The  emergence of the internet and  digitisation  has  led to  the disruption/transformation of  therecorded music industry sector. This has resulted in a shift  from  physical  to  digital  sales, which has also led to a decline in the global recorded music sector revenue. Although largely attributed to piracy and illegal music downloads, some have argued that this was as a result of  the reduction in the perceived value of commercially distributed recorded music. The audio quality of music and user experience has specifically been highlighted to have suffered due to digitisation. Experience from the case of the introduction of HDTV gives an example of a similar industry sector that was able to revive itself by implementing high-definition (HD) quality standards. This thesis set out to  investigate if such an approach could be applicable to  the recording music sector in order to create a similar HD music quality standard. The methodology adopted, involved performing a comparative case study to analyse what  lessons can be taken from the HDTV standardisation approach and how applicable it would be within  the recorded music sector. This was coupled  with interviews of industry actors that represent  the value creation network/chain of the recorded music sector. The result suggests that such a standardisation approach could be applicable and benefit the recorded music sector; however, this is conditional on overcoming a number of challenges that were   identified.

M.A. Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 2011 / This research report documents diverse impressions and experiences, of and about the South African music industry in general and Moshito Music Conference and Exhibition in particular. Foregrounding the perspectives of black South African entrepreneurs that operate and own small businesses, the research enunciates how Moshito has come to embody an expression of the transition to democracy. Within a broader political, cultural and industrial context, the report captures anecdotes, observations and interviews with key interviewees and decision makers linked to Moshito, in addition to its dialogue with the interconnectedness of various social theories and concepts, and their relationship with industrial and government policy. Necessarily the research also engages literature concerned with cultural industries, music industry and development discourses.