The task undertaken in this dissertation is to determine the extent of the challenge facing the major firms (majors) who currently control over 80% of global sound carrier and publishing revenue in the popular (pop) music industry. The aim of this thesis is to explain the disorganising effects currently being experienced. Specifically, the central question guiding this thesis asks: what will be the effect of new technologies on the future organisation of the music industry? I focus broadly on recent universally accessible digital technologies which have raised questions about the future of the industry’s current organisational structure and processes both in terms of input (creation of music products in their commodified form) and output (access and consumption of music products). The industry’s processes are highly integrated and its business model is complex because it centres around the sophisticated management and aggressive appropriation of intellectual property (namely copyright) for repeated exploitation for decades after its initial acquisition. The purpose of this research, therefore, is to examine not only the tangible aspects of the manner in which the industry’s organises its products but also the intangible dimension. Significant recent changes experienced by the industry are identified. The literature is not conclusive in terms of explaining these developments. While existing research exists on recent developments, a comprehensive analysis of the organisation of the industry both in terms of input and output remains underdeveloped in the literature. In particular, in relation to product re-organisation and consumer behaviour, copyright development and corporate restructuring, the literature is not fully developed. Current research is focused on illegitimate technological attacks – namely digital piracy. However these do not adequately or comprehensively explain current disorganisation in the industry. This dissertation remedies this deficiency by proposing four separate but interconnected factors are affecting the highly concentrated status quo. Together, the positive and negative impacts of emerging technologies have created a serious dilemma in terms of product commodification for the controllers of the industry. I argue interconnected illegitimate and legitimate technological challenges are at play suggesting re-organisation is occurring multidimensionally. The research undertaken is empirically grounded, and though primarily based on qualitative data (and subsequent quantitative data for statistical corroboration), the current work has implications for understanding the industry’s methods. Together, these approaches form the basis of the dissertation’s methodology. The research reported in this dissertation attempts to determine to what extent the use and consumption of these different technologies can be regarded as the primary catalyst for the challenge to corporate control of the music industry, and the manner in which it is structured. If the dominant few intend to identify and rationalise challenges in terms of their corporate model, then they must understand the dynamic nature of interacting technologies.

This thesis examines the way in which the concept of authenticity is mobilised throughout popular cultural productions as a politically informed way of constructing value and meaning. It posits authenticity as a cultural category, the composition of which shifts according to the discursive and cultural contexts within which it operates, but whose significance lies in its capacity to signify the genuine, the real, and the fundamental. The thesis further proposes that three discourses are predominant in their participation in the construction and significance of authenticity: community, the natural, and creativity. Through a series of three case-study chapters, the thesis tracks this definition through extended analyses of a variety of cultural texts of different genres and media, and in different topic areas. First it examines the discourses of community and creativity in relation to popular music, drawing on texts such as video clips and film, journalistic writing, and fan discussions, in order to demonstrate that fan communities draw on the commonality of experience and the expressed creativity and skill of the performer in order to draw their own boundaries around what they consider to be authentic and inauthentic. Second, it looks at the discourses of the natural and of community in relation to food television and theorises that a fundamental meaning within the discourses of community—tradition—is at the heart of many valorised food cultures, and that this valorisation is played up in most televisual texts concerning food. Finally, the thesis examines the discourses of community and the natural in relation to travel writing, looking closely at the subgenre of the “villa book,” and claiming that the success of the subgenre is largely due to the intersection of the two key discourses. Similarly, the discourses of community and the natural are obvious within the practices of package-tourism, particularly within online discussions of this sort of travel. The thesis argues that in spite of an academic suspicion about authenticity as a valuing and explanatory mechanism, there is widespread use of the themes of authenticity—largely untheorised and undefined—within popular culture, and that the academy ignores these constructions at its peril. This thesis makes this examination, not in defence of authenticity as an essential, objective fact, but as a powerful, and largely unexamined, explanatory construction that is at the heart of what many people in this society consider important.

This thesis argues that Māori popular music, regardless of genre, is a valuable resource in the formulation of a vibrant and relevant Māori rangatahi (youth) identity. Specifically, the research investigates the complex relationship between popular music, social space, and Māori culture and community in Aotearoa. The researcher interviewed six participants from within the Māori music community and practiced participant observation at popular music events. The findings of this qualitative research are framed by an in-depth literature review into questions of Māori identity, as well as an application of ethnomusicology theories on the relationship of music to place and community. The research output includes both a 30-minute documentary and this accompanying exegesis, which frames the documentary within relevant fields of scholarship and presents a critical analysis of its successes and weaknesses. The researcher elected to create a documentary in recognition of the medium’s ability to maintain the voice of the research participants, capture the dynamism of the Māori popular music scene, and increase the potential for the research to reach a wider audience. The use of documentary also allows for an exploration of the relationship between music and documentary, and begins a discussion on the potential of socially-conscious rockumentaries to reveal crucial social issues. Finally, the exegesis questions the ethics of outsider filmmaking, and explores how the concept of ‘Kaupapa Māori filmmaking’ influenced the process of making the film.

The task undertaken in this dissertation is to determine the extent of the challenge facing the major firms (majors) who currently control over 80% of global sound carrier and publishing revenue in the popular (pop) music industry. The aim of this thesis is to explain the disorganising effects currently being experienced. Specifically, the central question guiding this thesis asks: what will be the effect of new technologies on the future organisation of the music industry? I focus broadly on recent universally accessible digital technologies which have raised questions about the future of the industry’s current organisational structure and processes both in terms of input (creation of music products in their commodified form) and output (access and consumption of music products). The industry’s processes are highly integrated and its business model is complex because it centres around the sophisticated management and aggressive appropriation of intellectual property (namely copyright) for repeated exploitation for decades after its initial acquisition. The purpose of this research, therefore, is to examine not only the tangible aspects of the manner in which the industry’s organises its products but also the intangible dimension. Significant recent changes experienced by the industry are identified. The literature is not conclusive in terms of explaining these developments. While existing research exists on recent developments, a comprehensive analysis of the organisation of the industry both in terms of input and output remains underdeveloped in the literature. In particular, in relation to product re-organisation and consumer behaviour, copyright development and corporate restructuring, the literature is not fully developed. Current research is focused on illegitimate technological attacks – namely digital piracy. However these do not adequately or comprehensively explain current disorganisation in the industry. This dissertation remedies this deficiency by proposing four separate but interconnected factors are affecting the highly concentrated status quo. Together, the positive and negative impacts of emerging technologies have created a serious dilemma in terms of product commodification for the controllers of the industry. I argue interconnected illegitimate and legitimate technological challenges are at play suggesting re-organisation is occurring multidimensionally. The research undertaken is empirically grounded, and though primarily based on qualitative data (and subsequent quantitative data for statistical corroboration), the current work has implications for understanding the industry’s methods. Together, these approaches form the basis of the dissertation’s methodology. The research reported in this dissertation attempts to determine to what extent the use and consumption of these different technologies can be regarded as the primary catalyst for the challenge to corporate control of the music industry, and the manner in which it is structured. If the dominant few intend to identify and rationalise challenges in terms of their corporate model, then they must understand the dynamic nature of interacting technologies.

Thesis (M.M.)--Baylor University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-122).

Universiẗat, Diss., 2007--Giessen.

Thesis (B.Mus.(Hons.)) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Music Studies, 1998. / Bibliography: leaves 102-103.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2002. / "A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy" Bibliography : leaves 241-266.

Thesis (M.A.). / Written for the Dept. of Art History and Communication Studies. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/03/12). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-203). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.