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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Book presentation event on “Big Data in the Digital Music Business”

A book presentation event will take place in Fanny Hensel-Hall at mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna on September 11, 2019 from 19:30-21:30. The first two volumes of the “Music Business Research” series of Springer Publishing will be presented to public with a following panel discussion on “Big Data in the Digital Music Business”.

Daniel Nordgård of the University of Agder in Kristiansand/Norway will present his book “The Music Business and Digital Impacts. Innovations and Disruptions in the Music Industries“. The book provides rare insights into the difficult and complex dialogues between stakeholders within and outside the music industries in a time of transition. It builds on a series of recorded meetings in which key stakeholders discuss and assess options and considerations for the music industries’ transition to a digital era. These talks were closed to the public and operated under the Chatham House Rule, which means that they involved a very different type of discussion from those held in public settings, panels or conferences. As such, the book offers a much more nuanced understanding of the industries’ difficulties in adjusting to changing conditions, demonstrating the internal power-struggles and differences that make digital change so difficult.

 

Phil Graham of the University of the Sunshine Coast/Australia introduces his volume on “Music, Management, Marketing, and Law. Interviews Across the Music Business Value Chain“. This collection of interviews captures a period of historic change for the global music business along with a wealth of professional knowledge that extends from the late 1960s through to late 2012 when the interviews were conducted. They record the experiences and insights of people who helped to shape a global business that is quickly passing into history and transforming into something entirely new, often because of decisions the interviewees have been directly involved in making. The material includes the aesthetic, artistic, technical, commercial, legal, and strategic aspects of the music industry. What is said is timeless in its historical significance for the music business and in its relevance for researchers engaged in studies on the dynamics of change in the global commercial music landscape.

 

After the two short presentations the authors discuss with the music manager Peter Jenner (Sincere Music, London) and the founder and CEO of the Vienna-based data analytics company Legitary, Nermina Mumic on

“Big Data and the Digital Music Business”

Admission free, but please register here: vmbrd@mdw.ac.at

 

The book presentation event is held within the 10th Vienna Music Business Research Days in cooperation with the Austrian Chamber of Commerce