Download! How The Internet Transformed The Record Business


Book Description

“Industry expert Phil Hardy has outdone himself with the splendid, piecing Download!” – Record Collector Download! chronicles of the making of the new record industry, from the boom years of the CD revolution of the late 1980s to the crisis of the present day, with particular stress on the last decade. Following the actions and reactions of the major international record companies as they ploughed their way through the digital revolution, bewildered by the fleet-of-foot digital innovators who were far more responsive to the changing marketing conditions. Download! delves even further into the structural change that has, almost surreptitiously, taken place, within the music business. A change that has left the captains of the record industry as unable to act as they were unwilling to act.




The Music Business and Digital Impacts


Book Description

This book provides rare insights into the difficult and complex dialogues between stakeholders within and outside the music industries in a time of transition. It builds on a series of recorded meetings in which key stakeholders discuss and assess options and considerations for the music industries’ transition to a digital era. These talks were closed to the public and operated under the Chatham House Rule, which means that they involved a very different type of discussion from those held in public settings, panels or conferences. As such, the book offers a much more nuanced understanding of the industries’ difficulties in adjusting to changing conditions, demonstrating the internal power-struggles and differences that make digital change so difficult. After presenting a theoretical framework for assessing digital change in the music industries, the author then provides his research findings, including quotes from the Kristiansand Roundtable Conference. Following from these findings, he develops three critical concepts that explain the nature as well as the problems of the music industries’ adaptation process. In conclusion, he challenges the general definition of crisis in the music industries and contradicts the widely held view that digitalization is a case of vertical integration.




Music in the Social and Behavioral Sciences


Book Description

This definitive reference resource examines how music affects human beings and their interactions in and with the world. The interdisciplinary nature of the work provides a starting place for students to situate the status of music within the social sciences in fields such as anthropology, communications, psychology, linguistics, sociology, sports, political science and economics, as well as biology and the health sciences. Features: Approximately 450 articles, arranged in A-to-Z fashion and richly illustrated with photographs, provide the social and behavioral context for examining the importance of music in society. Entries are authored and signed by experts in the field and conclude with references and further readings, as well as cross references to related entries. A Reader′s Guide groups related entries by broad topic areas and themes, making it easy for readers to quickly identify related entries. A Chronology of Music places material into historical context; a Glossary defines key terms from the field; and a Resource Guide provides lists of books, academic journals, websites and cross-references. The multimedia digital edition is enhanced with video and audio clips and features strong search-and-browse capabilities through the electronic Reader’s Guide, detailed index, and cross references. Music in the Social and Behavioral Sciences, available in both multimedia digital and print formats, is a must-have reference for music and social science library collections. Key Themes: Aesthetics and Emotion Business and Technology Communities and Society Culture and Environment Elements of Musical Examination Evolutionary Psychology Media and Communication Musicianship and Expertise Neuroscience Perception, Memory, Cognition Politics, Economics, Law Therapy, Health, Wellbeing




Popular Music Culture


Book Description

Now in its fifth edition, this popular A–Z student reference book provides a comprehensive survey of key ideas and concepts in popular music culture, examining the social and cultural aspects of popular music. Fully revised with extended coverage of the music industries, sociological concepts and additional references to reading, listening and viewing throughout, the new edition expands on the foundations of popular music culture, tracing the impact of digital technology and changes in the way in which music is created, manufactured, marketed and consumed. The concept of metagenres remains a central part of the book: these are historically, socially, and geographically situated umbrella musical categories, each embracing a wide range of associated genres and subgenres. New or expanded entries include: Charts, Digital music culture, Country music, Education, Ethnicity, Race, Gender, Grime, Heritage, History, Indie, Synth pop, Policy, Punk rock and Streaming. Popular Music Culture: The Key Concepts is an essential reference tool for students studying the social and cultural dimensions of popular music.




The Present and Future of Music Law


Book Description

The music business is a multifaceted, transnational industry that operates within complex and rapidly changing political, economic, cultural and technological contexts. The mode and manner of how music is created, obtained, consumed and exploited is evolving rapidly. It is based on relationships that can be both complimentary and at times confrontational, and around roles that interact, overlap and sometimes merge, reflecting the competing and coinciding interests of creative artists and music industry professionals. It falls to music law and legal practice to provide the underpinning framework to enable these complex relationships to flourish, to provide a means to resolve disputes, and to facilitate commerce in a challenging and dynamic business environment. The Present and Future of Music Law presents thirteen case studies written by experts in their fields, examining a range of key topics at the points where music law and the post-digital music industry intersect, offering a timely exploration of the current landscape and insights into the future shape of the interface between music business and music law.




Popular Music: The Key Concepts


Book Description

Now in an updated fourth edition, this popular A-Z student handbook provides a comprehensive survey of key ideas and concepts in popular music culture. With new and expanded entries on genres and subgenres, the text comprehensively examines the social and cultural aspects of popular music, taking into account the digital music revolution and changes in the way that music is manufactured, marketed and delivered. New and updated entries include: Age and youth Black music Digital music culture K-Pop Mash-ups Philadelphia Soul Pub music Religion and spirituality Remix Southern Soul Streaming Vinyl With further reading and listening included throughout, Popular Music: The Key Concepts is an essential reference text for all students studying the social and cultural dimensions of popular music.




Is Intellectual Property Pluralism Functional?


Book Description

The international intellectual property (IP) law system allows states to develop policies that reflect their national interests. Therefore, although there is an international minimum standards framework in place, states have widely varying IP laws and differing interpretations of these laws. This book examines whether pluralism in IP law is functional when applied to copyright, patents and trademarks on an international basis.




The Routledge Reader on the Sociology of Music


Book Description

The Routledge Reader on the Sociology of Music offers the first collection of source readings and new essays on the latest thinking in the sociology of music. Interest in music sociology has increased dramatically over the past decade, yet there is no anthology of essential and introductory readings. The volume includes a comprehensive survey of the field’s history, current state and future research directions. It offers six source readings, thirteen popular contemporary essays, and sixteen fresh, new contributions, along with an extended Introduction by the editors. The Routledge Reader on the Sociology of Music represents a broad reference work that will be a resource for the current generation of sociologically inclined musicologists and musically inclined sociologists, whether researchers, teachers or students.




Sounds, Screens, Speakers


Book Description

Sounds, Screens, Speakers provides a broadly comprehensive survey of the emerging field of music and media. Music has been present at the advent of nearly every new media form since the turn of the 20th century. Whether we look at the start of sound recording, film, television or the Internet, music has been a crucial participant in the social changes brought about by these new tools for making and listening to music. This book examines such changes starting in the late 19th century to the present. From the introduction of the microphone all the way through to music in reality television, the purpose of each section is not simply to move chronologically towards the present, but to focus especially on the tangible social relationships created through specific forms of mediation. With readings at the end of most chapters, key questions to facilitate additional discovery and research, and direction to additional readings and resources on popular websites and news sources, this text serves as the ideal introduction to popular music and media.




The Oxford Handbook of Music and Virtuality


Book Description

Has the virtual invaded the realm of the real, or has the real expanded its definition to include what once was characterized as virtual? With the continual evolution of digital technology, this distinction grows increasingly hazy. But perhaps the distinction has become obsolete; perhaps it is time to pay attention to the intersections, mutations, and transmigrations of the virtual and the real. Certainly it is time to reinterpret the practice and study of music. The Oxford Handbook of Music and Virtuality, edited by Sheila Whiteley and Shara Rambarran, is the first book to offer a kaleidoscope of interdisciplinary perspectives from scholars around the globe on the way in which virtuality mediates the dissemination, acquisition, performance, creation, and reimagining of music. The Oxford Handbook of Music and Virtuality addresses eight themes that often overlap and interact with one another. Questions of the role of the audience, artistic agency, individual and communal identity, subjectivity, and spatiality repeatedly arise. Authors specifically explore phenomena including holographic musicians and virtual bands, and the benefits and detriments surrounding the free circulation of music on the internet. In addition, the book investigates the way in which fans and musicians negotiate gender identities as well as the dynamics of audience participation and community building in a virtual environment. The handbook rehistoricizes the virtual by tracing its progression from cartoons in the 1950s to current industry innovations and changes in practice. Well-grounded and wide-reaching, this is a book that students of any number of disciplines, from Music to Cultural Studies, have awaited.