The 10th Vienna Music Business Research Days 2019 in retrospective

At the 10^th anniversary Vienna Music Business Research Days music business researchers and music industry representatives from around the globe looked into the crystal ball to highlight and discuss the “Future of the Music Business”.

The Young Scholars Workshop traditionally opened the conference as a forum for master and PhD students to present and discuss their research results with renown international music business scientists. This year two papers were awarded by an international jury with the first prize: “THE NEW MAGIC PEOPLE: An Ethnographic Study of East London’s Cultural Workers at Shoreditch House” by Sam Edrisi of Westminster University and King’s College London and “Creativity, Constraints, and Copyright – Hired Music Guns and the Case of Soundalikes” by Konstantin Hondros of the University Duisburg-Essen. Both papers are considered tob e published in the International Journal of Music Business Research (IJMBR).

On the following Conference Track Day, music business researchers from Australia, Austria, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Romenia, Spain, South Africa, UK and the US presented their research results on a broad range of music business topics, such as gender aspects in the classical music sphere, the live music business in the Netherlands, self-management and entrepreneurship of musicians, the demand for music in the music streaming age, music branding, music labour markets and music education issues (see program).

The final Invited Conference Day on September 13^th focused on the conference main topic the “Future of the Music Business”. The London-based entertainment lawyer Cliff Fluet held the introductory keynote “The Music Business & Technology – How Their Past and Present will Dictate Their Future” and joined the following panel discussion on “The Future of Music Copyright” with Ros Lynch (Intellectual Property Office, London) and the blockchain start-up founder Steve Stewart (vezt, Los Angeles), moderated by Sally Gross (University of Westminster, London). The panelists discussed the impact of new technologies such as the blockchain and artificial intellectual on copyright legislation.

Michael Smellie, the former COO of Sony/BMG and Australian start-up investor, closed the morning session by looking back into the music industry’s recent past with his keynote on the music industry’s “Seven Deadly Sins” to learn more about the industry’s future.

 

After the lunch break Paul O’Hagan of the University of Ulster had a conversation with music manager Peter Jenner on the concept of label service contracts, which Peter Jenner introduced by signing Billy Bragg to Cooking Vinyl. Label service contracts have become very popular among superstars such as Taylor Swift, since there is no need to contract away all rights to the labels. Peter Jenner was also a mastermind and initiator of the “Music 2025” project, which was introduced for the first to the public by him and Dennis Collopy (University of Hertfordshire, UK) in 2014 at the Vienna Music Business Research Days. This year Dennis Collopy presented the project’s results to an international audience.

In the following keynote “What Are the Key Drivers of Growth in Music Streaming?” music industry analyst Chris Carey outlined the past, present and future developments in the music streaming economy. This was a good starting point for the final panel discussion on “Future of the Music Business – What’s Next after Music Streaming?” with Rebecca Brook (music industry consultant, London), Chris Carey (Media Insight Consulting, London), Phil Graham (University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia) and Michael Smellie (start-up investor, Australia), moderated by Dennis Collopy (University of Hertfordshire).

The 10^th Vienna Music Business Research Days were supplemented by a book presentation event in the evening of September 11^th. Daniel Nordgård of the University of Agder in Kristiansand/Norway presented the first volume of the Springer book series “Music Business Research” entitled “The Music Business and Digital Impacts. Innovations and Disruptions in the Music Industries“. Phil Graham of the University of the Sunshine Coast/Australia followed with the presentation of the book series’ second volume “Music, Management, Marketing, and Law. Interviews Across the Music Business Value Chain“. Subsequently both authors joined a panel discussion on “Big Data in the Music Business” with the Vienna-based start-up entrepreneur Nermina Mumic and music manager Peter Jenner.

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10th Anniversary Music Business Research Days 2019 on “Future of the Music Business”

The Vienna Music Business Research Days conference celebrates its 10^th birthday this year by looking into the past to learn more about the future of the music business. In the past ten years the VMBR-Days were a platform for forward looking and controversial music industry topics. In 2011, Dagfinn Bach highlighted the high CO₂ emissions of music streaming compared to music downloads – a topic, which has become highly relevant in the times of climate change. In the same year the founder of the German music streaming service Simfy, Steffen Wicker, and then PRS for Music chief economist, Will Page, who later joined Spotify, discussed if music streaming would be the next big thing in the music industry. In 2013, Mike Michalke introduced the project of a creative commons collecting society, which was established a few years later as the Cultural Commons Collecting Society (C3S) in Germany. Also in 2013 international experts, among them the doyen of intellectual property rights research, Adolf Dietz, discussed how copyright legislation has to be adapted to new technological and social challenges. Some of the proposals, which were discussed in Vienna, later entered the recently enacted EU Copyright Directive. In 2015, alternative instruments to finance music projects such as crowdfunding, angel investment and start-up funding, which are common practice now, were highlighted by keynotes and panel discussions. In 2017, the blockchain technology and its impact on the music business was in the focus of the 8^th Vienna Music Business Research Days. And further topics such as the live music and concert business, self-management of artists, new music consumption behavior and music file sharing were discussed in the past years.

In 2019, some of the topics will be resumed in the 10^th anniversary conference. After a keynote by London-based copyright lawyer Cliff Fluet of Lewis Silkin LLP, he will discuss on “The Future of Music Copyright” with Karl Ryan (Government Affairs and Public Policy, Google UK), Ros Lynch (Intellectual Property Office, London, UK) and Steve Stewart (vezt, Los Angeles, USA).

The former COO of Sony/BMG and Australian start-up investor Michael Smellie will look back in the recent history of the music industry by highlighting the music industry’s “Seven Deadly Sins”. In the afternoon, Paul O’Hagan (Ulster University, UK) and music manager Peter Jenner (Pink Floyd, The Clash, Billy Bragg) will discuss the future of artist contracts in the recorded music business, before Peter will join Dennis Collopy (University of Hertfordshire, UK) to present the results of the “Music 2025” project, which was introduced by them to the public at the Vienna Music Business Research Days 2014. Then the founder of the British music streaming service 7digital, Pete Downton, will highlight the drivers of growth of music streaming. In the following panel discussion on the “Future of the Music Business – What’s Next after Music Streaming?”, Pete will exchange thoughts with music industry consultant Rebecca Brook (London, UK) communications researcher Phil Graham (University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia) and start-up investor Michael Smellie (Brisbane, Australia).

The Vienna Music Business research Days will be opened on Sep. 11^th with the Young Scholars’ Workshop for master and PhD students to present their research to renown music business researchers in a closed workshop atmosphere. On Sep. 12^th scientists from all around the world will present their research finding on different music business/industry topics (see program).

 

Tickets for September 12-13, 2019: https://ntry.at/vmbrd2019

Promotion YouTube video: https://youtu.be/GkgAZX5uS_M

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ViennaMusicBusinessResearchDays/

Live video-stream of the last conference day on Sep. 13^th, 9:00-17:30 CEST: https://live.mdw.ac.at/VMBRD_2019

Introducing our guests: Dennis Collopy (University of Hertfordshire, UK)

In the 10th anniversary Vienna Music Business Research Days on the “Future of the Music Business” at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (Anton-von-Webern-Platz 1, 1030 Vienna/Austria) music business researchers and music business professionals look into the recent past of the music industry to learn more about its future. Find the program here.

Dennis Collopy’s keynote “Music 2025 – Is Music Data Fit for Purpose in the Digital Era?” focuses on the key legal and copyright ownership data issues that impact the benefits of the digital music economy especially for creators and non-corporate rightsholders . The data issues highlighted are an outcome of the Music 2025 manifesto first launched by Peter Jenner and Dennis Collopy at the 5th Vienna Music Business Research Days in 2014 and the keynote summarises the key findings of an 15 month intensive research project involving researchers at University of Ulster funded by the UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and supported by the two main UK collective rights management organizations PRS for Music and PPL.

Dennis’ talk is scheduled in mdw’s Joseph Haydn-Hall on Sep. 13th from 14:00-14:45 and he will be assisted by music manager and project partner Peter Jenner (Sincere Music, London). He will then moderate the panel discussion on the “Future of the Music Business – What’s Next after Music Streaming?” with Rebecca Brook (msuic industry consultant, London, UK), Pete Downton (7digital, London, UK), Phil Graham (University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia) and Michael Smellie (Start-up investor, Brisbane, Australia).

Dennis Collopy is Senior Research Fellow at the University of Hertfordshire, where he has specialised in Music and IP Rights related research including various studies for UK Music and the IPO. He has spent over 4 decades in music working across artist management, record labels and music publishing having been MD of Riva Music (signing the Clash and John Mellencamp) BMG Music Publishing (signing Bruce Hornsby, Steve Earle, Maria Mckee, Eurythmics and Clannad) EG (working with KLF, the Orb and Robert Fripp) and most recently his own Menace Music Management managing rights for artists and song writers like Matt Aitken (from Stock Aitken and Waterman), Frankie Miller, Slowdive/Mojave 3’s Neil Halstead, acclaimed reggae songwriter Gary Benson and one of the most successful singers in EDM, Steve Edwards. Dennis is a former director of PRS and board member of the UK’s MPA.

 

 

5th Vienna Music Business Research Days in Retrospective

The 5th Vienna Music Business Research Days were devoted to the question “How to Monetize Music in the Digital Age”? Academics and business professionals  answered this questions from different perspectives. The VMBR-Days 2014 were held in cooperation with the Waves Vienna Music Festival & Conference and attracted an even larger international audience than in the years before. On Oct 3rd, a conference track day complemented the invited conference day on Oct 2nd for the first time. Academics from Austria, Australia, Brasil, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom presented recent findings of a wide range of music business research topics.

The Young Scholars’ Workshop gathered for the fourth time students and mentors/discussants from more than 10 countries to discuss the findings a papers derived from master and PhD theses (see also the webpage of the Young Scholars’ Workshop 2014).

For a detailed coverage of the whole conference– including most of the papers and presentation slides as well as the audio streams of all talks and discussions of Oct 2nd – please click here.

Introducing our guests: Peter Jenner (Sincere Management) & Dennis Collopy (University of Hertfordshire)

The 5th Vienna Music Business Research Days will be held at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna from Oct 1-3, 2014.  A mixed group of music business professionals and music business researcher will highlight the question on “How to Monetize Music in the Digital Age” from different perspectives. All conference guest that will present/discuss on Oct 2, 2014 in Joseph Haydn-Hall will be introduced in a short blog series.

Peter Jenner (Sincere Management) & Dennis Collopy will present “The Future of Monetizing Music – the Kristiansand Roundtable Initiative 2025 for the music business” in Joseph Haydn-Hall on Oct 2, from 11:15-12:00.

Peter Jenner is legendary in the music business. One time manager to Pink Floyd, The Clash, Ian Dury & Billy Bragg amongst many others, he is now at the forefront of the debates surrounding the digital use of music. He is President Emeritus (IMMF), Director (UK MMF) and on the advisory board of FAC. He is also a visiting professor for the University of Hertfordshire and the University of Adger in Norway. For more details, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Jenner (not all of it accurate).

Dennis Collopy’s lengthy music industry career included roles at Chrysalis, RCA, Riva, BMG and Big Life before setting up Menace Music. 

 Menace has worked with a range of successful recording artists, record producers and songwriters. Since 2003 he has taught at various UK Universities. At the University Of Hertfordshire he leads the Music and Entertainment Industry Management programme. He co-authored the 3-year ‘Music Experience and Behaviour in Young People” study and co-edits the International Journal of Music Business Research. In 2013 he led a project for the UK’s IPO investigating methods for measuring IP Right infringement.

https://musicbusinessresearch.wordpress.com/vienna-music-business-research-days-2/

4th Vienna Music Business Research Days in Retrospective

In the 4^th Vienna Music Business Research Days the “Future of Music Licensing” was highlighted. The conference, therefore, focused on collective rights management and collecting societies respectively as well as the registration of music rights. However, in a broader perspective also the future of copyright in a digital society was discussed.

In the opening panel of the conference on Thursday the concept of creative commons licensing and the set-up of a collection society for CC-licensing by the C3S initiative in Germany was controversially discussed.

The first conference day, however, was devoted the 3^rd Young Scholars’ Workshop. Fourteen young academics from 8 different countries – Australia, Austria, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Palestine and Portugal – presented their papers on a wide range of music business research topics.

For a detailed coverage of the whole conference– including all papers and presentation slides as well as audio files of all talks and discussion – please click here.

Music Experience and Behaviour in Young People in the UK

The study Music Experience and Behaviour in Young People is the third survey of its kind – after 2008 and 2009 – for 2011. After a presentation of the key findings of the study in the 3^rd Vienna Music Business Research Days, it’s now an honour and pleasure to exclusively present the results of the current study on the blog. The 2011 study is based on a comprehensive online survey of 1,888 of 14-24 year olds across the UK. The main conclusion of the current research is “(…) that when it comes to music and young people, everything is different, and yet everything is still the same”; compared to 2008 and 2009.

The key findings of the 2011 study are:

• The computer is no longer their main entertainment hub.
• Digital music collections are still huge.
• Digital music collections still contain 50 percent “free” music.
• Ownership is still important.
• Music is no longer the most popular entertainment type.
• There remains a very clear “value gap”.
• The popularity of file sharing has changed significantly.
• The 14-25 years olds are prepared to pay for digital music.
• But there are still challenges for streaming music online.
• Digital music consumption is still complex.
• They have a clear understanding and grasp of what copyright law is.

Please read further if you want to know more about the research results.

The Third “Vienna Music Business Research Days” in Retrospective

The 3^rd Vienna Music Business Research Days were devoted to the “New Music Consumption Behaviour”. Therefore, recent music consumer surveys for the U.K. and for Austria were presented and the hypothesis of music prosumption was highlighted. In another contribution the impact of music file sharing on the quality of new music products was measured. Further the French authority for protection of copyrights on the Internet – HADOPI – was presented and the effects of its operations on P2P file sharing were highlighted. In the following panel discussion “Three Strikes and Out” music industry and copyright expertes controversially debated the concept of graduaded response scheme (aka “three strikes” models) such as HADOPI in France. In this context the question “Are File Sharers Pirates?” was already controversially discussed by a sentenced file sharer and the author of the the book “Free Ride. How Digital Parasites Are Destroying the Culture Business”.

The 3rd Vienna Music Business Research Days were opened by the Young Scholars’ Workshop on June 29. Nineteen young academics from seven countries presented their research papers, which represented the full range of music business research. The best Young Scholars’ paper was then awarded by and international jury at the end of the conference on June 30.

In the following the 3rd Vienna Music Business Research on “New Music Consumption Behaviour” is summarised and all presentations and discussions can be audio streamed. Most of the papers and power point presentation are also available as downloads.

3rd Vienna Music Business Research Days on “New Music Consumption Behavior”, June 29-30, 2012

On June 29, 2012 the 3rd Vienna Music Business Research Days at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna will be opened with the Young Scholars’ Workshop at 9.00 am. Nineteen young academics from seven different countries will present current research results on different aspects of the music economy. The programme and most of the papers can found on the conference’s wepage.

On Fri, June 29 at 19.30 a discussion on the question “Are File Sharers Pirates?” will take place in Joseph Haydn-Hall. The student Joel Tenenbaum, who was sentenced to pay a compensation of US$ 675,000 for sharing 30 music files by an U.S.-court, will discuss this question with Robert Levine, author of the book “Free Ride. How Digital Parasites Are Destroying The Culture Business, And How The Culture Business Can Fight Back” conducted by Ö1 journalist Sabine Nikolay.

The Saturday morning is devoted to the presentation of recent studies on the music consumption behavior in Austria (by Michael Huber, University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna) and in the U.K. (by David Bahanovich and Dennis Collopy, University of Hertfordshire). In addition Carsten Winter (University of Music, Drama and Media Hanover) will talk about “Prosumers and Their New On-Demand-Music Culture”.

After the lunch break, Joel Waldfogel (University of Minnesota, U.S.) will highlight in his speech the relation of “Copyright Protection, Technological Change and the Quality of New Products”. This will lead us to a presentation by Rose-Marie Hunault of the French authority HADOPI, which screens internet connections in France to prevent the exchange of copyrighted material without prior agreement from the copyright holders. In the following panel discussion “Three Strikes and Out!”, Mrs. Hunault will discuss the efficiency and other aspects of the graduated response measures with music industry and IPR experts – Peter Jenner (music manager and WIPO consultant, U.K.), Martin Kretschmer, (Bournemouth University, U.K.) and Harald Hanisch (music producer and Austrian Composers’ Society) – under the guidance of heise online journalist Stefan Krempl.
The conference will be closed with the award for the best paper of the Young Scholars’ Workshop at 18.00.

For the programme please click here:
https://musicbusinessresearch.wordpress.com/vienna-music-business-research-days-2/

You can live stream the conference from Friday 19.30 on here:
MMS://mms.mdw.ac.at/musikwirtschaftsforschung_live

You can also find us on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/ViennaMusicBusinessResearchDays

And follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/VMBRD

Vienna Music Business Research Days, June 29-30, 2012 on
“New Music Consumption Behavior”
University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna
Joseph Haydn-Hall
Anton-von-Webern-Platz 1
1030 Vienna

Admission free, but please register under: music.business.research@gmail.com

International Journal of Music Business Research – April 2012, vol. 1, no. 1

One might wonder if there is a need for an academic journal on the music business. Several high-profile trade publications on the music business are published regularly and in the torrent of academic journals one can find titles that focus on popular music, the creative industries, cultural economics and arts management. Nevertheless, there is a gap for a publication wholly dedicated to the academic research of music business and industry topics. The International Journal of Music Business Research (IJMBR) tries to fill this gap by providing a new platform for publication of articles on the phenomena of the music economy from different scientific perspectives.

The first issue of the IJMBR reflects a wide range of music business research topics that fit within the scope of the journal’s remit. In a theoretical piece, Patrik Wikström argues that the economic value created from recorded music is increasingly based on context rather than on ownership and that the focus of music distribution should shift from download and streaming to contextual models of music experience. The second paper is contributed by Pinie Wang, who highlights, in a historical analysis, the complex inter-relationship between the US media, advertising and music industries. Martin Kretschmer then addresses his contribution to the recent EU-copyright term extension for sound recordings, proposing that copyright interests should be transferable only for an initial term of 10 years, after which they will revert to the creator. This should lead to a remarkable decrease in orphaned work and should foster creativity and innovation.

Click here for the first issue of the International Journal of Music Business Research (IJMBR)

If you want to submit an article for publication in the IJMBR please send it to: music.business.research@gmail.com