Arts Management Commons^™

The Dilemma Of Empty Halls, Joanna Lauer

Musical Offerings

Today, live classical concert attendance is low, a fact which threatens the careers of professional musicians. This paper examines recent statistics of classical concert attendance, theories as to why attendance rates are low, marketing methods for target audiences, and finally, recommendations to solve the dilemma of empty concert halls. To encourage concert attendance, classical music must be tastefully marketed to present-day audiences through the experience of technically excellent, musical, and interesting live performances. Ultimately, the relationship between art and its audience (the consumer) reveals that the key to the dilemma is the audience.

The Significance Of Sonic Branding To Strategically Stimulate Consumer Behavior: Content Analysis Of Four Interviews From Jeanna Isham’S “Sound In Marketing” Podcast, Ina Beilina

Student Theses and Dissertations

Purpose:
Sonic branding is not just about composing jingles like McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It.” Sonic branding is an industry that strategically designs a cohesive auditory component of a brand’s corporate identity. This paper examines the psychological impact of music and sound on consumer behavior reviewing studies from the past 40 years and investigates the significance of stimulating auditory perception by infusing sound in consumer experience in the modern 2020s.

Design/methodology/approach:
Qualitative content analysis of audio media was used to test two hypotheses. Four archival oral interview recordings from Jeanna Isham’s podcast “Sound in Marketing” featuring the sonic branding experts …

Rock On: The State Of Rock Music Among Generation Z, Gianna Cicchetti

Honors College Theses

Rock music is a significant part of American culture and has always had ties to the socialization of the youth since its rise in the 1950s. Many musicians and music journalists have pushed forth the opinion that the genre is “dead” as its relevance in young adult culture has faded away in favor of different genres of mainstream music. However, rock artists have seen more success and virality in the past few years. This is primarily true through the social media platform TikTok, the largest platform of its kind with most young people as part of its userbase. The following …

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.

The Impact Of Governance Structure On Performance Of U.S. Performing Arts Centers, Karen S. Fuller

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an analysis of the governance structures and functioning of performing arts centers (PACs) in the United States. PACs provide important public services to local communities by exposing the public to arts and culture. There are two research objectives in the analysis. The first objective is to delineate the forms of PAC governance structures. The second objective is to assess how these governance structures affect PACs’ functioning. The dissertation contributes to understanding of management of PACs. Overall, the study identified 187 PACs in the country, with at least one PAC in every state.

With respect to the first …

Ishmael Album Review, Robert N. Moore

Backstage Pass

This is an extensive review of the metal album Ishmael, written, performed, mixed, mastered, and released all by Jared Smith. The album combines religion, intricate guitar riffs, and metal to create an avant-garde piece of art.

Copyright And Copywrong, Noah Granard

Backstage Pass

This paper attempts to offer a critique of the music industry and modern copyright law via analysis/individual case study in order to provide suggestions for possible reform. Topics include: background information and commentary on the status of the public domain, why the current laws/statures hamper creativity, and what steps should be taken next to remedy these issues. In order to both promote new music, while also respecting the intellectual property of artists and groups with existing content, there must be genuine reform at the highest levels; copyright and music industry laws must stem from the basis of supporting artists and …

Producer Interview: Teak Underdue, Kris Jones

Backstage Pass

This interview is with three-time Grammy-nominated music producer Teak Underdue of Hallway Productions. He discusses his background and the path he has taken to become a well respected music creator and producer. The interviewee offers advice for aspiring producers on how to build their reputation and credits in the music industry.

Industry Profile: Seven Seas Music Founder, Brooke Wentz, Elizabeth Shearrow

Backstage Pass

Brooke is the CEO of Seven Seas Music and an award-winning music producer and supervisor. For a decade, she has led The Rights Workshop, a leading music licensing and supervision firm with film credits including “Bully,” “Melancholia,” “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey,” and “Bill Cunningham: New York.” In 2014, Brooke married her singular knowledge and passion for world music with cutting-edge technology to found Seven Seas Music, a web-based platform where media professionals can listen to, build lists and license – with a single click – curated sounds from an astounding array of emerging and established artists in more …

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

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. …

Me Too: The Effects Of Sexual Harassment And Assault In The Entertainment Industry, Cassandra M. Gaal

Backstage Pass

This paper gives insight to the growing issue of sexual harassment and assault in the entertainment industry. The paper provides information on the impact technology and social media have on sexual harassment and how women in particular are viewed in the entertainment industry. The paper also discusses how different genres of music and other forms of entertainment had oversexualized women, and how movies and TV shows have created this idea that someone being romantic is someone who is aggressive and forceful towards their partner.

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!

Spotify Vs. Apple Music, Lexi Gerbino

Backstage Pass

A quick look at the differences of the two biggest music streaming services, Spotify and Apple Music.

Producing Thacker Jr. A Guidebook To Production & Reflections Of A Student Director, Ava Street

Honors Theses

This narrative documents a student’s preparation and execution of the children’s music and literature program entitled, Thacker Jr. Radio Hour. The author documents and analyzes experiences over the course of two academic years preparing and producing the program. The author describes the process of production including content creation, marketing, budgeting, fundraising, and casting. The author recounts and reflects upon her experience in the role of Thacker Jr. Executive Director and her desire to create student-centric arts programming. Finally, the author evaluates the immediate impact of the program on the LOU community and predicts how her experience will shape her …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

An Independent Record Label Business Plan, Jack Raybuck

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

A business plan created for an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. The record label is focused on solving the gender inequality problem that currently exists in the music industry.

Young Entrepreneurship In Philadelphia, Mario J. Heitman

Art and Art History Summer Fellows

A contemporary case study in starting a small business in Philadelphia. The paper focuses on my experiences as an artist and centers on a pop-up exhibition held July 15^th 2017.

An Exploration Of Recording And The Music Business, Erika Nalow

Honors Projects

A creative project focused on the ability of an independent musical artist to compose, arrange, record, produce, mix, master, market, and promote their own musical composition.

The Future Of Music: Reconfiguring Public Performance Rights, Gary Myers, George Howard

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

"We Can't Do It Without You!" Crowdfunding As Cultural And Economic Negotiations Within Neoliberal Culture, David Zachary Gehring

Institute for the Humanities Theses

This thesis is a qualitative study that critically examines crowdfunding campaigns established to fund music projects. It argues that these campaigns are instantiations of neoliberalism, influenced by and reflective of cultural commitments operative within music communities and a shifting industrial context. For this study, neoliberalism represents a particular mode of free market capitalism characterized by discourses emphasizing individual agency free from regulatory constraints, and the rearticulation of cultural values rhetorically prioritized over market interests. Emerging within this cultural and industrial ecology informed and motivated by neoliberalism, and shaped through the dynamic flux of fan/artist relationships and industrial uncertainty, the crowdfunding …

Authenticity In Music Performance: Evidence From The Singer-Songwriter Community, Jon Littlefield

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

Experiencing music provides a unique lens to study identity. The alienation resulting from increased technological mediation in both music production and consumption might drive consumption (Potter 2010), hence authenticity may be an appealing positioning strategy for marketers. Singer-songwriters, for example, write and perform their own music with minimal technological interference. This represents a direct connection with the musician that we characterize as more historically authentic (Thornton 1996), however this characterization is not universal. In this paper, I seek to gather insight into the myriad expressions of authenticity within the music consumption environment by detailing a study of performance musicians.

Music As A Positional Good: Why Market Success Might Actually Drive Away Some Fans?, Timothy J. Schibik

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

The Oxford Dictionary of Economics defines “goods” as things that people (e.g., consumers) prefer to consume more of rather than less. Further, these “goods” overwhelmingly adhere to a relationship between price and quantity known as the Law of Demand wherein consumers will purchase more of a good at lower prices than at higher prices. How the demand for these “goods” reacts to non-price stimuli is also well known and yields a place in the market system for marketing. Traditionally, the adoption of marketing techniques to alter the consumer satisfaction process and thus consumer demand has predictable impacts on the market …