Abstract
A central ambition in the first section is to establish an understanding of the music industries—the field of study—as well as change—the different dynamics within and around the music industries. I consider the latter understanding to be dependent on the former—that if we don’t have a proper concept of the field of study, then it becomes difficult to define and assess the changes happening to it. The music industries have indeed been impacted by digital change and innovation. It has become a reference point for the difficulties some industries have faced, adapting to a new digital economy. However, many of the accounts on the music industries’ difficult digital transitions tend to diminish complex issues to mere dichotomies. Furthermore, the debates around the digital changes we face, offer competing theoretical approaches, with competing theoretical disciplines providing opposing propositions on how to understand the music industries, and subsequently the changes and difficulties they’re experiencing. Therefore, this first part of the book will be used to describe and critically discuss influential contributions to academic and public debates on the music industries’ digital transition.
Beyond looking at change, the chapter will also start discussing continuity, building on scholars such as Keith Negus and David Hesmondhalgh and arguing that albeit significant change has followed digitalization, there are important continuities that seem to be neglected. Recognizing such continuities will undoubtedly provide better and more accurate discussions around the music industries and digitalization.
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Notes
- 1.
http://www.iaspm.net/ (last visited 04.12.2016).
- 2.
http://www.imbra.eu/index.html#home (last visited 04.12.2016).
- 3.
Since my data has been collected annually and continually as the Kristiansand Roundtable Conferences have been conducted, it has been possible for me to assess the data gradually and therefore adjust my approach and focus during my work.
- 4.
http://thefac.org/fran-healy-speaks-out-in-parliament-2/ (last visited 01.02.2014).
- 5.
The article is the written version of Peter S. Menell’s presentation at the 42nd Annual Brace Lecture at the American Copyright Society.
- 6.
See, for example, the class-action lawsuits in the US on Spotify’s alleged failure to license, here: http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/7416484/say-you-want-a-revolution-us-copyright-office-clears-path-for-digital and here: http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/legal-and-management/7125489/between-rock-and-a-database-the-streaming-services
- 7.
http://www.ifpi.org/about.php (last entered the 1.11.2016).
- 8.
http://www.riaa.com/about-riaa/ (last entered the 1.11.2016).
- 9.
Some would perhaps argue that the “digital revolution” is just that; a rare paradigm shift that alters everything. However, Fligstein and McAdam refer to these macro events as more extreme, altering multiple SAFs, and as a result destabilizing society as a whole.
- 10.
Going back in time, publishing and sheet music was the centre of the music industries.
- 11.
The Big Six refers to the six multinational corporations Time Warner, Sony, Philips, Bertelsman, Thorn-EMI and Matsushita, which in 1994 accounted for more than 90% the worldwide sales of music (Burnett 1996: 2).
- 12.
Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicator database (Hesmondhalgh 2013: 326).
- 13.
See COST-action Dynamics of Virtual Work: http://www.cost.eu/COST_Actions/isch/IS1202 dedicated to a critical assessment of the effects digitalization has had on labor framework conditions.
- 14.
The Norwegian report of our work can be found here: https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/rapport-fra-nordgard-utvalget/id734716/
- 15.
There are challenges with these numbers, as there are different ways to count a nation’s local share, depending on definitions and depending on where you count (artists, labels, collecting societies). Although my findings on the Norwegian market correlate well with other findings, there are opposing views on this development among some music industry stakeholders.
- 16.
I am deliberately omitting allegations of unfair conduct, black-box monies and breakages, due to a lack of research and data on this. These concerns were nevertheless subject to discussion in The Nordgård Committee (2013), and later in a committee initiated by the Norwegian Musicians Union (Musikernes Fellesorganisasjon) (Nordgård 2014).
- 17.
http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/65917/billboard-bows-ringtones-chart (last visited 27.11.2016).
- 18.
http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/62750/crazy-frog-outpaces-coldplay-in-uk (last visited 27.11.2016).
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Nordgård, D. (2018). In Revision: Theoretical Frameworks. In: The Music Business and Digital Impacts. Music Business Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91887-7_1
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