My research examines how music genres influence consumer psychology, particularly focusing on uncovering the underlying mechanism between music genres and consumer behaviors. Toward this goal, Essay 1 identifies the links between specific music genres and product/brand choice, while Essay 2 explores the positive repercussions that listening to sad music has on prosocial decisions, as well as, higher quality personal consumer choices. In Essay 1, I take a wider look at the influence of music genres, as broad categories of music, and examine how specific genres inform consumer "music mindsets" (elicited through learned associations) that ultimately influence product/brand preference. Specifically, I look at the influence of a competitive mindset, informed by listening to hiphop music, and a down-to-earth mindset, informed by listening to country music, on product and brand choice. Three experiments and one field study demonstrate that listening to hiphop music gives consumers the desire for performance brands and products, as a result of their competitive mindset, while listening to country music gives consumers the desire for products and brands that are focused on the simple comforts in life, as a result of their down-to-earth mindset. The second essay focuses on the positive outcomes of listening to sad music. I hypothesize that sad music moves listeners into a state of positive longing which increases the desire to make prosocial decisions and higher quality personal decisions such as healthy food choices. Two experiments, one lab study, and one field study support the proposed framework and find that listening to sad music can enhance an individual's desire to make positive choices, mediated by a positive longing state. This essay makes important contributions to understanding the impact sad music has in marketing, especially as advertising campaigns (e.g., ASPCA) continue to utilize sad music as a common tactic in their efforts.

Στη διπλωματική αυτή παρουσιάζεται μια μεθοδολογία για την ταξινόμηση των μουσικών κομματιών και τραγουδιών ανάλογα με το μουσικό είδος που ανήκουν. Συγκεκριμένα χρησιμοποιούνται τα ίδια τα μουσικά κομμάτια ως πηγή πληροφοριών, και μέσω γνωστών μεθόδων επεξεργασίας ακουστικών σημάτων (που βασίζονται στο μετασχηματισμό Fourier) εξάγονται κατάλληλα δεδομένα. Στη συνέχεια με χρήση γνωστών μεθόδων μάθησης με επίβλεψη (δέντρα αποφάσεων, σύνολα κανόνων, μπεϊσιανή μάθηση, τεχνητά νευρωνικά δίκτυα και μηχανές διανυσμάτων υποστήριξης), γίνεται η αντίστοιχη μουσική ταξινόμηση. Στο τέλος προτείνεται μια συνδυαστική μέθοδος ταξινόμησης (συνδυασμός αλγορίθμων μάθησης) για την βελτίωση των αποτελεσμάτων όπου θα βγουν και τα τελικά συμπεράσματα. / The present work describes a methodology for the automatic recognition of music genres, based exclusively on the audio content of the signal. We use proposed techniques to extract attributes (based on Fourier Transform). Then with familiar supervised classification techniques we classify seven different music genres (rock, metal, hard rock, classical music, jazz, beat, rempetika -rempetika is a Greek music genre). At the end we propose a combined technique to improve our results. This technique is based on stacking generalization. We propose an improvement of stacking generalization.

Submitted by PAULO ROBERTO PRADO CONSTANTINO null (pconst@bol.com.br) on 2017-04-06T12:37:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Apreciacao de generos musicais.pdf: 2131729 bytes, checksum: f1c1f2b14f5f18a71b821ebf9a90bdb9 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by LUIZA DE MENEZES ROMANETTO (luizamenezes@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2017-04-10T15:02:00Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 constantino_prp_dr_mar.pdf: 2131729 bytes, checksum: f1c1f2b14f5f18a71b821ebf9a90bdb9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-10T15:02:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 constantino_prp_dr_mar.pdf: 2131729 bytes, checksum: f1c1f2b14f5f18a71b821ebf9a90bdb9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-09 / A tese sustenta que a atividade de apreciação dos gêneros musicais, como estruturadora das propostas educacionais para a escola básica, é um princípio pedagógico válido e aplicável aos diferentes níveis de ensino, com ênfase no segundo ciclo do Ensino Fundamental e Médio, promovendo a aproximação das instituições escolares à diversidade dos gêneros musicais e das possibilidades de escuta baseadas nas mídias e suportes disponíveis. A pesquisa-ação foi o instrumental escolhido para uma intervenção entre 169 alunos do ensino fundamental e médio em duas escolas estaduais públicas paulistas. Os resultados obtidos foram analisados à luz das categorias de avaliação da apreciação musical propostas por Keith Swanwick (2014), delineando percursos para atividades entre os alunos da educação básica. / The thesis argues that the activity of listening of music genres as a structuring element of the educational proposals, is a valid approach and applicable to the different levels of education, with emphasis in the Elementary [Middle School] and High School, promoting the approximation of institutions to the diversity of music genres and listening possibilities, based on available media. Action-research was the instrument chosen for studies among 169 middle and high school students, in two public schools in State of São Paulo, Brazil. The results obtained were analyzed in the categories of listening evaluation proposed by Keith Swanwick (2014), outlining paths for the development of the proposal among students of basic education.

Tonmeisters tune the sound of music productions. Besides aspects like spectral bal- ance, loudness and dynamics, spaciousness plays an important role. Music of different genres tends towards different degrees of spaciousness due to generic aesthetic ideals and practical reasons. In this paper, we compare the degree of spaciousness as intended by the Tonmeister and perceived by the listener. 150 music excerpts from 5 different genres (electronica, classical, jazz, rock and ethno) are analyzed. The Tonmeister’s intention is derived from the literature and from analysis with a goniometer. The listeners perception is obtained from a listening test with 13 participants. The listening test revealed different adjectives for each genre relating to a spacious perception. We found that general rules as suggested in the literature are barely reflected in the goniometer results or the subjective impressions. Subjective impressions are largely contradictory.

This dissertation develops the concept of generic mobility—which I will tentatively define as the capacity of a music maker to make music that falls into various generic categories. I am trying to understand the practicalities around making music that fits such a description, in the process asking what this says about genre and what it says about the nature of making music in the first place. To do so, I examine the compositional process of the renowned hip-hop producer, Otis Jackson Jr.—African American, male, born in 1973 in Oxnard, CA, known professionally as Madlib—during the years around the turn of the millennium when he becomes preoccupied with making music that fits such a criterion. Crucial to the understanding of generic mobility developed in this dissertation is that it is an ability. So, at its core, this project is about the means by a musician might develop such an ability; across the following pages, we see an evolution from a musician whose music and methods are unproblematically legible as “hip-hop” to one whose music and methods activate ambivalent zones across generic space. Each chapter looks at a different dimension along which the ability to do so is developed, and unpacks the generic, aesthetic, music-technical, economic, and political implications of that method. These range from an overview of what Jackson is doing while he is making music, to detailed examinations of his incorporation of magic mushrooms into his compositional process to his turn towards live instruments to his appropriations of Brazilian materials. So, the primary question this dissertation asks is: how might one go about making music that moves about genre? The primary argument this dissertation makes is that—in the case of Otis Jackson Jr. at least—one gains this capacity by altering the processes by which one makes music.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur sångpedagoger inom de klassiska respektive de populärmusikaliska sångtraditionerna förhåller sig till enskild sångundervisning, samt hur de designar sin undervisning. Data har samlats in genom intervjuer med fyra sångpedagoger, samtliga verksamma på eftergymnasial nivå. Två av informanterna arbetar i huvudsak inom den klassiska genren, de andra två inom pop-genren. Intervjuformen var kvalitativ intervju med öppna följdfrågor. Analysen av materialet är gjord utifrån ett designteoretiskt perspektiv. Resultatet visar att informanternas val av resurser är liknande oavsett genretillhörighet. De lägger alla stor vikt vid förmågan att designa förutsättningarna för lärande utifrån det enskilda mötet med varje elev. Resultatet visar också att språkbruket skiljer sig åt beroende på vilken genre informanterna tillhör, samt att skillnaderna i klangligt ideal genrerna emellan leder till skillnader i arbetssätt och musikaliskt fokus. I diskussionen förs ett resonemang kring genrernas ideal och dess påverkan på kunskapsförmedlingen. / The purpose of this study is to examine how voice teachers, when following the Classical and Popular vocal traditions, approach private singing, and how they design the instruction. Data has been collected through interviews with four voice teachers, all of whom are active at the post-secondary school level. Two of the informants primarily teach the Classical tradition, while the other two teach the Popular music tradition. The interview form used was the qualitative interview, with open follow-up questions. The analysis was performed from a perspective of design theory. The result shows that the resources used by the informants are similar regardless of genre. Emphasis is placed on the ability to design the conditions for learning in the encounter of each individual student. The result also shows that vocabulary varies according to genre, and that the difference in preferred sound between genres leads to differences in methods, as well as musical focus. The discussion reflects on the ideals of the two genres, and how they affect the transfer of knowledge.

As the popularity of mashups attests, individual songs and their increasingly irrelevant prepackaged albums no longer seem to constitute a finished product to many who listen to them. Instead individual songs often serve as raw ingredients for use in another recipe – the playlist, the mix, the mashup – which those who buy the songs make and exchange. The strict division between producers and consumers, which the music industry exploited very productively throughout the twentieth century, seems to be breaking down, and I conclude that the mashup models a different, more fluid relationship between musical consumption and production. In this dissertation, I examine mashups from a music theoretical point of view. I argue that the mashup represents an important musical genre with distinguishing characteristics and its own historical development. Chapter 1 defines the mashup and devises a typology that classifies the genre based on two characteristics: number of songs combined and the mode of their combination (vertical or horizontal). This typology leads to the division of the mashup into four distinct subtypes. Chapter 2 discusses significant legal challenges raised by the mashup, especially with respect to copyright. Mashups – at least in recorded form – began as an underground, largely non-commercial phenomenon, due to the cost and difficulty of obtaining permission to use another artist’s recording. I also examine various pertinent musical lawsuits and discuss their influence on the way mashup artists make and distribute their works. Chapter 3 probes the historical factors that led to the development of mashups, including sampling in hip hop music (both recorded and live), collage techniques in art music, and looping and mixing by club DJs. Chapter 4 investigates the aesthetics of the mashup. Critics in the popular press and on the internet judge mashups without specifying the musical characteristics that make a particular mashup successful. This chapter seeks to locate the aesthetic principles that govern mashup production. Using commentary by mashup artists as well as transcription and analysis of several mashups, I divide these aesthetic principles into two categories: construction and meaning. I then develop a list of characteristics that mashup artists aim for when creating their tracks. / text

Humans thrive on placing everyday perceptions into discrete categories. These categories, including genres in popular music, help us understand the world around us and process new information in a relatively efficient way. But music theorists often take genre for granted, by which I mean most scholars rarely unpack how social and musical categories work together to codify and reinforce often racial and gendered lines placed between categories of people and music. In Reconceiving Genre, I address some the methodological issues around genre in popular music. This dissertation argues for a reframing of genre and what these labels can convey. Through different generic case studies in each chapter, I develop a framework for analyzing genre from multiple musical and cultural traditions. I critically examine social and commercial constructions of popularity and authenticity in relation to artist’s presentations of gender, race, class, and sexuality— positionalities that are often taken for granted in popular music analysis. This dissertation’s most distinctive contribution to both music theory and popular music studies is that it dismantles the idea that genre is only a marketing label that conveys details about an artist’s musical style, and challenges assumptions that genre is “dead” or beyond repair to be a meaningful tool. These assumptions dull the transgressive force of how we can use genre to understand issues of authenticity, popularity, and society more broadly. In short, my project demonstrates that genre categories can reveal as much about an artist’s identity as they can about a piece’s musical features. Thus, theories of genre need to account for identities like race, gender, and sexuality of artists, listeners, and even analysts in order to be fully inclusive, meaningful, and accessible.

Syfte och Forskningsfrågor: Syftet med uppsatsen är att fördjupa förståelsen för musikens kulturella betydelse när den används tillsammans med ett retailvarumärkes identitet. För att nå vårt syfte har vi arbetat med följande forskningsfrågor: • Hur är musik integrerat i organisationers marknadskommunikationer och brand management? • Vilka följder får musikanvändningen på varumärkets identitet och målgrupp? Hur är denna identitet sedan internaliserad av kunder som konsumerar varumärket? • Hur kan en bättre förståelse för dessa frågor leda till en mer relevant musikanvändning inom brand management? • Vilka är sedan möjligheterna att bygga relationer med kunder genom användningen av musik? Metod: Vi har jobbat abduktivt med uppsatsen där teorin och empirin har ständigt skänkt nya insikter och tolkningsmöjligheter åt varandra. Vi har också använt oss av en kvalitativ metod som vi anser bättre lämpad för undersökning av kulturella kontexter än vad en kvantitativ metod är. Slutsatser: Vi har sett att det finns flera sätt att använda musik i retailupplevelsen och på olika nivåer. Musik kan förstärka redan existerande teman eller genom sina sociala egenskaper hjälpa kunder att förstå varumärkesidentitet. En kund kommer alltid att internalisera ett varumärkes kommunikation och tolka dessa genom sina egna sociala konstruktioner och övertygelser för att sedan kasta tillbaka en avkodad bild. Genom denna förståelse och tolkning byggs relationer mellan retailföretag och kunder. Med en utökad förståelse för dessa frågor kan retailvarumärken öka relevansen i sin musikanvändning och möjliggöra att varumärket blir en del i kunders identitetsskapandeprocess. / SAMMANFATTNING Titel: Musikidentiteter inom retailbranding: Hur förståelse för musikgenrer skapar förståelse för varumärkesidentitet Författare: Grant Murdoch Purdy och Johan Plambeck Handledare: Olle Duhlin Kurs: Kandidatuppsats inom företagsekonomi, inriktning marknadsföring, HT-2013 Music & Event Management, Linnéuniversitetet Nyckelord: varumärke, retailvarumärke, varumärkesidentitet, identitet, identitetsskapande, sinnesmarknadsföring, musik, kultur, subkultur Syfte och Forskningsfrågor: Syftet med uppsatsen är att fördjupa förståelsen för musikens kulturella betydelse när den används tillsammans med ett retailvarumärkes identitet. För att nå vårt syfte har vi arbetat med följande forskningsfrågor: • Hur är musik integrerat i organisationers marknadskommunikationer och brand management? • Vilka följder får musikanvändningen på varumärkets identitet och målgrupp? Hur är denna identitet sedan internaliserad av kunder som konsumerar varumärket? • Hur kan en bättre förståelse för dessa frågor leda till en mer relevant musikanvändning inom brand management? • Vilka är sedan möjligheterna att bygga relationer med kunder genom användningen av musik? Metod: Vi har jobbat abduktivt med uppsatsen där teorin och empirin har ständigt skänkt nya insikter och tolkningsmöjligheter åt varandra. Vi har också använt oss av en kvalitativ metod som vi anser bättre lämpad för undersökning av kulturella kontexter än vad en kvantitativ metod är.  Slutsatser: Vi har sett att det finns flera sätt att använda musik i retailupplevelsen och på olika nivåer. Musik kan förstärka redan existerande teman eller genom sina sociala egenskaper hjälpa kunder att förstå varumärkesidentitet. En kund kommer alltid att internalisera ett varumärkes kommunikation och tolka dessa genom sina egna sociala konstruktioner och övertygelser för att sedan kasta tillbaka en avkodad bild. Genom denna förståelse och tolkning byggs relationer mellan retailföretag och kunder. Med en utökad förståelse för dessa frågor kan retailvarumärken öka relevansen i sin musikanvändning och möjliggöra att varumärket blir en del i kunders identitetsskapandeprocess. / ABSTRACT Title: Music identities in retail branding: How genre rules form understandings of brand identity Key words: branding, retail branding, sensory marketing, brand identity, identity creation, identity, music, music genres, subculture The purpose of this thesis is to better understand the social ramifications of using music together with retail branding. The key point of interest is how understandings of brand identities are connected to (sub)cultural understandings of music identities. To do this the authors examine two Swedish retail brands, both of whom have clearly defined music profiles, but also have decidedly different target audiences active within decidedly different subcultural realms. To address the dynamic social exchange inherent in identity creation the paper uses both a theoretical brand management framework as well as an ethnological approach. The paper is divided into three areas of interest that address different facets of the branding process in relation to identity. First, how brand identity is communicated and the different communication points where music is used. Second, how brand identity is understood by consumers and how consumers in turn understand music-based brand identities with the help of genre rules. Third, how brand identity helps build relationships, how this is connected to retail brand loyalty and what role music has within these two processes. The authors conclude by presenting a new model for better understanding how the formation of brand identity and individual (sub)cultural identities are interconnected, as well as how these findings can be used by retail brands in the future to better engage target audiences with music.

The live music performance industry is growing tremendously in South Africa, with more and more international artists performing on our shores year after year. Competition is growing and various companies are beginning to identify this as a business opportunity to make money. However, managing live music performances is a complex task which involves managing various aspects (critical success factors) of the event in order to ensure that it is a success. Apart from this, visitors attend these performances hoping that their expectations will be exceeded and the performance is something which can be treasured and is worth remembering once everything is over. This is referred to as a memorable experience. In order to ensure a memorable visitor experience, it is essential for managers to be aware of what the visitors regard as important critical success factors. These are aspects that management can control and improve. Thus, the critical success factors should be implemented effectively in order to ensure that the event is memorable for visitors attending the live music performance. While various critical success factors are familiar to event organisers, they differ from event to event. Thus, the critical success factors of one event cannot be implemented at another with the same expectation of success. This is due to the heterogeneous groups of people who attend these events and who cannot be regarded as being the same, as each individual will have different expectations of the same event. Therefore, it is also important for the managers of live music performances to determine how the visitors to the different genre events regard the various critical success factors that are vital for a memorable experience. This is significant, as various music genres attract different attendees who each have their own expectations of a music genre and which may differ from those of visitors to other music genres. For example, the expectations for a memorable experience of individuals attending a classical live music performance will differ from individuals attending a rock or pop live music performance. In addition, it is also important for management to compare those critical success factors identified by the visitors to their own ideas of what is important for a successful event in order to identify any shortcomings. Thus, it was expedient to seek answers to the questions of what visitors to live music performances regard as important critical success factors as well as what the managers consider to be important for a memorable experience. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the critical success factors for managing a memorable visitor experience at live music performances from both the demand and supply sides. The said factors were subsequently compared in order to establish whether any shortcomings exist. This thesis comprises three articles. Firstly, the research was conducted from a demand (visitors) side. Thus, the aim of Chapter 3 was to determine what attendees at live music performances regard as being critical success factors for different music genres so as to enhance memorable visitor experiences. Surveys were conducted at various genres of live music performances which included classical music (Il Divo), R&B (Usher), rock (Sting), blues (Michael Buble), pop (Roxette) and Afrikaans music (Steve Hofmeyr). A total of 4 110 questionnaires were administered and a general profile of the visitors in terms of the different genres was compiled. A factor analysis was subsequently performed in order to determine the critical success factors for all six genres. Thereafter, an Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied in order to compare the critical success factors of the various genres with one another. The results indicated significant statistical differences amongst the different music genres with regard to that which the visitors to the different live music performances regard as being important for a memorable visitor experience. Secondly, the research was conducted from a supply (managers) side and the objective of Chapter 4 was to determine what the managers consider to be important critical success factors in ensuring a memorable visitor experience at a live music performance. A qualitative research method, by means of interviews, was used to obtain the relevant information from the selected participants. All the data collected in the process were transcribed into text and presented in a narrative form. The six step method formulated by Cresswell (2009:185-189) for data analysis and interpretation was used to analyse the data. Four major themes emerged from the analysis where each theme was differentiated in terms of various categories and subcategories. This process contributed greatly towards gaining detailed information regarding the main purpose of organising a live music performance; identifying the aspects that managers consider to be important when organising a live music performance and those aspects that are important in pre-, during- and post-event planning phases as well as how managers define a memorable experience. Lastly, in Chapter 5 a comparison was performed between the demand and supply sides of live music performances in order to establish whether any differences exist amongst the aspects that management consider to be important compared to the critical success factors that the visitors regard as being important to achieve a memorable visitor experience. Both qualitative (supply side) and quantitative (demand side) research methods were implemented in this research. The results of the critical success factors drawn from the first and second articles were used to conduct this research. The results of both the demand and supply sides were subsequently compared with one another where significant differences had been identified. This was the first time that research was conducted from both the demand and supply sides within the live music performance environment. The results of this research contribute greatly to literature and to the music industry. In addition, this was also the first time that both a qualitative and a quantitative research method were applied in research conducted at live music performances and which were subsequently compared with one another. Determining the differences between the critical success factors identified contributes towards event specific education and information for current as well as future live music performance managers. Therefore, results of this research can be employed to educate and inform current and future managers in the live music performance industry regarding important aspects relating to the enhancement of the important critical success factors that contribute to a memorable experience when individuals attend a live music performance. / PhD (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014