This research-based book outlines career models for artists, methods of creative engagement, artistic options including individuality and branding, production practices, the realities of being a musician in the new industries, and implications for popular music education. Due to the profound effects of the digitisation of music, the music industries have undergone rapid transformation. The former record label dominated industry has been supplanted by new industries, including digital aggregators, strategists and online platforms. These new music industries now facilitate ‘direct’ access to both artists and their music. While such accessibility and the potential for artist exposure have never been greater, the challenge to stand out or to even navigate a musical career pathway is formidable. A useful resource for musicians and educators, this text highlights the ways in which the new music industries facilitate increased opportunities for 21st Century popular musicians to collaborate, communicate and interact with others interested in their music.

Everyone knows music is big business, but do you really understand how ideas and inspiration become songs, products, downloads, concerts and careers? This textbook guides students to a full understanding of the processes that drive the music industries. More than just an expose or ′how to′ guide, this book gives students the tools to make sense of technological change, socio-cultural processes, and the constantly shifting music business environment, putting them in the front line of innovation and entrepreneurship in the future. Packed with case studies, this book: • Takes the reader on a journey from Glastonbury and the X-Factor to house concerts and crowd-funded releases; • Demystifies management, publishing and recording contracts, and the world of copyright, intellectual property and music piracy; • Explains how digital technologies have changed almost all aspects of music making, performing, promotion and consumption; • Explores all levels of the music industries, from micro-independent businesses to corporate conglomerates; • Enables students to meet the challenge of the transforming music industries. This is the must-have primer for understanding and getting ahead in the music industries. It is essential reading for students of popular music in media studies, sociology and musicology.

Awakening is the definitive account of the music industry in the digital era. It tells the inside story of how the music business grappled with the emergence of an entirely new digital economy with exclusive interviews with the people who shaped today’s industry. Mulligan’s gripping narrative switches between the seismic market trends to the highly personal accounts of artists and digital pioneers. It recounts the events that both spelt the end of the old industry and that are the foundation for the radical new successor that is about to emerge. Awakening is written by the leading music industry analyst Mark Mulligan and includes interviews with 60 of the music industry’s most important figures, including million selling artists and more than 20 CEOs. Alongside this unprecedented executive access, Awakening uses exclusive data presented across 60 charts and figures to chart the music industry’s digital journey and to lay out a vision of the future for the industry and artists alike. For anyone interested in the music industry and the lessons it provides for all businesses in the digital era, this is the only book you will ever need.

The music industry has changed, and there has never been a greater time for independent artists to build a community of followers and fans through the myriad of new media tools available to them. As an independent musician, developing a profitable and sustainable music career is more realistic today than it has ever been in the past. However, in order to take advantage of the opportunities at hand, it is vital for career-minded musicians to understand the changes that the industry has gone through, and how that impacts their approach. Then, they must determine a career course for themselves and act on the best information available to them.First, The New Music Industry: Adapting, Growing, and Thriving in The Information Age explains exactly how the music industry has changed, and the 11 components it is divided into today. These 11 components include: engagement, campaigns, community, collaboration, vinyl records, social media, video, radio, touring, music licensing & placements, and streaming sites. The industry is clearly more complex than it used to be, and has more moving pieces than ever before. Not only that, but the music business continues to morph, and the future is sure to bring more changes. Understanding the bigger picture is the first step to clarifying one's thinking, and developing a much needed career focus.Then, the book explains what the information age represents for artists. With the industrial age firmly in the past, the implications are far reaching. It isn't just jobs and pension programs that have been affected. Artists of every kind have also been witnesses to the effects of the massive transition into a new age. Whether it's online or offline, there are many things competing for people's attention, and cutting through the noise has become the new motto for businesses and musicians alike. The key to adapting, growing and thriving in the information age lies in a willingness to experiment and to change. Human nature is to resist the inevitable, but this inclination will not serve musicians in the age we find ourselves in. The information age is about observing trends, keeping a finger on the pulse of rapid technological advancement, and being agile and flexible enough in your approach to change when necessary. Failing to adapt could mean getting left behind, and we have seen many organizations and individuals fall from grace for this very reason.This book then walks musicians through the foundational aspects of music marketing, touring & live performance, radio, music instruction, blogging, podcasting, email marketing, social media, video marketing, and more. These are the essential elements of every music career, and are also necessary parts of building a presence online. A musician's online presence supports their offline presence and vice versa. However, it's unwise to rely on one or the other. The information age is the meaningful convergence of personal connection and viral marketing.Musicians can also delve into personal development and business concepts that will enable them to approach their music careers with a success mindset. Many people find that they have mindset issues to deal with as they grow and become the people they need to in order to achieve what they want to. Without the right mindset, the right strategies can fail. Handling the mental aspect of setting goals and working towards their accomplishment is critical to one's ultimate success.The New Music Industry also documents many of the mistakes made by its author, David Andrew Wiebe, and what he learned from his many music career missteps and errors. Refreshingly honest and practical, Wiebe offers independent musicians an insider's view into what it means to build a career of their dreams in their chosen field. The book is packed with actionable insights and tips that will aid musicians in their pursuit to profit from their passion. Wiebe draws on over a decade of experience in the music industry.

The music industry is going through a period of immense change brought about in part by the digital revolution. What is the role of music in the age of computers and the internet? How has the music industry been transformed by the economic and technological upheavals of recent years, and how is it likely to change in the future? This is the first major study of the music industry in the new millennium. Wikström provides an international overview of the music industry and its future prospects in the world of global entertainment. They illuminate the workings of the music industry, and capture the dynamics at work in the production of musical culture between the transnational media conglomerates, the independent music companies and the public. The Music Industry will become a standard work on the music industry at the beginning of the 21st century. It will be of great interest to students and scholars of media and communication studies, cultural studies, popular music, sociology and economics. It will also be of great value to professionals in the music industry, policy makers, and to anyone interested in the future of music.

This book charts the effects of new communication technologies and the Internet on the creation of music in the early 21st century. It examines how the music industry will be altered by the Internet, music online services and MP3-technology. This is done through an integrated model based on an international history of the industry since the phonograph’s invention in 1877, and thus, the history of the music industry is described in full detail for the first time.

Amidst the heated fray of the Culture Wars emerged a scrappy festival in downtown New York City called Bang on a Can. Presenting eclectic, irreverent marathons of experimental music in crumbling venues on the Lower East Side, Bang on a Can sold out concerts for a genre that had been long considered box office poison. Through the 1980s and 1990s, three young, visionary composers--David Lang, Michael Gordon, and Julia Wolfe--nurtured Bang on a Can into a multifaceted organization with a major record deal, a virtuosic in-house ensemble, and a seat at the table at Lincoln Center, and in the process changed the landscape of avant-garde music in the United States. Bang on a Can captured a new public for new music. But they did not do so alone. As the twentieth century came to a close, the world of American composition pivoted away from the insular academy and towards the broader marketplace. In the wake of the unexpected popularity of Steve Reich and Philip Glass, classical presenters looked to contemporary music for relevance and record labels scrambled to reap its potential profits, all while government funding was imperilled by the evangelical right. Other institutions faltered amidst the vagaries of late capitalism, but the renegade Bang on a Can survived--and thrived--in a tumultuous and idealistic moment that made new music what it is today.

At a time when artists are independently releasing their own music and acting as their own self-publishers, there has never been a greater need for a simple and easy-to-read introduction to the business and creative aspects of music publishing for musicians. Written by two musicians and industry pros with decades of experience, Introduction to Music Publishing For Musicians is organized into seven clearly written sections that will help musicians save time and avoid getting screwed. Topics include the basics of copyrights, types of publishing income, publishing companies and types of deals, creative matters of music publishing, and things you need to know about music publishing’s future.The book features: Short digestible chapters written in a conversational tone to keep artists focused Section-by-section FAQs that expand on key issues that musicians encounter today Boxed text stories featuring current events to emphasize key concepts Interviews with top beat makers, collaborators, and more to provide secrets of success A glossary to help you keep track of important publishing terms Publishing resources offering to help you place and promote your music Chapter quizzes and activity assignments to help measure your knowledge Bobby Borg and Michael Eames have created a compact, simple and easy-to-read overview of today’s music publishing industry that caters to both students and musicians (songwriters, producers, beat makers, and more) who want quick, up-to-date, credible, and relatable information so that they can get back to doing what they like best: creating music!

This book explores the nature of the music industries before and after the digital revolution from the point of view of the consumer, and explores the question of whether there is a role for competition policy intervention in the music industries. Considering the historically consolidated environment of the music industries, and their rapidly evolving business models in the twenty-first century, the author argues that there is a need for updated competition design to promote consumer welfare and competition in these markets. Opening a much-needed interdisciplinary dialogue across music studies, business, and law, the book applies business model literature to antitrust law in the context of the music industries. It offers a comprehensive history of encounters between the music industry and antitrust and regulatory authorities in the US, UK, and EU, from the payola scandals of the 1950s to the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster in 2010, showing how even as business models in the industry have changed, it has repeatedly moved towards consolidation with little regulation. Drawing on this history, it considers how competition policy can foster innovation and safeguard consumer interests in the music markets of the future. Offering new analytical and methodological tools, this book is relevant to those studying the music industries from business, legal, and cultural perspectives.