Vi verkar i en musikindustri där de med makt får mer makt och de utan makt får ännu mindre makt. Musiker och producenter är vårdslösa i sitt medskapande av industrin genom att jaga kändisskap och uppmärksamhet vilket skapat kryphål för affärsverksamheter att ta etiska ställningar om de vill utnyttja det eller inte. Dessa socialkulturella normer och moralstrukturer kommer till ytan genom att ifrågasätta bland annat när en musiker “lyckats” och vad en musiker är och ställa sig frågan varför. På så sätt utforskar vi gråzoner i våra kulturella värdegrunder. Eftersom musikindustrin växer rhizomatiskt kommer jag kartlägga och synliggöra vad som utgör de maktstrukturer som existerar, därefter kommer jag med rhizomatik och experimenterande design som metod utforska flyktlinjer i form av en musikproduktion där vi rör oss mellan maktstrukturer i alla dess former. / We operate in a music industry where the ones with power get more power and those with  less power gets even less of it. Musicians and producers are reckless in their co-creation of the industry by hunting attention and fame which have created loopholes for businesses to make ethical decisions if they want to exploit it or not. These social-cultural norms and moral structures floats to the surface by questioning, among other things, when a musician have “succeded” and what we define as a musician. In that way we explore the grey areas in our cultural values. Since the music industry grows rhizomatically, I will map and highlight what constitutes the power structures that exist, therefore I will use rhizomatics and experimental design as methods by exploring lines of flight in the form of a music production where we move through power structures in all of its forms.

Syftet med denna studie är att göra en kartläggning av ledarskapets roll i den kreativaprocessen inom majorbolagens organisationsstrukturer, samt på vilka sätt ledarskapet styr denkreativa processen. Ledarskapets betydelse i den kreativa processen diskuteras kring olikasituationer samt omgivningen och dess krav som styr marknaden och dess förutsättningar.Det dubbla ledarskapets teori får en viktig roll i studiens analys. Tillsammans medentreprenörskapets innovativa ledarskap ger det en koppling till den teknologiska utvecklingsom skett inom musikindustrin, genom framför allt digitaliseringen av industrin. / The purpose of the study is to do a mapping over the role of the leadership in the creativeprocess within the major record labels’ organizational structure and in what ways theleadership directs the creative process. The importance of leadership in the creative process isdiscussed in different situations as well as the environment’s demands which controls themarket and its conditions. The theory of the double leadership has a vital role in the study’sanalysis together with the innovative leadership of entrepreneurship and the connection to thetechnological advancements which have occurred in the music industry, mostly through thedigitalization of the industry.

Denna studie undersöker hur representanter från musikindustrin använder sig av hashtags, sociala medier och vilka effekter hashtags har samt, vilken effekt de skulle kunna ha på deras arbete. Användningen sätts i förhållande till tio redan definierade funktioner av hashtags.Uppsatsens syfte är att bidra till djupare förståelse hur hashtags används och hur dessa kan användas inom musikindustrin. Genom att förtydliga om detta är ett verktyg som kan användas för att lättare sprida information på social media. Detta genomfördes genom en kvalitativ studie och utförandet av semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem representanter från musikindustrin och två respondenter som arbetar inom andra områden, varav en är har forskat på twitter och hashtags och en jobbar med att stärka användningen av digitala verktyg på ett större företag. Detta har sedan blivit granskat genom en induktiv ansats. Frågeställningen har besvarats genom att resultaten från empirin analyserats utifrån teorin.Studien kom fram till att representanterna från musikindustrin i huvudsakligen använde sociala medier och hashtags för att marknadsföra sig själva och sina band. Men Artist 1 använde hashtags mer än Skivbolag 1. Effekterna hashtags hade var både positiva och negativa. Fördelen var att hashtags kunde rikta deras budskap mer exakt och nackdelen var att personer kan ha en negativ bild av hashtags och på sätt bli kritiska till användningen av dem. / This study examines how representatives from the music industry use hashtags, social media and what effects hashtags have, and what effect they could have on their work. The usage is set in relation to ten already defined functions of hashtags.The purpose of the thesis is to contribute to a deeper understanding of how hashtags are used and how these can be used in the music industry. By clarifying whether this is a tool that can be used to more easily disseminate information on social media. This was done through a qualitative study and was conducted by semi-structured interviews with five representatives from the music industry and two respondents as workers in other areas, one of which has been researching twitter and hashtags, and one who is working on strengthening the use of digital tools at a large company. This has since been examined through an inductive approach. The question has been answered by analysing the results of the empirical data based on the theory.The study concluded that the representatives of the music industry mainly used social media and hashtags to market themselves and their bands. But the artist used hashtags more than the record company. The effects of hashtags had been both positive and negative. The advantage was that hashtags were able to target their messages more accurately and the disadvantage was that people could have a negative image of hashtags and thus become critical of their use.

I mitt examensarbete 2023 på 15hp för programmet Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap: Medieaktivism, strategi och entreprenörskap analyserade jag kopplingarna mellan unga aspirerande musikskapares syn på artificiell intelligens (AI) och musikindustrin och deras estetiska upplevelser. Detta utfördes genom att hålla en fokusgrupp där deltagarna blev introducerade till AI-generad musik och AI-programmet Soundraw samt fick diskutera om deras åsikter om AI, estetiska upplevelser och musikindustrin. Materialet från studien analyserades sedan utifrån Actor Network teorin. Utifrån min studie uttryckte deltagarna att de hade svårare att skapa estetiska upplevelser av den AI-generade musiken. Det fanns tecken på att detta kan kopplas till att musiken enligt dem hade en låg estetisk och emotionell kvalitet, men även att detta kan vara kopplat till den erkända partiskheten emot AI inom industrin. Studien visade också på att ingen av deltagarna var mot AI:s utveckling inom industrin, något som blev intressant då AI var kritiserat under studien. Däremot är detta något som kommer behöva fortsättas studeras för att få en djupare förståelse över hur dessa aktörer är kopplade till varandra, samt vilka andra aktörer och egenskaper som går att koppla. / In my final exam project 2023 for 15hp in the Media and Communication Studies I studied the connections between young aspiring music creators’ view of artificial intelligence (AI) and the music industry and their aesthetic experience. This study was based on a focus group where the participants were introduced to AI-generated music and the AI-program Soundraw, along with being able to discuss their opinions of AI, aesthetic experiences, and the music industry. This focus group was later analyzed through the Actor Network Theory. Through my study participants voiced that they have a harder time creating aesthetic experiences through AI-generated music. There were signs that this was connected to what the participants saw as low aesthetic and emotional quality of the music, but it can also be connected to the admitted bias against AI in the music industry. The study also showed that no of the participants had much against AI’s involvement in the industry, which was interesting given that AI was still criticized through out the study. But this is something that still needs to continue to be studied to gain a lager understanding of how these actors are connected to each other and what other actors and factors are connected.

Studiens syfte var att undersöka relationerna kopplade till svenska gangsterrappare och musikindustrin och på så sätt identifiera viktiga aktörer i nätverket. Ytterligare en del av syftet var att studera hur gangsterrapparnas eventuella gängtillhörighet speglades i nätverket. Detta gjordes genom en social nätverksanalys av data från Spotify. Studien utgick från två teoretiska perspektiv, vilka var teorin om differentiella associationer och social nätverksanalys. Resultatet visade att det främst var ursprungsaktörerna som hade högst centralitet, men att även flera skivbolag hade höga värden. Av detta kunde slutsatsen dras att skivbolagen hade en viktig roll i att binda samman nätverket. Angående gängmiljön kunde en viss polarisering ses, där en av de två gängkonflikterna som visade sig i materialet även speglades inom musikindustrin, medan detta inte var lika tydligt i den andra. Av detta kunde slutsatsen dras att gängkonflikterna inte alltid speglas inom musikindustrin. / The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships linked to Swedish gangster rappers and the music industry, and thus identify important actors in the network. The aim was also to examine how the possible gang connections of the gangster rappers were reflected in the network. The method that was used was social network analysis and the data was collected from Spotify. The study was based on two theoretical perspectives, which were the theory of differential associations and social network analysis. The results showed that it was mainly the original actors that had the highest centrality values, but that several record companies also had high values. From this, the conclusion could be drawn that the record companies had an important role in binding the network together. Regarding the gang environment, polarization could be seen to some extent, where one of the two gang conflicts that appeared in the material was also reflected in the music industry, while this was not as evident in the other. From this, the conclusion could be drawn that the gang conflicts are not always reflected in the music industry.

The purpose of the study is to examine similarities between the role as a songwriter with the role as an entrepreneur, as well as the conceptions about working with songwriting. To examine this three questions was asked: What similarities are there between the role as a songwriter and the role as an entrepreneur? What characteristics are described as important to succeed as a songwriter compared to those of an entrepreneur? What conceptions are there about working with songwriting? As a foundation for the thesis the history of the music industry is depicted in its own chapter with focus on the sales of music from the 15th century until today. The chapter describes how the music industry for a long time used sheet music as the main way to distribute new music. In the end of the 19th century the record industry started to emerge with the development of record players. During the 20th century the industry went through a lot of changes where new technology like the radio and the TV became important channels to reach a bigger audience. In the beginning of the 21st century the record sales plummeted as the music market became more and more dominated by different streaming services. The thesis empirical data is based on eight interviews, including a group interview, conducted in Los Angeles with four Swedish and seven American informants. It is also based on a forum thread from a Swedish music forum on the internet. The results from the interviews are first described in an overview and then divided into three categories; aspiring songwriters, songwriters in the music industry and informants working with songwriters. The results from the interviews shows that a songwriter should be a good person to collaborate with, be good at establishing important contacts in the music industry, and pay attention the administrative work of accounting, contracts and agreements. From the forum thread of the music forum disappointment is expressed about how DJ’s do not single handedly write and produce all the music they are attributed to in the media.   The analysis shows that professional songwriters have much in common with entrepreneurs because they both need to take risks, be creative, and start business. The similarities between the conceptions of what is required to succeed as a professional songwriter with what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur includes having a good idea, having a supportive environment as well as being involved in marketing, sales and administration. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the work of songwriting is often glorified or overlooked, which creates misleading representations of what the work of a songwriter actually consists of.