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Understanding the music Industry

This text focuses on the academic article ‘Rethinking the music industry’ Williamson, Cloonan (2007).

What is the music industry?

The music universe implicates economic, political and social issues, according to Williamson, Cloonan;

‘The music industry is often used in ways that lead to misrepresentation and confusion. It suggests simplicity where there is complexity and homogeneity when there is diversity’ William, Cloonan (2017).

Many of us view the music industry as one large enterprise with the same or equal objectives, but many others differ. One of the major differences of the term ‘music industry’ is the industries segmentations, they do not share the same objectives and interests. Most conflicts arise from a sector within the music universe and mis-representation of one sector or industry is rapidly conflated such as piracy only affects part of the industries. When facing crisis, it is not preventing the social aspects such as the live sector and parts of retail from having a period of great prosperity, nor reducing the value of music copyright ownership. In addition, declining sales for artists has not taken effect to the live sector but the term music industry in crisis is perceived unambiguously.

Another social aspect to the music universe is Festival Tourism, an annual event usually held in the same place which not only brings people from different cultural backgrounds there is also close link to infrastructure development, creation of jobs, enterprises and export revenues World Tourism Organization UNWTO, (2017) which highlights the economic aspects the music universe connects with.

Music and Politics and the Politics of Music

Music and politics is argued not to be acknowledge as separate entities whose worlds collide only occasionally, but rather are extensions of each other. Music and politics and the politics of music connection between them is less simple than it may appear. The confusion stems from the thought that music and politics are two discreet realms of human experience and endeavor. One is concerned with the organization of public life; the other with the creative use of sound and the appreciation of its beauties and meanings. The two can be linked as to say, the protest song or the censorship of music, one sees music intervening in politics, the other politics in music. The two realms remain recognizably distinct, and our interests or curiosity is how they respond to each other. Music embodies political values, experiences and organizes our response to society as political thought and action. Music does not just provide a vehicle of political expression, it is that expression Street, (2012).

It has been detected in a common-place in Ancient Athens an it could be detected in the eighteenth-century writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. More recently, it can be detected in the work of Theodor Adorno and Jacques Attali (1985:3); the latter boldly announces;

‘For twenty-five centuries, Western knowledge has tried to look upon the world. It has failed to understand that the world is not for beholding, it is for hearing. It is not legible, but audible’ Attali, (1983;3).

These claims have largely been overlooked or dismissed by those who study politics, and some who study music. There are many cases that indicate the inseparability of politics and music. An example being the case of Simon Bikindi, a musician of which the UN prosecutors had indicated him because they believed that his songs had contributed directly to the slaughter of Tutsis. He appeared in United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, for his songs were held to have been written with deliberate intent of inflaming Hutu hatred of their Tutsi neighbors. The UN charged that specific songs composed by Simon Bikindi had a direct influence upon those who heard them.

Understanding the music industry requires an unprejudiced mind due to its complexities. Our lack of understanding the music industry could well be the cause of its misrepresentation. A positive outlook is it offers further complexity to the industry as the digital world develops innovative platforms to reinvent/create roles, potentially increasing the music industries revenue. The music industry is the one thing we often overlook that we all have in common, whether you’re a professional, a fan or an artist we are all involved in the music universe, the industry itself is just too small to fit all. It would be necessary to assume that the music practices control the universe with multiple operations representing its melodious universe.

Reference

Williamson, J. Cloonan, M. (2007) ‘Rethinking the music industry’, Cambridge journals popular-music, 26(2), pp. 305-322. doi: 10.1017/S0261143007001262

Rethinking the music industry. Available at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/popular-music/article/rethinking-the-music-industry/CE6B71D475494901F49767CCE130718A (Accessed: 14/04/2018)

Festival Tourism Available at: https://februarytwentyninth.tumblr.com (Accessed 14/04/2018)

Street, J. (2012). Music and Politics. New York, NY: Polity Press, pp. 1-5.

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