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.

In 2007, Radiohead released a downloadable album, In Rainbows, allowing consumers to pay what they thought the album was worth. The band responded to a moment of change in the music industry. Since then, other bands, like Nine Inch Nails and Coldplay, have made similar moves. Radiohead's capability to release an album and let the fans decide its worth relied on the image they built, which foregrounded their commodification. The historic move redefined the boundaries between art and commodity, a well know tension in popular music studies. The thesis focuses on popular music as communication in the changing industry. Using Radiohead’s album as a case study, it looks at the changing boundaries in the tension between art and commodity. The thesis examines Radiohead's performance, its mediation by the press, and what the album’s distribution method meant to the fans.

How the record company EMI records have change thier business model due to technological improvements.

<p>How the record company EMI records have change thier business model due to technological improvements.</p>

Syfte och forskningsfråga Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att analysera på vilket sätt majorbolagen marknadsför sina artister på sociala medier och hur kommunikationer ser ut mellan artist och fans. Detta gör vi genom att undersöka vilket medvetet arbete som ligger bakom marknadsföringen, hur detta påverkar relationen mellan artist och fans samt hur detta följs upp. Uppsatsens forskningsfråga formulerades med syftet i åtanke och blev följande: På vilket sätt använder majorbolagen sociala medier för att etablera varaktiga relationer mellan artist och fans? Metod Vi har valt att använda oss av en kvalitativ forskningsmetod. Insamlingen av material har skett genom primärkällor samt sekundärkällor och det empiriska materialet har skett genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Vårt urval av respondenter var sex personer med olika positioner inom musikbranschen, detta för att få en bredare syn på forskningsområdet. Slutsatser Vi har i vår analys kommit fram till att majorbolagen anpassar sin kommunikation till vart fansen befinner sig, hur de pratar, rör sig men även att låta dem vara delaktiga och interaktiva. I uppsatsens analys framkom det även att majorbolagen är i sin marknadsföring noga med att artisten inte ska finnas på alla kanaler om den inte har en aktiv kommunikation. Det är även en fördel att visa andra intressen än musiken. / Purpose and research questions The purpose of this study is to analyze the way in which major companies promote their artists on social media and what the communication looks like between artists and their fans. We do this by making it clear whether there is an underlying work that affects how the marketing appears between artists and fans and if it is possible to follow up the work. To answer this purpose we have created a research question: How do major companies use social media to establish long lasting relationships between artist and fans? Method We have chosen to use a qualitative research method in our thesis. The collection of material has been through primary sources and secondary sources and the empirical material consists of semi-structured interviews. Our selection of respondents was six people with different positions in the music industry, in order to get a broader view of research. Conclusions We have in our analysis concluded that the major companies adapt their communications to where the fans are, how they talk, move, but also to let them be involved and interactive. In the analysis of the thesis it is also revealed that the major companies in their marketing are making sure that the artist should not be on all channels if it doesn’t have an active communication. It is also an advantage to show interests other than music.

Abstract Title: The New Type of Music Industry at AllEars.se (Den nya musikbranschen på AllEars.se) Number of pages: 49 (53 including enclosures) Author: Viktor Backemar Tutor: Else Nygren Course: Media och Communication Studies C Period: Fall 2007 University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to compare AllEars´ own view of the website AllEars.se to an observed view of the same site. The comparison is based on theories regarding the Internet in today’s society, convergence, communities and collective intelligence, interactivity and participation, and business in today’s society. Method: Since the paper has a purpose to compare two views of the same website there are two main methods in use. AllEars´ own view has been created via an interview with the company’s CEO, a press release that was released in connection with the launch of the website and texts found on the website. The other view is based on an observation of the website, preformed in November 2007. Main results: The views are different from each other seeing that AllEars´ own view is more positive than the observed view. The biggest and most crucial difference between the two views where found in the relationship between the producers and the users, in terms of who has got the actual power on the website. The users aren’t the ones who has got the actual power, instead the producers has the power and controls the activity on the website with predesigned rules and limitations. However there are some similarities between the two views: The website has a strong connection to the offline world, a good possibility for the users to interact with each other, and the fact that AllEars.se represents something new in the music industry. Keywords: AllEars.se, music industry, Internet, convergence, communities, collective intelligence, interactivity, participation, SonyBMG, TV4.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

xvi, 436 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / This study examined the cultural political economic significance of the physical "brick and mortar" independent record store in the digital era. The research was built upon two critical frameworks -- the political economy of communication and critical cultural studies. The political economy of communication situated the independent record store within the dominant music industry, and was concerned with the corporate structuring and standardization of music culture. The study analyzed the extreme market concentration involving the "big four" major record labels (in terms of vertical and horizontal integration, diversification and product synergy), their interconnectedness to the major corporate music retailers, and the implications for the manufacturing of popular musical artists. The independent record store (to varying degrees) counters these tendencies by offering greater cultural diversity in terms of "independent," local, used and obscure music. However, the independent record store is influenced by the policies and practices of the major label system, distribution channels, big box chain retailers, and on-line commerce. The study examined the dominant industry policies and practices, including buying (centralized versus localized), music as a loss leader, co-op advertising, retail "payola," retail censorship, and the overall range of musical diversity, vis-à-vis the practices and semi-autonomous nature of the independent record store. This project was equally invested in the cultural aspects of the independent record store in terms of communities and scenes. Various subcultures gather and connect with each other at independent record stores, where anti-corporate and counter-hegemonic narratives circulate, and individuals learn about the depths of musical history and culture. This project explored the physical atmosphere and vernacular culture associated with the stores, as well as the cultural significance of vinyl record collecting. However, these cultural attributes are framed in terms of the harvesting of commodification, where the perception of "independence" is rendered problematic in terms of the economic realities associated with the logic of capital. The primary ethnographic field sites for this study included the House of Records in Eugene, Oregon; Music Millennium in Portland, Oregon; and Amoeba Music in San Francisco, California. Numerous specialty independent record stores within these geographic areas were also included in the study. / Committee in charge: Janet Wasko, Chairperson, Journalism and Communication; Carl Bybee, Member, Journalism and Communication; Leslie Steeves, Member, Journalism and Communication; Julianne Newton, Member, Journalism and Communication; Douglas Blandy, Outside Member, Arts and Administration

Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / Seguindo uma perspectiva analítica que visa compreender o fenômeno a partir de suas dinâmicas internas, nesta tese focalizo o sentido de missão religiosa que tem impulsionado as recentes transformações na organização da produção musical evangélica, bem com as negociações realizadas pelos diferentes atores sociais religiosos e não religiosos envolvidos no processo. Argumento que esse nicho do mercado possui uma estrutura organizacional similar a de outras empresas estabelecidas no mercado - pois conta, como as demais, com um rol de cantores, capacidade de formação de celebridades, empresas produtoras e distribuidoras -, mas que por estar freqüentemente associada às congregações e igrejas evangélicas, estabelece um modo de auto-regulação estreita mente vinculado a um projeto proselitista que visa a ampliação da audiência do Espírito do Santo e do resgate do mundo. / Following an analytic perspective that intends to understand the phenomenon from its inside dynamics, in this thesis I focus the meaning of religious mission that has been stimulating the recent transformation in the gospel music production organization, as well with the businesses made by the different social factors religious and non-religious involved in the process. I argue that this part of business owns an organizational structure similar to other companies established on the market for it counts, as the others, with a roll of singers, celebrities formation capability, producing companies and deliverers , but for being usually associated to congregations and churches, establishes a way of self-regulation closely joined to a proselytism project that looks for the ampliation of the Holly Ghosts audience and of the rescue of the world.

Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / Seguindo uma perspectiva analítica que visa compreender o fenômeno a partir de suas dinâmicas internas, nesta tese focalizo o sentido de missão religiosa que tem impulsionado as recentes transformações na organização da produção musical evangélica, bem com as negociações realizadas pelos diferentes atores sociais religiosos e não religiosos envolvidos no processo. Argumento que esse nicho do mercado possui uma estrutura organizacional similar a de outras empresas estabelecidas no mercado - pois conta, como as demais, com um rol de cantores, capacidade de formação de celebridades, empresas produtoras e distribuidoras -, mas que por estar freqüentemente associada às congregações e igrejas evangélicas, estabelece um modo de auto-regulação estreita mente vinculado a um projeto proselitista que visa a ampliação da audiência do Espírito do Santo e do resgate do mundo. / Following an analytic perspective that intends to understand the phenomenon from its inside dynamics, in this thesis I focus the meaning of religious mission that has been stimulating the recent transformation in the gospel music production organization, as well with the businesses made by the different social factors religious and non-religious involved in the process. I argue that this part of business owns an organizational structure similar to other companies established on the market for it counts, as the others, with a roll of singers, celebrities formation capability, producing companies and deliverers , but for being usually associated to congregations and churches, establishes a way of self-regulation closely joined to a proselytism project that looks for the ampliation of the Holly Ghosts audience and of the rescue of the world.