts Management Commons^™

Wavzine: Independent, Localized Cultural Journalism In The Digital Age, Jake Edward Davis

Journalism

wavzine (also called .WAV or colloquially known as “The Zine”) is a music, arts, and culture multimedia website and print periodical founded by Cal Poly students in the summer of 2020. Two years on, it was comprised of roughly 45 regular staff members and even more occasional contributors, all of whom are volunteers. Along with independently publishing articles, videos, podcasts, and art online, wavzine also organizes and hosts concerts for local bands, collaborates with local cultural events such as Shabang Music Festival and the San Luis Obispo Film Festival, and sells its own branded merchandise. To its 2,700 Instagram followers, …

The Benefits Of A Professional Website For A Musician, April C. Cain

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

For my capstone project at Boise State, I decided to create a website for my music. I am a music producer and needed a professional web presence for promotion, current and future fans, professional contacts, and to also serve as a portfolio of my work. There are also added benefits for future projects in the form of a blog and file selling features. I researched web-building platforms and methods as well the benefits of having a website for not just myself but for fans and other consumers of music and developed an action plan to create my own professional website. …

Time Machine, William B. Sims, Joseph P. Robinette, Reid W. Sorel

Honors Scholars Collaborative Projects

The album will be organic, raw, gritty country sound, inspired by vintage country/folk and bluegrass and encouraged by modern underground/alt country and new-wave folk.

Improving Arts Management/Marketing Efficiency: Optimizing Utilization Of Scarce Resources To Produce Artistic Outputs, Theresa A. Kirchner, Linda L. Golden, Patrick L. Brockett

Marketing Faculty Publications

Purpose

This longitudinal research examines US symphony orchestra sector organizations to determine individual efficiencies in allocating resources (donations, governmental/private funding, etc.) for desirable outputs (concerts, educational programs, community outreach). It provides researchers and managers with a tool for identifying, assessing and mitigating organizational inefficiencies.

Design/methodology/approach

This study assesses relative efficiencies in performing arts organizations using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a widely-used nonparametric data-intensive benchmarking technique that determines an optimal “production frontier” of best-practice organizations among their peers and assesses their abilities to turn multivariate inputs into multivariate desired outputs.

Findings

This analysis highlights efficiency differences in a wide range of …

Spotify: You Have A Hit!, Christopher E. Dawson Jr., Steve Mann, Edward Roske, Gauthier Vasseur

SMU Data Science Review

Abstract. Over 87% of the streaming music is owned by four major record labels (Jones, 2018). Yet, the songs owned by those labels account for <1% of the total amount of music created each year. These labels are historically better at identifying talent (though this talent identification is becoming more difficult). Even though Spotify has 36% of the streaming marketing share (T4, 2021), Spotify has not been profitable because of the large licensing costs paid to the large music labels. If Spotify could identify hit songs & artists before the large labels, they would sign those artists and dramatically reduce their licensing costs. Using the Spotify API, this paper will use Spotify data on over 400K songs over the last three years for exploratory data analysis, provide descriptive statistics, perform feature selection, and develop models using LASSO and XGBOOST Classification. The research determined multiple key features and predicted with over 60% accuracy songs which were going to be a hit (defined as >90% popularity).

Building A Record Label Website In An Evolving Music Industry, Zachary Mouton

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

The basis of my capstone project is to build a website for my record label Play-Yah Records. My major focus for the website is to find more options for monetization for the bands on the label. During the process I conducted research on NFT’s, music licensing, website construction, logo design, and made-to-order merchandise. I am excited about what I have learned in this project and I can’t wait to share it with you.

Still Dreaming Of You: Selena's Discourse With And Continuing Impact On American Musical Culture, Hannah Lastra

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Selena Quintanilla Perez continues to circulate in popular culture, including MAC cosmetic lines, a Netflix series, and podcasts. As a result, her cultural influence continues to be passed on and shared with future generations. This thesis focuses on three aspects of Selena and Selena y Los Dinos: Selena’s music, Selena’s performance aesthetic, and Selena’s fandom today. Chapter 1 focuses on Selena y Los Dinos’ American musical influences, particularly studying the songs “Enamorada de ti,” “Missing my Baby,” and “Fotos y Recuerdos” and the presence of American genres of new jack swing, R&B, and rock within them. Chapter 2 focuses on …

The Budding Disruption Of Blockchain Technology Upon The Current Structure Of The Music Industry, Bradley Rauman

Senior Theses

One of the most pertinent opportunities within the music industry, and many other industries as well, stems from the use of blockchain technology. Blockchain’s core technology, which enables smart contracts and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), could be used to restructure and decentralize the music industry to be in alignment with the best interests of artists - the individuals responsible for driving the success of this industry.

The current system is outmoded. It evinces a disparity in the level of information held by artists and intermediaries (i.e. labels, publishers, and streaming services) and this disparity enables intermediaries to deduct egregious fees that …

Fostering Music Performers In The 21st Century: A Contemporary Professional Perspective Toward A New Curricular Agenda For Graduate Study In Music, Andre Januario

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

What if the core curriculum for graduate students in music performance were designed to prepare students to succeed in the world of the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

This dissertation offers a hypothetical answer: a structured and systematic academic curricular framework for music graduate students of performance of concert music (especially those in terminal degrees, such as doctoral students), along with music instructors, professional music performers, school administrators, and college professors, seeking to prepare such students for achieving and maintaining a music career more in keeping with the current work environment, especially those skills demanded by the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the …

Profits For Spotify, Pennies For Artists, Joshua R. Rosenberg

Capstones

Major recording labels have always been king-making investment houses. They market the music and manage the careers of artists such as New York singer-songwriter Blake Morgan, who has to fight tooth and nail to escape being mistreated financially. But digital distribution services have now come along and upped the parasitic ante. By dominating global market share and distributing millions of songs for the labels, companies like Spotify are piggybacking on the music industry’s already exploitative system and magnifying it exponentially. The more content you control, the larger the overall profit–even if the overwhelming majority of content creators are essentially starving. …

Intellectual Property In The Digital Streaming Age: How Music Becomes A Lawsuit, Alexandra Tasev

Honors College Theses

A mix of both entertainment business and law, the purpose of this review is to address the question of “are current copyright laws and procedures too restrictive of new and smaller-name artists from entering the market?” Through a law review and analysis of the history of copyright law, this thesis outlines the issues new, smaller music artists face as a result of rapid digital evolution paired with a slow-moving legal system. Failing to amend the current standards for dealing with old copyright cases will cause further issues with the growing popularity of digital platforms like YouTube, Soundcloud, Spotify, and TikTok. …

An Approach To The Impact On The Market And Music Consumption After The Emergence Of Streaming Technology., Letícia Ledoux

Business ETD Collections

Consumption in the music industry has been changing considerably, moving from the analogue to the digital phase and finally to the total dematerialization of music. Despite digitalization making consumption more accessible and democratic to consumers, the emergence of piracy is becoming a problem for the music industry, which faces dizzying declines in its sales. In an era that is virtually impossible to control online consumption, streaming technology is developed and launched which, in addition to curbing illegal downloading practices, creates a new business model and becomes a new consumer trend as it develops. Based on this scenario, where digital and …

Social Power Of Jazz Festivals, Olga Bekenshtein

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Jazz festivals occur in all parts of the world, small cities and metropolises, urban and rural landscapes, stadiums, churches, streets, and abandoned factories. Being a part of the entertainment industry, they have the potential to impact social change. Jazz festivals help us reconsider notions of identity and community, and their communal experience has the potential to undermine dominant social norms. The industry of jazz festivals is based on Black music and has a history of positive and negative social outcomes. Evaluating festivals through the symbolic meaning of music provides an optic into how festivals marginalize and exploit African American cultural …

The Next Frontier: Blockchain In The Music Industry, Manuel J. Manriquez Jr

Backstage Pass

This Research Paper takes a look at how Blockchain technology can potentially change the music industry as we know it!

The Lack Of Asian American Representation In American Pop Music, Victoria Noriega

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this study is to analyze why there are fewer East and Southeast Asian Americans in the American pop music industry compared to other ethnicities and to see what factors influence these statistics. The data analyzed consisted of five interviews, all of whom were involved in the music industry as either musicians or managers. Data from the most recently signed artists to the top three major music companies, Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Universal Music Group, was also analyzed to see the most popular genre signed and most frequent ethnicity signed. From the data gathered from …

How Streaming Services Changed The Way We Listen To And Pay For Music, Claire Carter

Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to explain how streaming services have changed the way we listen to and pay for music. Furthermore, this analysis examines the perspective of consumers and artists on streaming services. Most data is obtained from various academic journals and organizations involved in the music industry. The result of this research indicates that after the financial peak of the music industry in 1999, a decline in revenues was due to emerging technology, the illegal file sharing website Napster and piracy, the industry’s response to piracy, and digital downloads. As streaming services started to emerge the shift in revenues from …

Sample-Based Hip-Hop Music And Fair Use Laws In The Age Of Streaming Services, Michael Vanbuhler

Senior Theses

This thesis takes an in depth look at the history and processes behind creating sample-based music. Sampling was popularized during the beginnings of hip-hop music and now a wide variety of genres use samples or techniques created by sample-based music. Early hip-hop beats took samples of drum breaks or a portion of a track from another artist or band. As hip-hop grew in the late 80s and early 90s, the use of samples became a question of intellectual property rights and if it was acceptable to sample someone’s copyrighted work. Lawsuits in the early 90’s helped to create new caselaw …

The Supply Chain Of Digital Music: Empowering Independent Artists Through Availability And Accessibility, Justin Reed

Senior Theses

The process of creating and sharing digital music can be viewed from the “supply chain” perspective: identifying the resources and value-adding tools that ultimately result in a final audio product. By researching and documenting the steps involved in this process, I identify this supply chain as a series of steps, an itinerary, or process model of digital music creation. Moreover, I found that each step in the process can be assess for its accessibility and usability by independent artists. I conclude by exploring how this democratizes the music industry by affording independent artists the necessary tools and empowerment to create …

Motivational Antecedents To Fandom And The Resultant Effects In The Foreign Contemporary Music Market, Hyun Sang An, Wooyang Kim, C. Anthony Di Benedetto

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Dichotomies: Lessons From A College Life On Tour, Alexander J. Dontre

All Faculty and Staff Scholarship

In this unique memoir, the author reveals his struggles and triumphs as a touring musician pursuing a college education. From 2011-2017, Alex Dontre performed 505 concerts with his band Psychostick while simultaneously enrolled in rigorous online courses. It culminated with a master's degree in Business Psychology from Franklin University, at which time he gave the commencement speech at his graduation as valedictorian.

All Access: A Backstage Pass To A Collaborative, Undergraduate Music Journal, Michele Gibney, Keith Hatschek, Nicole Wasnock

Conservatory of Music Faculty Presentations

The number of currently publishing, student run music journals can be counted on one hand. And of those, only half are for undergraduates. At University of the Pacific, the Conservatory of Music started a music industry analysis and opinion journal in 2018. Edited and written by undergraduate students, Backstage Pass has published two issues totaling 47 papers. The benefits of journal writing, editing, publishing and hosting are numerous from many different stakeholder points of view. The collaborative effort is shared between the University Libraries (hosts the institutional repository where the journal is published and offers technical support) and the Conservatory …

An Examination Of Contemporary Christian Music Success Within Mainstream Rock And Country Billboard Charts, Megan Marie Carlan

Honors College Theses

Ranging from inspirational songs void of theological language to worship music imbued with overt religious messages, Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) has a long history of being ill-defined. Due to the genre’s flexible nature, many Christian artists over the years have used vague imagery and secular lyrical content to find favor among mainstream outlets. This study examined the most recent ten-year period of CCM to determine its ability to cross over into the mainstream music scene, while also assessing the impact of its lyrical content and genre on the probability of reaching such mainstream success. For the years 2008-2018, Billboard data …

Footprints Of Resilience: Tracking The Career Development Steps Of African American Male Musicians, Patrice Tiffany Leshay Bax

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For African American (AA) male musicians, the road toward career advancement in the entertainment industry is particularly arduous. Despite many difficulties on the journey to career success, the history of gospel, R&B, jazz, and funk music is evidence that many AA male musicians find their way to develop and advance their careers. Many AA male musicians find career development and advancement opportunities through religious and sacred institutions. However, the journey to become a professional musician for AA males is fluid and not formalized causing ambiguity in the steps taken to enter this career field and sustain growth in a rapidly …

The Pursuit Of Happiness: Asian Americans In Music, Belinda Ung

Honors College Theses

It is critical that we observe the expanding Asian American landscape in the context of today’s evolving music business. The purpose of this research paper is to analyze how and to what extent parental expectations, peer pressure, and levels of self-identity affect the career outcomes Asian Americans in their pursuit of music careers. The data analyzed consisted of five personal interviews, all of whom are involved in music production and/or performance. It was concluded that familial pressure impacted participants more so than peer pressure in their adolescence and self-identity became a more influential factor in adulthood. Additionally, the advancement of …

Crowdfunding In The Music Industry And Its Impact On The Business Models Of Industry Stakeholders, Ryan M. Carter

Selected Honors Theses

Challenges currently facing the music industry have led many key players to reevaluate their business models in order to survive the changing environment. Crowdfunding has become a popular way among musicians and artists to finance creative projects and/or careers. Crowdfunding works by collecting investments from a pool of people in order to raise funds for a venture, idea, or project. In recent years, crowdfunding has gained significant traction in the music industry, especially among independent artists. The introduction of crowdfunding into the mix of business models has not only impacted artists but record labels and live sector companies as well. …

Measuring The Financial Health Of American Symphony Orchestras, Samantha M. Lulka

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

International Music Preferences: An Analysis Of The Determinants Of Song Popularity On Spotify For The U.S., Norway, Taiwan, Ecuador, And Costa Rica, Brendan Joseph Suh

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines data from Spotify’s API for 2017-2018 to determine the effects of song attributes on the success of tracks on Spotify’s Top 200 Chart across five different countries: the U.S., Norway, Taiwan, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. Two dependent variables are used to measure the success of a song – a track’s peak position on the charts and the number of days it survives on a country’s Top 200 Chart. Using ten separate regressions, one for each dependent variable in all five countries, it is concluded that the presence of a featured guest on a track increases a song’s …

A Study Of Unemployment And Underemployment In Clinical Music Therapy, Christopher A. Kelley

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Music therapy has been an established health profession for over 60 years serving a diverse population in different settings. Researchers studied the effects of burnout, career longevity, job satisfaction, and workforce analysis of clinical music therapy; however, no studies exist on the prevalence of unemployment and underemployment in clinical music therapy. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of unemployment and underemployment in clinical music therapy.

Participants who completed an anonymous online survey (n = 1,240) were board-certified music therapists who provided information on their current employment status. Results showed that the prevalence of unemployment among …

An Overview Of A Failed Thesis, Avery Lewis

Undergraduate Honors Theses

An overview of a project based thesis that did not have the support or funding to be carried out to completion. The project was based around starting up a summer recruitment program for the East Tennessee State University Music Department. The program would consist of various summer events for high school students used to recruit for the department as well as encourage music and fine arts degrees.

Crisis Text Line Benefit Festival: An Applied Study In Event Planning And Practice, Rebecca Duke

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

For my Honors Capstone Project, I created and hosted my own benefit concert as an opportunity to gain real experience in event management, booking, production, marketing, and promotion. Although I’d had incredible experiences in my extracurricular activities and internships, I had not yet been able to conceptualize my own event and see it all the way through. The Crisis Text Line Benefit Festival took place on Wednesday, October 25, 2017, at Funk N’ Waffles in downtown Syracuse. All proceeds were donated to Crisis Text Line, a non-profit organization that provides 24/7 counseling services via text message. The two performers were …