Paying the piper: a study of musicians and the music business

Abstract

*Many artists argue that treating music as a business represents a particularly insidious force in cultural life, stifling creativity and change. For them business and art are mutually incompatible and they regard the evident economic success of the music industry as an example of the shameless exploitation of our cultural heritage. *This paper is based on detailed research into the attitudes of musicians across two distinct cultures. It finds strong echoes of the key criticisms of the music business which have been prominent in academic literature and in the specialist music press for more than a generation. Singled out for particular censure are not-for-profit organisations for apparently following the global recording companies down the same, profit-driven routes. *The research confirms that there is a large gap between the expectations of artists and the organisations which employ them and fund their work. It is important that these expectations are understood and, if possible, bridged. For the arts to regain their place at the heart of cultural life it is necessary once more to bring the artists themselves into the picture.

Artists' attitudes to marketing: a cross‐cultural perspective

“…More importantly, perhaps, is that the performance of music is dominated by nonprofit organisations, underpinned by public sector funding and noncommercial revenue streams (Kubacki and Croft, 2005). However, it is important that the distinction between performance-production and marketing-production in what could loosely be termed 'the music sector' is highlighted: across the world musical performance is largely the preserve of nonprofits, the selfemployed and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), while the 'music business' globally is dominated by massive international corporations, which impose global solutions on national music markets (see, e.g.…”

Walking back to happiness: The resurgence of latent callings in later life

“…Three main reasons emerged as pivotal in this unfolding process of calling abandonment. First, as informants deepened their involvement in the music domain through further courses at music college or performing with older musicians, they began to attend to cues concerning the lifestyle and working conditions associated with a career in music, including poor pay, antisocial working hours and job insecurity (Hoedemaekers, 2018; Kubacki and Croft, 2005). This future-oriented sensemaking (Ashforth and Schinoff, 2016) helped informants develop a concept of their future possible self as musician (Cross and Markus, 1991) and served to discourage them from living out their calling:I got to meet middle-aged orchestral musicians who were just cynical and jaded .…”

“…This may involve a challenging array of effortful and self-directed behaviours, including exploration, planning, goal-setting and networking (Praskova et al, 2014). Such challenges may be especially acute in seeking to establish a career in an uncertain calling domain such as music where employment is scarce and insecure, pay can be low and working conditions unpleasant (Dobrow and Tosti-Kharas, 2011; Hoedemaekers, 2018; Kubacki and Croft, 2005; Umney and Krestos, 2015). Amassing the resources and skills necessary to enter into a musical career and develop a positive identity as a musician can depend on factors such as early exposure to relevant role models, access to lessons from talented tutors, high-quality musical instruments, appropriate space for long hours of practice and encouragement from family members, many of which may only be accessible to those from affluent backgrounds (Dobrow, 2012).…”

Art music and the economy: the modernity index and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, 1895 to 2013

“…Scholars have analysed the dynamics of how this has come to pass from many angles and the significant breadth of these studies speaks to the importance of the symphonic tradition in our society. The following are some of the primary areas of investigation that relate the age of the repertoire to a specific parameter: public taste (Mauskapf, 2009;Peterson, 2005;Ross, 2007), orchestra structure and music administration policies (Doering, 2013;Liddle et al, 2002), ticket sales (Kamakura and Schimmel, 2012), historical and style studies (Spitzer, 2012;Taylor, 2010;Weber, 2001Weber, , 2003Weber, , 2008 gender studies (Chiti, 2003), opinions of music faculty, performing artists or composers (Fineberg, 2006;Kubacki and Croft, 2005;Gilmore, 1993;Spencer, 2007;Young, 2008),corporate, philanthropic and or government support (Brooks, 1999;Towse, 2011;Scherer, 2007;Turrini et al, 2008) and public policy discussions of music as a business rather than an art (Fineberg, 2006;Froelich, 1999;Toepler, 2001). As valuable as each of these studies are, the literature lacks a common measure for the age of the repertoire, the common variable to all orchestral literature.…”