Digitaliseringen, uppkomsten och den ökade populariteten av on-demand musikstreamingtjänster har förändrat musikbranschen i snabb takt. Tidigare studier visar att digitaliseringen har påverkat sättet hur media skapas, publiceras, distribueras och konsumeras. Studier om digitaliseringens effekter på kreatörer och distributörer inom musikbranschen visade sig däremot vara få. Det ansågs därför som en möjlighet att utforska hur artister och oberoende skivbolag uppfattar digitaliseringens effekter för att minimera den nuvarande kunskapsluckan. Den explorativa sekventiella studien bestod av två faser och baserades på en kombination av olika metoder. Den initiala studien utgjordes av tre kvalitativa intervjuer och resulterande arbetsteorier prövades därefter i en kvantitativ enkätundersökning (n=81). Resultatet indikerar att större andelen av oberoende skivbolag har anpassat sina affärsmodeller och utvecklats till s.k. 360°-musikföretag. Resultatet visar vidare att digitaliseringen har till viss grad påverkat sättet hur musik skapas och produceras, med en tendens mot en mer individualistisk och digital process, och vidare medfört en förenkling för artister att publicera sin musik. Artisternas intäkter har däremot inte förbättrats och många upplever att arbetsklimatet har försämrats. Resultatet visar att digitaliseringen sedan uppkomsten av musikstreamingtjänster har medfört omvälvande förändringar, dock verkar dessa inte ha lett till en demokratisering av musikbranschen utan enbart till en förflyttning av makten från skivbolagen till musikstreamingtjänsterna. Både artister och oberoende skivbolag uppfattar att den nära framtidens främsta utmaningar å ena sidan är att uppnå en skälig betalning för artister, samt å andra sidan att framgångsrikt marknadsföra musiken för att nå igenom bruset. Det indikeras vidare att regler och lagar är nödvändiga för att kunna säkerställa en hållbar utveckling av musikbranschen. / The emergence and continuously growing popularity of on-demand streaming music services has changed the music landscape rapidly and new services are entering the market at a high pace. Prior studies show that digitization has affected the way media is created, published, distributed and consumed. The literature review revealed a knowledge gap regarding the effects on music professionals and provided an opportunity to explore how artists and independent record labels perceive the aspects of digitization. The study followed an exploratory sequential mixed-methods approach and consisted of two phases, an initial study including three qualitative interviews, and a quantitative follow-up study, in which working theories that had resulted from the initial study were tested through an online survey (n=81). The results indicate that many independent record labels have changed and adapted their business models and turned into so called 360° music companies. The results further show that digitization developments have to some degree affected the way music is created and produced, with a tendency towards a more individualistic and digital process, and that it has become easier for artists to publish their music; their incomes have however not improved and for many artists the working climate has become harder. The results show that the emergence of on-demand streaming services has disrupted the music industry, instead of having a democratic impact, the power that record labels used to have appears to have shifted to streaming services. Both artists and independent record labels perceive the achievement of fair payments and successful promotion to be the main future challenges. It is indicated that regulations and laws that prevent exploitation are necessary in order to ensure the music industry to be sustainable in the future.

The purpose of the study is to examine similarities between the role as a songwriter with the role as an entrepreneur, as well as the conceptions about working with songwriting. To examine this three questions was asked: What similarities are there between the role as a songwriter and the role as an entrepreneur? What characteristics are described as important to succeed as a songwriter compared to those of an entrepreneur? What conceptions are there about working with songwriting? As a foundation for the thesis the history of the music industry is depicted in its own chapter with focus on the sales of music from the 15th century until today. The chapter describes how the music industry for a long time used sheet music as the main way to distribute new music. In the end of the 19th century the record industry started to emerge with the development of record players. During the 20th century the industry went through a lot of changes where new technology like the radio and the TV became important channels to reach a bigger audience. In the beginning of the 21st century the record sales plummeted as the music market became more and more dominated by different streaming services. The thesis empirical data is based on eight interviews, including a group interview, conducted in Los Angeles with four Swedish and seven American informants. It is also based on a forum thread from a Swedish music forum on the internet. The results from the interviews are first described in an overview and then divided into three categories; aspiring songwriters, songwriters in the music industry and informants working with songwriters. The results from the interviews shows that a songwriter should be a good person to collaborate with, be good at establishing important contacts in the music industry, and pay attention the administrative work of accounting, contracts and agreements. From the forum thread of the music forum disappointment is expressed about how DJ’s do not single handedly write and produce all the music they are attributed to in the media.   The analysis shows that professional songwriters have much in common with entrepreneurs because they both need to take risks, be creative, and start business. The similarities between the conceptions of what is required to succeed as a professional songwriter with what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur includes having a good idea, having a supportive environment as well as being involved in marketing, sales and administration. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the work of songwriting is often glorified or overlooked, which creates misleading representations of what the work of a songwriter actually consists of.

In 1930s and 1940s Shanghai, musicians and artists from different cultures and varied backgrounds joined and made the golden age of Shanghai popular song which suggests the beginnings of Chinese popular music in modern times. However, Shanghai popular song has long been neglected in most works about the modern history of Chinese music and remains an unexplored area in Shanghai studies. This study aims to reconstruct a historical view of the Shanghai popular music industry and make a stylistic analysis of its musical products. The research is undertaken at two levels: first, understanding the operating mechanism of the ‘platform’ and second, investigating the components of the ‘products’. By contrasting the hypothetical flowchart of the Shanghai popular music industry, details of the producing, selling and consuming processes are retrieved from various historical sources to reconstruct the industry platform. Through the first level of research, it is found that the rising new media and the flourishing entertainment industry profoundly influenced the development of Shanghai popular song. In addition, social and political changes and changes in business practices and the organisational structure of foreign record companies also contributed to the vast production, popularity and commercial success of Shanghai popular song. From the composition-performance view of song creation, the second level of research reveals that Chinese and Western musical elements both existed in the musical products. The Chinese vocal technique, Western bel canto and instruments from both musical traditions were all found in historical recordings. When ignoring the distinctive nature of pentatonicism but treating Chinese melodies as those on Western scales, Chinese-style tunes could be easily accompanied by chordal harmony. However, the Chinese heterophonic feature was lost in the Western accompaniment texture. Moreover, it is also found that the traditional rules governing the relationship between words and the melody was dismissed in Shanghai popular songwriting. The findings of this study fill in the neglected part in modern history of Chinese music and add to the literature on the under-explored musical area in Shanghai studies. Moreover, this study also demonstrates that against a map illustrating how musical products moved from record companies to consumers along with all other involved participants, the history of popular music can be rediscovered systematically by using songs as evidence, treating media material carefully and tracking down archives and surviving participants.

This thesis examines the circulation of physical music media (78rpm records, LPs, CDs, tape) in the independent music marketplace. It is based on six months of ethnographic fieldwork in Austin, Texas, amongst the producers of goods for the independent marketplace, independent music stores and consumers of these goods and services. Against prevailing constructivist interpretations, I will argue for the value of authenticity as an analytical anthropological concept because it unites what my research participants value about materiality, technology, and marketplace relationships. In the independent marketplace for physical music media, authenticity is a multi-local, multi-vocal phenomenon. A nexus of economic rationales, design, reproduction-technologies, histories and personal conduct interact in an ongoing process that authenticates music commodities and their marketplace. This means that particular commodities are sought out over others on account of the multi-local authenticities they anchor. The thesis firstly demonstrates how the independent music scene safeguards claims to authentic identities by constructing an opposition to the mainstream, drawing on discourses of ethical production and consumption, sound technologies, spaces of consumption and cultural production. Secondly, I will uncover how physical music media and sound-reproduction technologies are assessed as effective providers of authentic musical reproductions according to their historical contingencies and performative material capacities. Thirdly, I develop the notion of the scene (Shank 1994) from its previously genre-fixed perspective to encompass multiple musical styles operating within a common social network of producers, retailers and collectors. The pluralistic scene I describe utilises multiple musical genres and nuanced notions of materiality and authenticity to establish their complex hierarchy of sonic and technological experiences.

Esta tese trata da produção em disco e teatro de revista do cantor carioca Francisco Alves entre 1920 e 1932, período que marcou sua consagração como intérprete. Procura mapear através de sua carreira, a trajetória e o papel do disco e do teatro de revista enquanto seus mediadores, comparando-os como meio de circulação e fixação das músicas gravadas e interpretadas por Alves. Através de uma pesquisa realizada em jornais e revistas da época, na primeira parte do trabalho foi feito um levantamento das peças em que atuou e nos arquivos da companhia teatral recuperados trechos e falas dos personagens que representou. Essa primeira parte engloba de 1920 e 1926, período que atuou como ator secundário no Teatro São José e gravou sem sucesso alguns discos nas gravadoras Popular e Casa Edison. A maneira como estas canções circularam nas festas populares e no teatro de revista foi abordada assim como uma comparação dos modos de produção do teatro e da indústria fonográfica. A segunda parte engloba de 1927 e 1932 e marca uma inversão quantitativa na produção de peças de teatro e de discos na trajetória de Francisco Alves, quando foi consolidada sua consagração. Foi enfocada a maneira como as músicas gravadas por ele passaram a se redimensionar nos palcos e ele a se definir como cantor, se articulando com a gravadora, compositores e outros cantores através de seu posicionamento enquanto agente nas diferentes instâncias de mediação. Neste período a ascensão de Francisco Alves coincidiu com a de vários gêneros musicais urbanos e a tese mostrará o caminho deles para o disco e o teatro e entre um e outro meio. / This thesis focuses on the artistic record and musical revue production by Rio de Janiro (carioca) singer Francisco Alves between 1920 and 1932. Such period is known for bringing the artist\'s consecration as a performer. By recovering his career we try to map the trajectory and role of record and theater production in Brazil as mediator compared to the means of circulation and establishment of the songs recorded and performed by Alves. Through extensive research recovering newspapers and magazines of the time, the first part of our work brings the history of the plays Francisco Alves participated in, also searching the archives of the theater companies he worked for and the lines of the characters he impersonated. Thus, the first part of the thesis recovers from 1920 to 1926, period in which Alves was still a secondary performing actor working in the Theater São José and would release a few songs trough the recording companies Popular and Casa Edison. The way such songs have circulated in national popular parties and in the musical revue tradition was taken into account, pointing to the specific means of production of the theater and the music industry. The second part of the thesis ranges from 1927 e 1932 and it marks a quantitative turn in the production of songs and plays in the trajectory of Francisco Alves, consolidating his achievements. We are interested in the way the songs he recorded were staged and how the artist started to be defined as a true singer, articulated with recording companies, composers and other singers. We also consider his role as an agent in many instances of cultural mediation during that time. Finally, the emergence of Francisco Alves has coincided with that of many urban musical genres. This work intends to show the path recovered by those genres in order to be recorded and/or gain the theater, caught in the middle of one and other medium.

Music streaming services are increasing, compact discs (CDs) and digital download sales are declining, and many music artists are becoming affected by this positive shift in music technology. Music streaming revenue does not compensate for the decrease in revenue from CDs and paid downloads. Based on organizational configuration theory (OCT), the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the technology and marketing strategies that small business music artists used to generate sales revenue from the Internet. Six small business music artists who were 18 years or older with different music revenue streams participated in semistructured interviews. These small business music artists provided detailed information on the technology and marketing strategies they used to generate sales revenue from the Internet. The data collection process for this study included semistructured interview data and participant observations. The data analysis process included methodological triangulation of the interview data and participant observation data to identify themes for the study. Seven themes identified were having a marketing budget, social media, recording studio sessions, digital distribution, SoundExchange, music licensing, and corporate sponsorships. These data may contribute to positive social change by helping small business music artists sustain operations in the music industry.

<p>This thesis deals with the causes and effects of spatial clustering of similar and related economic activity. The relationship between spatial clustering and industrial competitive-ness is analysed in a series of empirical studies, revolving around four research questions: How useful is an institutional approach in analyses of spatial clustering? Can the link between spatial clustering and industrial performance be empirically validated and measured by quantitative methods? In what sense does spatial clustering promote localised processes of learning and innovation? What role can industrial and regional policies play in promoting the type of localised processes emphasised in spatial clustering research?</p><p>It proves to be a rather complicated matter to measure the impact of spatial clustering on firm performance. In the case of export-oriented manufacturing firms in Sweden, the co-location of firms in a particular industry appears to have only a modest impact on export performance. However, when a more qualitative approach is applied, there is some evidence that spatial clustering can have a positive impact. A study of the Swedish music industry indicates that there is indeed a link between the concentration of music-related businesses in the Stockholm region and localised processes of learning and innovation. Such localised processes appear, in turn, to be linked to the ability to create and sustain industrial competitiveness. Finally, the thesis examines how the cluster concept has been put into practice in Swedish industrial and regional policies.</p>

This thesis deals with the causes and effects of spatial clustering of similar and related economic activity. The relationship between spatial clustering and industrial competitive-ness is analysed in a series of empirical studies, revolving around four research questions: How useful is an institutional approach in analyses of spatial clustering? Can the link between spatial clustering and industrial performance be empirically validated and measured by quantitative methods? In what sense does spatial clustering promote localised processes of learning and innovation? What role can industrial and regional policies play in promoting the type of localised processes emphasised in spatial clustering research? It proves to be a rather complicated matter to measure the impact of spatial clustering on firm performance. In the case of export-oriented manufacturing firms in Sweden, the co-location of firms in a particular industry appears to have only a modest impact on export performance. However, when a more qualitative approach is applied, there is some evidence that spatial clustering can have a positive impact. A study of the Swedish music industry indicates that there is indeed a link between the concentration of music-related businesses in the Stockholm region and localised processes of learning and innovation. Such localised processes appear, in turn, to be linked to the ability to create and sustain industrial competitiveness. Finally, the thesis examines how the cluster concept has been put into practice in Swedish industrial and regional policies.

Research on workforce development has focused on general employment trends and traditional industry. Few researchers have studied the potential workforce development implications of emerging industries particularly in those that have sprung from the digital economy. This thesis focuses upon the digital music industry in the Atlanta region. An economic impact study was conducted to illustrate and define the digital music industry and understand its implications for workforce and economic development. This research is significant because it will enable Atlanta workforce developers to assist in reducing unemployment and educational attainment gaps particularly in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Implications for the state includes creating a workforce development strategy based upon digital music innovation that increases Atlanta s overall competitiveness and quality of life by increasing the high-technology and Information-technology workforces.

This study looks at alternative models of follow-up album success in order to determine if there is a relationship between the decrease in Metascore ratings (assigned by Metacritic.com) between the first and second album for a musician or band and the 1) music genre or 2) the number of years between the first and second album release. The results support the dominant thought, which suggests that neither belonging to a certain genre of music nor waiting more or less time to drop the second album makes an artist more susceptible to the Sophomore Slump. This finding is important because it forces us to identify other potential causes for the observed disappointing performance of a generally favorable musician’s second album.