The Music Industry

Fall 2012 MC345 The Music Industry This course examines changes in the structure of the music industry and the evolution of popular music forms and genres. Industrial topics include the rise and fall of various playback technologies, cultural anxieties surrounding genres such as jazz and rap, and intellectual property. This course provides an introduction to the organization and structure of the music industry through an examination of the activities and strategies of labels, publishers, performance rights organizations, startups, and subscription services. Students learn about how globalization and new technologies challenge production and distribution norms. Through course readings and listening sessions, students are introduced to debates about commerce and creativity in rock, pop, indie rock, hip hop, electronica, world, and remix music. Dr. Ben Aslinger Email: baslinger (at) bentley (dot) edu Twitter: bsasling Class meetings: MR 12:45-2 Office Hours: M 11:30-12:30, R 10-11, and by appointment (no availability M 9:55-11:10, T 11:20-2, and R 11:20-12:35) Learning Objectives: Knowledge: To learn about cultural and business practices in the recording and music industries To understand how genres and musical forms work textually, culturally, and industrially To distinguish between the music industry’s past, present, and possible future strategies Skills: To analyze music as a textual and industrial system To construct arguments about industrial strategy, music licensing, genre, and the effects of social media on music To utilize specific industrial terms and concepts relating to the music industry Perspectives: To consider how the production and distribution of music have affected American and global cultures To become aware of the roles that label executives, producers, performance rights organizations, and other parties have in creating, monetizing, and distributing music To recognize how industrial changes, cultural anxieties, shifting tastes, and evolving technologies alter music production and reception To make this as effective a learning community as possible, respect your fellow students and me by silencing your cell phones before class begins and listening to what your colleagues have to say. Come to class on time and stay to the end. Bring the textbook (or articles) and a notebook to class to take notes. In exchange for your respect of your classmates and my time, I will do my best to help you understand course materials and make connections between concepts and ideas. Students are allotted two absences due to illness and unforeseen circumstances. For every absence in excess of two, the participation grade will be lowered ½ grade (e.g., A to A-). Every three days that a student is late constitutes one absence. If you are seriously ill or running a fever, however, let me know via email BEFORE class begins and stay home. Students are required to make up any work missed for all absences. It is your responsibility to get notes and class materials from a fellow classmate. Do not email me to ask if we covered anything important; yes, we did, and it is your job to catch yourself up to speed. I find it necessary to state my email policy upfront. Email (or Twitter) is the best way to reach me outside of office hours, and I will do my best to respond to most emails sent during the week within 24 hours. Emails sent over the weekend will receive responses within 72 hours. If I am traveling to or from a conference or devoting more of my time to grading (I aim to return graded materials within one week of receipt), you may receive late responses. Do not email me to ask when assignments are due, what you are supposed to read for the next class, what your grade is in the class thus far, or what we covered in a specific class session. Consult the blog or get in touch with a classmate to find the answers to these questions. Do not email me and ask me to read full drafts of your papers. If you have a specific question about a piece of your argument or how to use a particular piece of evidence, paste this in an email (do not attach a file) and include the specific question/issue you would like me to address. If your concern is bigger than this or will require a response longer than a few sentences, you need to either come to office hours or schedule an appointment with me for an alternate time. All assignments must be completed on time. Late work will not be accepted. Please do not ask for extensions. Plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty are serious offenses and have serious consequences. Students found plagiarizing assignments will receive a zero on the assignment. I have found that most cases of plagiarism and academic dishonesty in my classes stem from a lack of proper citation. If you have questions about how to properly cite sources, paraphrase passages, and/or quote material, please make a point to ask me in class or attend my office hours. I expect all work submitted for this course to be original work; working in groups defeats the purpose of the assignments and raises the chance that you will engage in some form of academic dishonesty. If you have a documented learning disability or otherwise need accommodations in order to learn effectively in this course and complete the required assignments, please contact the Office of Disability Services. If you have already done so and have received an accommodation letter, please talk to me privately ASAP so that you can learn as much in this course as possible and complete assignments effectively. College can be a very stressful time. If at any point during the semester you feel overwhelmed by the work load or are confused about how to complete an assignment, please come and talk to me and we can discuss time management, work strategies, grading criteria, and the purpose of the work assigned. Also, should you need to talk to someone, contact Counseling Services. Many students find writing college papers to be difficult. Standards for evaluation, argumentation, and the ways scholars use sources may vary slightly from discipline to discipline, leaving students with the feeling that paper comments (and grades) are arbitrary. Please use me as your primary contact for writing issues such as constructing thesis statements, and using sources and examples. In addition, I would encourage students who find writing analytical papers difficult to contact the Writing Center. The Writing Center is located in the basement of the library. You can reach them at 781-891-3173. Grade Breakdown: Participation 5% News Roundup 5% Spotlight 10% Discussion Leadership 10% Critical Analysis Papers 30% Listening Session Responses 30% Final Take Home Exam 10% Participation: We are going to be spending a lot of time together this semester (over 30 hours). Some readings will be difficult, some screenings will make you uncomfortable, and some weeks you (and I) will be exhausted. However, this class rises and falls with the amount and quality of your participation. Whenever possible, we will sit in a circle. You should be talking to each other, but the traditional layout of the classroom often creates a conversation between professor and student, not a conversation between co-learners. Questions about the course schedule, deadlines, and/or other housekeeping details do not count toward the participation count. Comments/remarks/presentations that satisfy other assignments also do not count toward your daily participation grade. Other comments that will not earn you credit include expressions of your like/dislike of the readings/listening sessions and vague comments that have little (if any) connection to the course material. You will earn participation credit for every comment that specifically addresses the readings. Examples that will earn credit include comments that reference specific passages of a reading and remarks that explore the intricacies of an author’s logic, argument, or use of evidence. In determining your participation grade, I will take into account the frequency and quality of your contribution to discussion. Frequent absences or lateness will hurt your participation grade. News Roundup: There has never been a more exciting or crazy time in the music industry. Debates about compensation, the changing fortunes and power of firms, and rapid technological change have made everyone wonder how to make money, how to appeal to audiences, and how to keep music relevant. This assignment forces you to sample a variety of trade publications, major blogs, and other sources of news coverage regarding the current state of the music industry. After immersing yourself for a week in the language, grammar, and scope of reporting on the music industry, you will synthesize all that you have learned into a Pecha Kucha style Powerpoint presentation consisting of 20 slides projected for 20 seconds each. For more on the format, see http://www.pechakucha.org/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NZOt6BkhUg. For configuring Powerpoint, see http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/nextstepsinpowerpoint/ss/add_transitions_7.htm. In order to be successful, you will need to a) boil down stories and developments to their essence, b) find connections and linkages between stories, c) find creative ways to illustrate and design slides (text-heavy slides = BAD), d) have your remarks fully prepared, and e) rehearse your presentation several times prior to giving it in class. Spotlight: You will give a presentation based on in-depth research into a firm or organization in the industry. You may choose to focus on a new/current service, platform, label, or organization (e.g., Turntable.fm, Interscope, or BMI) or a firm that is of significant historical interest (e.g., Sun Records). You will want to examine literature from the trade press as well as scholarly literature from business and communication scholars. For this assignment, I require you to experiment with Prezi, an online presentation service that allows you to use grouping, layering, sizing, borders, and paths as you choose. You can sign up for a free edu account at http://prezi.com/index/. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPh2Nl9AAPE&NR=1 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxhqD0hNx4Q for tips on creating presentations in Prezi. You will be evaluated based on how well your presentation is designed as well as the depth and clarity of the ideas presented. Presentations should be a maximum of 10 minutes in length. Discussion Leadership: You will be responsible for introducing the readings in a class session either by yourself or in a team of two. First, you will craft a 300-word summary and analysis of the reading(s). You should begin with a 50- to 100-word summary of the thesis of the reading(s) and then move on to an analysis of how arguments are constructed and evidence is used. Your summaryanalysis must be copied and distributed to the class. You will begin your in-class presentation by quickly stating what you think are the central points of the reading for the day (do NOT read from your written submission). Next, you will highlight 2 passages that you wish to explore in more depth, briefly explaining why you think these passages matter and why each passage deserves further scrutiny. Finally, you will craft 3 open-ended questions that will help spark discussion and provide a segue into our close reading of the pieces for the day. The in-class portion of this assignment is limited to 15 minutes. Critical Analysis Papers: The two critical analyses you write this semester should be 5-to 6-pages. 5 sources and a bibliography are required. 3 of your sources must be scholarly (1 of these may be a required reading for the course). You will be evaluated based on the strength/justification of your topic and analysis, the sophistication of your thesis statement and central ideas, and the effectiveness with which you use scholarly and popular sources. Grammar, punctuation, and style also matter. You are required to revise one of the critical analyses this semester. #1 Firm/institutional strategy You will pick a firm or an institution in the recording or music industry and examine how it operates. For a record label, you will explore its production, distribution, and/or promotional strategies. For a performance rights organization or musicians’ union or promotional/concert company, you will examine its operations and strategies. While you will examine how (and if) a strategy is/was successful, your primary goal is to explore the rationale behind the strategy and how it is/was implemented. #2 Social media music site, app, or subscription service You will select a specific site, application, or service (e.g., eMusic, Tapulous, or last.fm). You must address at least one of the following: the economic or legal viability of the venture, how your example innovates music industry business models, and/or the ways that your example changes the industry-listener relationship. Listening Session Responses: Each of the genres we are examining this semester will be associated with a Spotify playlist shared via Tumblr and/or Twitter. You will write 5 4- to 5-page papers connecting a playlist (or elements of it) to the course readings for a particular genre or mode of musical production. You may choose to analyze the ways that playlist elements fit (or challenge) the industrial, social, or cultural construction of genre. You may choose to focus on a small number of tracks, comparing and contrasting production techniques. Other ideas or approaches to this assignment are welcome, but make sure you run your ideas by me before you dive in to the writing process. You will be evaluated based on the strength of your arguments, how effectively you use course readings and concepts, and how well you demonstrate an engagement with the playlist. Final Take Home Exam: The final exam will consist of a series of essay questions that ask you to build links between readings, genres, historical periods, industrial formations, and sounds as well as demonstrate your understanding by interpreting readings/concepts and applying them to new situations. The take home exam will cover the entire semester’s readings and listening sessions. Your exam should be 8- to 10-pages long. All Critical Analysis Papers, Listening Session Responses, and the Final Take Home Exam should be emailed to me as a pdf attachment. Please name your file lastnameassignment.pdf. Course Schedule: DATE TOPIC 9/6 Overview of the Course 9/10 An Introduction to the Business of Music 9/13 Music Industry History 9/17 Industry Structure and Norms 9/20 Industry Structure and Norms 9/24 State of the Industry 9/27 Rights and Licensing READINGS TO COMPLETE BEFORE CLASS TMI “Introduction: Music in the Cloud” and “A Copyright Industry” Jacques Attali, excerpt from Noise: The Political Economy of Music David Suisman, “When Songs Became a Business” Eric M. Rothenbuehler and Tom McCourt, “The Economics of the Recording Industry” TMI “Inside the Music Industry” and “Making Music – An Industrial or Creative Process” Matt Stahl, “From Seven Years to 360 Degrees: Primitive Accumulation, Recording Contracts, and the Means of Making a (Musical) Living” Eric Harvey, “Same as the Old Boss?: Changes, Continuities, and Careers in the Digital Music Era” Tad Lathrop, “Charting the Corporate Hitmaking Process” Mary Madden (for Pew Internet and American Life Project), “The State of Music Online: Ten Years After Napster” MIDEM and Nielsen, “The hyper-fragmented world of music: Marketing considerations and revenue maximization” IFPI, “Investing in Music: How Music Companies Discover, Develop, & Promote Talent” James L. Walker, Jr., Esq., “Joining a Performance Rights Society: BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC” and “Songwriter Contracts and Publishing Deals: What are They?” “Music Licensing Agreements” and “Licensing Related ASSIGNMENTS DUE 10/1 Music and Other Media 10/4 Live Music 10/11 Marketing, Criticism, and Promotion 10/15 New Techs, New Networks 10/18 Social Media and Music 10/22 10/25 Pop Rock 10/29 Indie 11/1 Hip Hop 11/5 Hip Hop Agreements” Ramsay Adams, David Hnatiuk, and David Weiss, “The Evolution of Music Supervision” and “Theory and Application” TMI “Music and the Media” Fabian Holt, “The Economy of Live Music in the Digital Age” Ray D. Waddell, Rich Barnet, and Jake Berry, “Making Money on the Road,” “Why, When, and Where to Tour,” and “Day of Show” Mike King, “How to Sell Your Music Online” and “Online, Mobile, and Video Marketing” Don McLeese, “Straddling the Cultural Chasm: The Great Divide Between Music Criticism and Popular Consumption” Jonathan Sterne, “The Mp3 as Cultural Artifact.” H. Cecilia Suhr, “Indaba Music as a Digital Field of Cultural Production” Sherman Young and Steve Collins, “A View from the Trenches of Music 2.0” TMI “The Social and Creative Music Fan?’ Nancy Baym, “Engaging Fans Through Social Media” Nancy Baym, “Biting and Feeding the Hands that Feed: Audience – Musician Interactions Online” TMI “Future Sounds” Diane Railton, “The Gendered Carnival of Pop” Steve Jones, excerpts from Rock Formation: Music, Technology, and Mass Communication David Hesmondhalgh, “Indie: The Institutional Politics and Aesthetics of a Popular Music Genre” Tricia Rose, “A Style Nobody Can Deal With: Politics, Style, and the Postindustrial City in Hip Hop” Jeff Chang, “A Brief, Highly Opinionated History of Critical Analysis #1 Critical Analysis #2 Listening Session Response 11/8 Electronica/Dance 11/12 Electronica 11/15 Electronica 11/19 Country 11/26 Country 11/29 Country 12/3 12/6 Folk Latin/o/a Music 12/10 Reggaeton 12/13, 1-3 p.m. Final Exam Session Hip-Hop Journalism” Kembrew McLeod, “The Politics and History of HipHop Journalism” David Hesmondhalgh, “The Cultural Politics of Dance Music” Kembrew McLeod, “Genres, Subgenres, Sub-Subgenres and More: Musical and Social Differentiation Within Electronic/Dance Music Communities” Eno, Cascone, Miller excerpts, Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music Sherburne, Toop, Toop and Neill excerpts, Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music Bill Malone, “The Development of Country-Pop Music and the Nashville Sound” Joli Jensen, “Taking Country Music Seriously: Coverage of the 1990s Boom” Beverly Keel, “Between Riot Grrrl and Quiet Girl: The New Women’s Movement in Country Music” Ronald D. Cohen, “The Sixties” and “Century Ends” María Elena Cepeda, “A Miami Sound Machine: Deconstructing the Latin(o) Music Boom of the Late 1990s” Wayne Marshall, “From Musica Negra to Reggaeton Latino: The Cultural Politics of Nation, Migration, and Commercialization” Submit take home final exam to instructor by 3 p.m. Listening Session Response Listening Session Response Listening Session Response Listening Session Response Take Home Final Exam