Med teknologins ständiga framsteg har det uppkommit nya distributions- och produktionsmöjligheter vilket resulterat i en förändring i strukturen inom musikindustrin. Nya inkomstkällor har identifierats, och musikskapare kan agera mer självständigt än tidigare tack vare portabla inspelningsprogram och digitala plattformar såsom Spotify och Soundcloud. Den förändrade strukturen har fått som följd att relationen mellan musikskapare och musikbolag har förändrats.   Syftet med denna studie är att granska hur oetablerade musikskapares relation till musikbolag har förändrats, sett till den teknologiska förändringsprocess som skett. Detta för att skapa en djupare förståelse för fenomenet såväl som det musikindustriella landskapet. För att uppnå detta syfte har vi arbetat utifrån följande forskningsfråga: Hur har oetablerade musikskapares relation till musikbolag förändrats, sett till den teknologiska utveckling som skett? Studien bygger på en induktiv ansats där vi utgår från den insamlade empirin för att bilda oss en uppfattning om det studerade fenomenet och utifrån detta skapa en teoretisk förankring. Empirin består till stor del av sju semistrukturerade intervjuer med såväl musikskapare i den inledande fasen av sin karriär som en aktör aktiv inom musikbolag. För att styrka denna empiri har vi valt att komplettera med sekundärdata, både kvalitativ i form av artiklar och akademiska studier, men även kvantitativ i form av statistiskt underlag från branschorganisationer, såsom IFPI och Musiksverige. Denna studies slutsats tyder på ett begynnande mönster kring hur relationen mellan musikskapare och musikbolag har förändrats. Studien ämnar inte att generalisera eller konkretisera fenomenet utan att, genom materialet vi samlat in, diskutera fenomenet utifrån flertalet faktorer. Vi har i arbetet bland annat tagit upp entreprenörskap, ökad individuell kunskap, samt en ökad mängd musikskapare som bidragit till större konkurrens. Den ökade konkurrensen har bidragit till ett svårläst industriellt landskap där det nu finns en mängd verktyg att använda, men det garanterar inte en ökad chans till att ta sig igenom “bruset”. / The constant progress of technology, along with the new distribution and production opportunities that has appeared, has resulted in a structural change in the music industry. New sources of income has been identified to allow music creators to act more independent than before, as a result of portable recording software and digital platforms, such as Spotify and Soundcloud. Thus, the structural changes has led to modifications in the relationship between music creators and music companies. The intention of this study is to examine how music creators relationship to music companies have changed, during the initial phase of the music creators career, in terms of the technological transformation that has occurred. This is to create a deeper understanding of the music industrial landscape. To achieve this purpose, we have been working with the research question stated below: How has music creators relationship to music companies changed, in the initial phase of the music creators career and in terms of the technological transformation that has occurred? The study is based on an inductive approach, as our starting point is in the empirical field, in order to create a perception of the studied phenomenon and establish it theoretically. The empirical data largely consist of seven semi-structured interviews with music creators in the initial phase of their career, as well as an representative of the music companies. To further strengthen the data, we have chosen to complement it with secondary data. These come in the forms of qualitative data, such as articles and academic studies, as well as quantitative data, such as statistics from industry associations as IFPI and Musiksverige. The results of this study indicates an incipient pattern regarding the changed relationship between music creators and music companies. The aim of this study is not to generalize or concretize the phenomenon, but to, through the gathered material, discuss the phenomenon based on a plurality of factors. In the study, we have addressed topics such as entrepreneurship, an increase in individual knowledge as well as an increase in music creators, which has contributed to a growing competitive market. The increase in competition has resulted in a landscape that is more difficult to read, where there’s now an immense amount of tools to use, but no guarantee for breaking through the spectrum.

本論文企圖探討流行音樂創作者的風格形塑歷程。以伍佰為例，針對他自1990年到台北流行音樂圈開始發展後，一路至今(2014)的歷程進行深度的觀察與分析。試圖建立對於創作風格的形塑與轉變，提供一個理論的觀點。討論：1. 流行音樂創作者的個人風格如何形成？ 2. 流行文化和個人風格的互動關係為何？3. 隨著社會或自身的改變，創作者的如何回應，不斷開創自身風格？ 流行音樂產業當中唱片業因為科技的改變而衰退，當今現場表演才是創作者和表演者的能展現風格的和售票獲利的真實場域。但創作者要怎麼樣才能擁有自己的「風格」？而在風格一詞的多義性，已經在各個領域展開，從描述人格、作品、髮型、聲音，甚至life style都翻譯成「生活風格」的時刻，風格到底是什麼？本研究試圖以生命故事的角度，以及現場的觀察，來深度描寫創作者的故事。並從故事中，探索伍佰何以風格獨俱，以及他在市場上屹立不搖二十多年的原因。 簡述個案分析結論如下。對流行音樂創作者而言，「個人風格」是生命(life)內容找到合適的美學形式(Form)後，所進行展演的一種身體能力。風格形成的歷程，就是「生命」與「形式」校準的過程。流行音樂創作者獨特的個人風格來自於真實的生命經驗，且需要透過個人在社會與流行文化中習得的美學形式才能進行展演。 而「模仿」是生命尋找形式的最初起點。當自主表達的慾望大過講求普遍性的社會壓力時，一個流行文化的模仿者，才能成為創作者，開始尋找個人風格。經由不斷「感知」流行文化中不符合「自我」的部分，而使「自我形象」浮現，進而拒絕某些創作元素，並且建立符合「自我形象」的品味和創作路線。透過多元的實驗，去感受各種創作元素更動所造成的差異，厚積「美學展演的實作能力」，才能創造性地實踐與流行文化有所區別的個人風格，進而取回對自己生命內容的詮釋權。而「個人風格的出現」與否，則可由流行音樂創作者對於同一作品的不同詮釋與演繹是否具有辨識度來進一步觀察。反之也能從創作者受他人模仿的呈現中，觀察其個人風格明顯之處。 隨著社會或自身的改變，作品必須要能夠真實反映創作者的生命，因此持續更新個人風格的要領，就在於能夠不斷「破壞自己原有的樣子」，避免「自我複製」，但同時仍以真實的生命經驗和敏銳觀察進行創作，才不會落入為破壞而破壞的陷阱，迷失自我。 / This paper attempts to explore the stylization of pop music singer-songwriter. Wu Bai is the case we study. By looking through his music journey since 1989, we try to discover the story behind his stylization. The research questions are (1) As a Pop Music Singer-Songwriter, how to have one’s own style.(2) What is the interaction between popular culture and personal style？(3)As time goes by, how does a creator change or renew his/her own style to respond to oneself and the market？ Summarized as follows: To have “personal style” means a pop music singer-songwriter is capable to find the suitable “form” for his own “life” in his performance. Therefore, we believe that personal style is a kind of physical ability. Stylization is the interaction of life and form. A unique personal style comes from one’s real life experiences, and the aesthetic form have to be learned from society and popular culture. It takes a lot of practice to build one’s way to present. “Imitation” is the starting point of stylization. When the desire for self-expression is greater than the universality from social pressure, imitators could become creators, embark on the journey to pursue personal style. To reject the part in popular culture which does not fit, so that self-image emerges. Once a creator get familiar with oneself, who can establish creative style which fit whose self-image. By feeling the difference between every creative element through practice, one can learn the practical skills of aesthetic performances. After this, one could have personal style that differ from popular culture, and retrieve the right to interpret one’s own life. Everything in life changes, the work must be able to reflect the real life of the creator. Therefore, the essentials of renewing one’s personal style are "destroy one’s original appearance," "avoid self-replicating", and” always remember who you are”, so one will not be lost in the forest of stylization.

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.