Music Business Commons^™

Music And Authenticity: The Emerging Role Of Ai In Music Creation, Education, And Consumption, Jon Littlefield, William Williams, Kimball P. Marshall

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

No abstract provided.

The Business Of Music: Where Planning And Performing Meet, Mac Heelein

Honors Capstones

This project explores the intersection of business and music through the planning and execution of a collaborative recital featuring the NIU Viola Studio. In this process, I served as both the organizer and a performer, applying project management principles to handle logistics such as scheduling, venue coordination, and event promotion. The project required managing multiple moving parts while keeping both the artistic and organizational aspects aligned.

Through this experience, I found that while project management provides a strong structure, artistic settings require flexibility when unexpected challenges arise. This project also highlighted the importance of balancing organization with creativity to ensure …

The Harvey Pittel Saxophone Quartet: Its History And Legacy In American Saxophone Quartet Performance, James M. Lawhn

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, Student Creative Work, and Performances

The saxophone quartet has emerged as a legitimate chamber ensemble in the United States through the sustained efforts of a small number of pioneering professional groups. Despite the central role these ensembles have played in shaping repertoire, performance standards, and public perception, their histories have often gone undocumented. Among the most influential of these groups is the Harvey Pittel Saxophone Quartet, an ensemble that maintained an unusually active national and international touring career for nearly four decades and helped establish the saxophone quartet as a viable professional model.

This document addresses a significant gap in the scholarly literature by presenting …

Developing Christian Artists: The Live Music Sphere, Camille Crites

Student Scholar Symposium

Christian/Gospel music was the fourth-fastest growing music genre in 2024, and many artists are seeking to enter the Christian music industry. This research seeks to examine the exploration of live music opportunities for Christian music artists in the developing stages of their careers. Every musical artist’s career consists of about five sectors: Songwriting/Publishing, Recording/Releasing Music, Live Music, Merch, and Sync (Film/TV). While parts like Songwriting and Recording are very accessible for new Christian artists, it can be challenging to know how to best approach the Live Music sector, one of the major sources of income for any performing artist. There …

The Self-Curating Musician: An Innovative Concept And An Intensive Learning Experience By Systemic Design Thinking, Joris Blanckaert, Ellen Loots, Saskia Westerduin, Pawan V. Bhansing

Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Education

Self-curation is an emerging notion in the artistic practice that we propose as an alternative to the questioned notion of entrepreneurship in the realm of classical music. Systemic Design Thinking (SDT) methods helped conceptualize self-curation and develop an intensive, week-long learning experience. Participants validated the self-curation concept and its five components: activating creativity, seeking uniqueness, developing a discourse, understanding the performance practice and engaging communities. Our study further highlights that rather than suffering from a tension between arts and commerce, young (performing) musicians experience a tension between the expectation of the outside world that they need to be exceptional as …

From Altamont To Astroworld: An Analysis Of Management Issues In Large Scale Music Festivals, Jennifer Morriss

Honors College Theses

The most common problems in music festivals can largely be broken into two categories: risks to the individual and risks on a grand scale. It is the responsibility of event managers to consider how to best keep everyone safe and maintain proper organization. Risks to the individual are often things like substance use and abuse, harm reduction, and sexual assault or harassment. Meanwhile, broad risks tend to be issues of evacuation and emergency management, crowd safety, stampedes, and casualties or violence. It is crucial to reflect on prior common safety and security issues when setting out to produce a large …

A Conversation With Loe Gino, Loe Gino, Seb Taylor

Digital Laboratory: Publisher of Internet Journal

LOE Gino is a Bay Area native from Berkeley, California and an independent artist. He has been a pioneer in the music industry for new age artistry. His ability to be a voice for independent artists parallels his wordsmith-skills as a rapper. As a part of the Bay Area cultural scene, he is a real life example of how to set a vision and build it as you go. Every aspect of his creative vision is thought out and executed with the accuracy of a freestyle. LOE Gino stands as an example of what it means to never conform to …

Has K-Pop Lost Its Koreaness?, Madison J. Gusler

Capstones

Since the 2010s, the global expansion of K-pop has been undeniable, with music from Korean idol groups resonating with fans around the world. We’ve seen the industry adapt to cater to this global audience, placing emphasis on non-verbal aspects of performance such as choreography and set design, and integrating more English lyrics in their songs. K-pop has always had multinational, multicultural influences in its production, yet the music has remained distinctly Korean. But as the industry expands into new markets, faces new challenges, and adapts to convey greater global appeal, the public must contend with the idea of a K-pop …

Timing Matters: Applying Musicians’ Insights To Business, Ray Haeng Soo Seol Edd, Barry Van Zyl Mba

Faculty Works

Timing, a critical aspect in social contexts and human cognition, has been extensively studied across diverse fields, such as biology, neuroscience, and business. However, there is a lack of interdisciplinary approaches that offer fresh perspectives on how timing works. Music performance, being inherently temporal in nature, presents a unique opportunity to bridge this gap and explore timing mechanisms in a multifaceted context. This research explores how professional musicians understand and utilize timing in their training and artistic development, and how these insights can be applied to business contexts, bridging the two fields to understand timing more comprehensively. Through a qualitative …

A Live Performance Guide: Building A Concert, Genevieve White, Genevieve White

Honors College Theses

Many are unaware of the production process when it comes to live performances in the Music Industry. While the obvious barriers of obtaining a time, place, and performer can be easily concluded, many outside of the industry fail to consider other components that contribute to successful performances. The attainment of proper contracting, performance licenses, and music materials are just a few examples of the thought and preparations that go into planning and accomplishing a successful concert.

This project, from conception to execution, was intended to further my knowledge of live performance through the utilization of classroom education and industry experience. …

Immerse, Interact, Impact: A Comparative Analysis On Selected Experiential Marketing Activations At Outside Lands Music And Arts Festival 2022, Phoebe R. Saul

Experience Industry Management

The commercial marketplace is becoming increasingly experiential. Experiential marketing activations, particularly those done at music festivals, are emerging as a highly valuable marketing tool to impact brand recognition and loyalty through the creation of unique branded experiences. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiential marketing design practices utilized at selected branded activations within Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival 2022. A comparative analysis was conducted on three selected experiential marketing activations at Outside Lands: The House by Heineken, the Music Den by Toyota, and the Ocean Love Tour by Gray Whale Gin. The findings concluded that the …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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!

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 …

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 …

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 …

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. …

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.

The Current Royalty Distribution Process For Songwriters In The United States And Improving The Process, Catherine Canete

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

In this paper, I explore the music publishing process as a whole and the possible income streams available for songwriters in the music industry. Though songwriters are not the only individuals that may receive royalties for their work, this paper focuses primarily on songwriters and music publishing. Using data collected from interviews and secondary research, I explain the steps involved from generating royalties to the payment to the songwriter. I explain the roles of copyright, performing rights organizations, music publishers, mechanical licensing agencies, and more. Though the system functions as is, I describe some of the issues with the processes …

Diversification Of Orchestras’ Audiences, Musicians, Programming, And Revenues: Transforming The Relevancy Of German And U.S Orchestras To Their Communities, Dina Marie Weineck

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This thesis presents ways of how orchestras in Germany and the U.S can transform classical music into a vehicle for social improvement through the diversification of audiences, musicians’ body, artistic programming, concert experience, and revenues. The linkages between mission and funding models of U.S orchestras are being re-calibrated, striving for social relevancy and financial sustainability at once. This approach is contrary to the way in which orchestras have divorced their missions for on-site concerts as their primary product from off-site community programs as a secondary avenue. The purpose and mission set forth for these orchestras, respectively, must be viewed in …

I Am An Artist! What Do I Know About Business?, Angela Wright

Dept. of Organisation & Professional Development Publications

What has business to do with art? Should artists understand business? This research is concerned with the world of the artist who must operate in a business world. In the words of the late singer, Luciano Pavarotti (2003), artists must „be heard and be seen‟ to be successful. Commercial entities expose their products and services to clients to survive, and for the artist, this is no different. The paper examines if there is a need to ensure that our artistic graduates are „market ready‟, and specifically examines this concept in the context of an Irish Institute of Technology (IT). Artists …

Love Is The Movement: A Philanthropic Study, Matt Nistler

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduate requirement for the BSU Honors Program.