The main aim of this diploma thesis is to design the marketing mix of an alternative record label company that releases drum and bass music. In the theoretical part I try to describe the situation on the music market and outline how record labels work. I am specifying the tools of the marketing mix which are typical for a record label. In the practical part I'm pointing out the differences between the perception of mainstream and alternative music and I'm characterising the drum and bass scene. Based on this information I'm choosing the target audience and building the profile and the vision of my fictional

The advent of music streaming has made it increasingly important for actors in the music industry to understand if tracks are going to succeed or not. This study investigates if it is possible to accurately classify the growth of the listener base of a music track based on multivariate time series with listener behavior data. 18 popular time series classification algorithms were used to build predictive models which were evaluated in a 10-fold cross-validation. We also examined the algorithms’ potential to deliver business value for a record label. Lastly, the possibilities and challenges of applying a data-driven business model in the music industry were investigated by performing a comparative analysis of a modern and traditional record label. Six algorithms were found to significantly outperform the baseline. Two algorithms based on convolutional kernels, RR and AMini, were found to present the biggest business value because of their accuracy and low time complexity. While it may be necessary for record labels to adopt data-driven business models to flourish in the modern market, there are difficulties regarding the competitiveness of digital solutions and complications in moving the focus from networking to developing technology. / Spridningen av musiktjänster har gjort det alltmer viktigt för aktörer i musikbranschen att förstå vilka låtar som kommer att lyckas och inte. Denna studie undersöker om det är möjligt att klassificera tillväxten av en låts lyssnarantal baserat på multivariata tidsserier innehållandes data om lyssnarbeteende. 18 populära algoritmer för tidsserieklassificering användes för att bygga prediktiva modeller som utvärderades med 10-delad korsvalidering. Vi undersökte sedan algoritmernas potential att skapa affärsvärde för ett skivbolag. Slutligen studerades möjligheter och utmaningar som datadrivna affärsmodeller presenterar i denna bransch genom en komparativ analys av ett modernt och traditionellt skivbolag. Sex algoritmer visade sig signifikant överträffa en baslinjeklassificerare. Vi fann att två algoritmer baserade på faltningskärnor, RR och AMini, kunde skapa störst affärsvärde på grund av deras noggrannhet samt låga tidskomplexitet. Det verkar vara nödvändigt för skivbolag att anamma datadrivna affärsmodeller för att frodas i den moderna marknaden, men det finns svårigheter som måste beaktas vad gäller konkurrenskraften för digitala lösningar samt förflyttandet av fokuset från nätverksbyggande till teknologiutveckling.

<p>This study has the purpose of looking at the current and future position of recordlabels from a context involving the technological developments, while theopportunities for the artists are changing. As the actors inside them music industryfind themselves in an ever changing climate where traditional supply chains arethreatened by new technology, the record labels need to change the way they workin order to maintain their existence in the music industry. The study has beenconducted by interviewing a number of people involved in the music industry, byusing a qualitative method approach. The conclusion of the study shows that thetraditional way of doing business by treating music as a product that makes revenueis gone. Instead the labels have to take on new roles formerly run by third parties inorder to survive and be profitable, especially since artists can now in control ofactivities that used to be controlled by the record label.</p>

This study has the purpose of looking at the current and future position of recordlabels from a context involving the technological developments, while theopportunities for the artists are changing. As the actors inside them music industryfind themselves in an ever changing climate where traditional supply chains arethreatened by new technology, the record labels need to change the way they workin order to maintain their existence in the music industry. The study has beenconducted by interviewing a number of people involved in the music industry, byusing a qualitative method approach. The conclusion of the study shows that thetraditional way of doing business by treating music as a product that makes revenueis gone. Instead the labels have to take on new roles formerly run by third parties inorder to survive and be profitable, especially since artists can now in control ofactivities that used to be controlled by the record label.

This thesis adopts a practice-based approach to understanding how power, knowledge and knowing intermingle in organizations to facilitate/constrain individual access to opportunities for knowing-in-practice (learning). It explores how organizational mechanisms and technologies of regulation (re)construct and (re)produce organizational dimensions of knowledge as power/knowledge resources by which intermingling modalities of power are enacted to continuously sanction and (re)constitute individual meanings and identities.

I takt med den digitala revolutionen har vidden av skivbolagens aktiviteter reducerats. Idag kan individer göra mycket på egen hand som skivbolagen traditionellt sett gjort för sina artister. Rollen som de spelar anses inte vara lika väsentlig i en artists karriär till följd av digitaliseringen.       Syftet med denna studie är att skapa förståelse för hur skivbolagens roll ser ut i en digitaliserad och tjänst-dominerad musikbransch. För att kunna besvara syftet har tre semistrukturerade intervjuer utförts, varav en består av två respondenter. Intervjuerna genomfördes med skivbolagen Universal Music, Amuse och ett independent bolag i Stockholm.      Studiens empiri visar att aktiviteterna som skivbolag utför är anpassat utefter digitala medier, samt att alla respondenter menar att även om artister i dagsläget kan göra allting själva, är det lättare att lyckas med hjälp av ett skivbolag.      Slutsatserna som nåtts är att skivbolagens roll ser ut på det viset att de är artisternas partner, som innebär att de är med dem, och inte för dem. Rollen skivbolagen har i en digitaliserad och tjänst-dominerad musikbransch innebär att de erbjuder artisterna kunskap, kontakter och kapital. Skivbolagens roll har försvagats inom de traditionella aktiviteterna marknadsföring och distribution, och anses istället finnas som stöd och komplement inom dessa aktiviteter. Skivbolagens roll har istället blivit viktigare när det gäller att upptäcka, bygga samt driva artisternas karriärer. / With the digital revolution, the scope of record labels’ activities have been reduced. Today, individuals can do a lot on their own, that record labels have traditionally done for their artists. The role they played is not considered as important in the career of an artist today, due to digitization.      The aim of this essay is to examine and create insight on how record labels’ role looks like in a digitalized and serice-dominated music industry. To do this, three interviews have been carried out, whereof one interview included two respondents. The interviews were held with the record labels Universal Music, Amuse and an independent label in Stockholm.      The results show that the activities that record labels perform are adjusted according to digital media. The results also show that all of the respondents claim that even though artists today can do everything on their own, it is easier to succeed with the help of a record label.      The conclusion is that the record labels’ role is that they are partners with their artists, which means that they are with them, and not for them. The role record labels have in a digitalized and service-dominated music industry is that they offer knowledge, connections and capital to their artists. The record labels’ role has been weakened within the traditional activities marketing and distribution. Instead, they are regarded as existing as a support and complement within these activities. The record labels’ role has therefore become more important in finding, building and operating artists’ careers.

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.