Artist-Entrepreneurship

Citation (APA): Peltz, P. (2013). Digital Distribution Models Reviewed: The Content Provider’s Perspective . In Music Business and the Experience Economy (pp. 99-117). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Abstract Digital distribution has surpassed physical distribution in key markets and will soon be the dominant music distribution model in Australia. Four different business models (free, ad-funded, pay-per-use and subscription-based) and two different music delivery methods (downloading and streaming) currently compete in the market place. The author analyses each distribution model available in Australia and evaluates advantages and disadvantages from the content provider’s perspective. The most striking development is the blurring line between promotion and distribution. Content providers can either lower the barriers to access music in order to facilitate rapid music circulation and create a strong promotional effect to support various revenue streams; or heighten the barriers to acc...

Montgomery and Moe showed that it would be efficient for labels to pay for airplay ( Montgomery & Moe, 2002 ). This is not surprising given the impact airplay can have on sales, at least in the old music industry ( Dertouzos, 2008 ). However, direct undisclosed payments to influence radio programming (called Payola, a combination of pay and Victrola) are prohibited by law. Hence, labels developed strategies to circumvent the law by using independent promoters or naming payments “consultant fees”. The bottom line is, there will always be efforts in whatever form to get exposure through a promotion channel if it could increase profits or benefit an artist's career. This principle prevails, as for instance in form of  Last.fm’s Powerplay  or  Jango’s Airplay  program, where artists can simply pay for plays. Or  Blogola , where influential bloggers receive anything from free products, to tickets and money in return for featuring a specific artist on their...

Digital distribution has surpassed physical distribution in key markets like the USA or UK and, thus, established as the dominant distribution practice. While the media often speaks of the next killer app that will revolutionize music consumption and dominate music distribution, the analysis of the current situation suggests that different forms of distribution will coexist. The reason is that consumers value music differently, prefer different formats and expect different experiences from consumption. The same applies to content providers. Each artist or record label is in a specific situation pursuing different goals. As a result, a variety of different distribution models have emerged, each with pros and cons for a certain situation. For content providers it is important to choose the appropriate distribution model that supports the overall strategy. The most striking development in digital distribution is the blurring line between promotion and...

Citation: Peltz, Philipp. "The scope of artist-entrepreneurship in the music industry."Instruments of Change: Proceedings of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music Australia-New Zealand 2010 Conference. International Association for the Study of Popular Music, 2011. [...] Ambitious musical activities outside of the established structures of the music industry are not new. The number of amateur and unsigned musicians has always outweighed that of professional and signed musicians. Today, the distinction on the basis of being signed by a record label or not is blurring. Decreasing entry barriers enable hobbyists and unsigned artists to enter established markets on a large scale. The present research project utilised two datasets to estimate the total size of artist-entrepreneurship in the music industry. The findings reveal the sheer scope of this phenomenon. According to the figures, there are five times as many artist-entrepreneurs than artists si...

Kevin Kelly writes: “The elusive, intangible connection that flows between appreciative fans and the artist is worth something”. Or as Joel Zimmerman, better known under his artist name Deadmau5 puts it: “You need to make a world: […] you have a rollercoaster in your backyard… which is rad. coz everyone loves roller coasters,[…] and all the people from around your block is gunna wanna come and at LEAST check that shit out, or ride it. And itll be the hot thing in the neighborhood for about a week. But once everyone’s had a go… they’ll lose interest, go home n play Sega instead. I see this happen to SO many people… its ridicules. Well, what you need then, is a fuckin theme park… and you AND your music are the theme. You with me here?  Now, people come into your theme park, and holy fuck, check out all this shit… buncha rides, no 2 the same, some merch here and there, special events, dolphins through hoops and all that whack shit. You want people to come to your th...

Introduction To what extent does copyright law encourage the production of music? On the one hand, the Internet features a vast amount of new music, while on the other hand copyright law is practically weakened by piracy. This is a paradoxical situation. Following the rationale of copyrights, a mitigation of the law (due to problems of enforceability) should lead to a decrease in musical output due to lack of incentives and vice versa. This paper analyzes the motivational incentive of copyrights to artists and labels to produce and publish music. Conclusion A sagging copyright (due to piracy) should lead to a decreasing number in music recordings. However, in light of the flourishing supply of new music on the Internet, something in this equation appears to be wrong. Firstly, artists appear not to be influenced significantly by copyrights. The majority of artists would not adjust their musical productivity to copyright alterations. In addition, there is evidence of a cost-of-c...

We are working on a paper about remix competitions. If you have ever participated in a remix competition, it would be great if you could participate in our little survey. Thanks a lot! Remix Competition Survey    ( done, we are analysing the results) Here a brief abstract what the paper is all about: Remix competitions have become very popular among aspiring music producers. If established artists like Depeche Mode, 50 Cent or Fatboy Slim call for remixes, up to 1000 and more music producers take the chance to submit their own interpretations of the original tune. Despite their popularity, remix contests are subject of controversial debates among artists. Organisers promote remix competitions as promising career opportunities for unknown artists to get a foot in the door of the professional music business. Participants, on the other hand, often accuse the organisers to exploit the artist’s dream and use remix contests only as a promotional tool. In this regard the prese...