Music, Management, Marketing, and Law: Interviews Across the Music Business Value Chain

249 Pages·2019·2.873 MB·English

by  Phil Graham

Music Business Research
Phil Graham
Music,
Management,
Marketing, and Law
Interviews Across the Music Business
Value Chain
Music Business Research
Serieseditors
PeterTschmuck,InstituteofCultureManagementandCultureSciences,University
ofMusicandPerformingArts,Vienna,Austria
Dennis Collopy, School of Creative Arts, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield,
Herts,UnitedKingdom
BeateFlath,DepartmentofArt,PaderbornUniversity,Paderborn,Germany
Guy Morrow, School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne,
Melbourne,VIC,Australia
Sarita Stewart, Mike CurbCollegeof EntertainmentandMusicBusiness,Belmont
University,Nashville,Tennessee,USA
CarstenWinter,DepartmentofJournalismandCommunicationResearch,Hanover
UniversityofMusic,DramaandMedia,Hanover,Germany
Music business research is a new multidisciplinary field that puts a number of
differentanalyticalapproachesintomutualdialogue.Itislocatedattheintersection
ofeconomic,artistic, musical,cultural,social,legal,andtechnological understand-
ings of this cultural industry and it aims to generate a better understanding of the
creation, distribution and consumption of music as a cultural good. As a field it is
therefore characterised by methodological diversity and involves linking academic
researchwithmusicbusinesspractices.Thebookserieswelcomesmonographsand
editedvolumesthatfeaturegroundbreakingresearchintothisdynamicandexciting
field.
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/15800
Phil Graham
Music, Management,
Marketing, and Law
Interviews Across the Music Business Value
Chain
PhilGraham
SchoolofCommunicationandCreativeIndustries
UniversityoftheSunshineCoast
SunshineCoast,QLD,Australia
ISSN2522-0829 ISSN2522-0837 (electronic)
MusicBusinessResearch
ISBN978-3-030-02142-9 ISBN978-3-030-02143-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02143-6
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2019930071
©SpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2019
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nowknownorhereafterdeveloped.
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Acknowledgements
I offer my deepest thanks to Michael Smellie and Stuart Rubin whose idea was to
teach in such a way as to preserve an invaluable historical record and share the
experienceofanerawiththosewhocouldmostbenefitfromit.Theyorganisedthe
interviews, managed the schedule, and accompanied each of the speakers from
various parts of the country to conduct the events. I was left with the fun part:
speakingwithhistory-makingindividualsabouttheirexperiencesand,moreso,their
insightsintowhatthemusicworldwas,is,andmightbecome.IthankQueensland
UniversityofTechnology(QUT)fortheirsupportinrunningtheclassesthewaywe
did,andininnovatingacrossmultiplelevelstohelpdeliverwhatwasaseriesofvery
unique pedagogical events. I thank QUT music staff, Creative Industries staff,
students, and the many members of the public whose involvement made the series
of interviews special. I hope you get as much from them as I did. I also thank the
UniversityoftheSunshineCoastwhosupportedthefinalisationofthisproject.Most
ofallIthankourinterviewees,eachofwhomgavesogenerouslyoftheirtimeand
experience to make invaluable contributions to the future of music by telling us
abouttheirpast.
UniversityoftheSunshineCoast,May2018 PhilGraham
v
Contents
1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
TheVisibilityandEffectsofDigitalDistribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
AbouttheInterviews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2 MichaelSmellie,GlobalRecordExecutive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3 PeterColby,ProductionandLogistics. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . 33
4 JohnWatson,MusicManager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5 MichaelTaylor,A&RManager. . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. 87
6 StuartRubin,GlobalMarketingManager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
7 ShaneSimpson,MusicLawyer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
8 ShaunJames,MusicTV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
9 TobyCresswell,MusicJournalist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
10 HarleyMedcalf,Promoter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
11 KateMiller-HeidkeandKeirNuttall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
12 RetrospectiveConclusionsandPredictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
vii
Chapter 1
Introduction
Abstract This chapter contextualises the book, which centres around a series of
public interviews designed to capture the implications of a pivotal moment in the
globalrecordedmusicbusinessandrecordawealthofprofessionalknowledgeand
perspectives that extend from the late 1960s through to late 2012 when the inter-
views were held. It positions the author and interviewer in the flow of events,
introduces the interviewees, and gives an overview of their contributions to the
global music industry. It has long been argued and demonstrated that music is a
“canary in the coal mine” of broader political economic changes. This chapter
re-emphasisesthatperspectiveandbackgroundsthepolitical economic perspective
informingthequestionsaskedandansweredinthebook.
This book centres around a series of public interviews designed to capture the
implications of a pivotal moment in the global recorded music business, and to
recordawealthofprofessionalknowledgeandperspectivesthatextendfromthelate
1960s through to late 2012 when the interviews were held. The idea for the series
andits presentation came from discussionswithMichael Smellie andStuart Rubin
during 2010 and 2011. We were concerned with understanding changes in the
production,distribution,andexploitationofcommercialrecordedmusic associated
with digital technologies, and how it related to past practices and experiences of
industry professionals. It has long been argued and demonstrated that music is a
“canaryinthecoalmine”ofbroaderpoliticaleconomicchanges.AsJacquesAttali
puts it: ‘Music: herald of the future’ (1985/2009, p. 144; see also, Graham,
Dezuanni, Arthurs, & Hearn, 2015; Mumford, 1934/1962, pp. 202–203; Pacey,
2001, chap. 1). It pays to keep in mind that the term “music industry” is almost
entirelymisleading.Thetermsuggeststhatthereissomecoherentandstablesetof
entities that persists among what is, at any given time, a complex and chaotic
combinationofcharacters,institutions,organisations,technologies,trends,relation-
ships,cultures,sectors,businessmodels,andsoon,adinfinitum(Graham,2016).To
graspthediverseelementsthatgotogethertomakeupwhatiscommonlycalled“the
musicindustry”,andtounderstandthedynamicsofchangethatthisbookdealswith,
IhavefoundVeblen(1923)andMarx(1976,1981)tobeofconceptualhelp.From
VeblenImakeasclearadistinctionaspossiblebetweenbusinessandindustry,with
©SpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2019 1
P.Graham,Music,Management,Marketing,andLaw,MusicBusinessResearch,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02143-6_1
2 1 Introduction
industry being the making and doing of useful things (production) and business
being the buying and selling of those things to make money (exchange). In some
cases there are clear distinctions, with music composition, production, and perfor-
mance clearly being industry in Veblen’s definition because it is that part of the
complexthatmakesnewmusic.Publishersaremostclearlyonthebusinessendof
the chain because their sole function is to exploit copyrights. The major recording
labels have historically had a foot in each camp, sometimes owning and operating
large studio complexes, commissioning and overseeing the creationof new works,
whilealsobeinginvolvedinthemarketing,distribution,massreplication,andsaleof
original recordings (Tschmuck, 2012; Wikström, 2013). In more recent times, the
majorlabelshavetosignificantdegreemovedawayfromactivitiesassociatedwith
industryinfavourofbusiness,havingdivestedthemselvesofstakesinlargestudio
complexes, in line with overall trends in political economy (cf. Graham & Luke,
2011;Tschmuck,2012,p.262;Wikström,2013,pp.190–206).
More bizarre relationships enter into consideration when we take the historical
roleofmassmediaincommercialmusicintoaccount.Theyneithermake,buy,nor
sell music. Their business model is based on what Dallas Smythe (1981) calls
‘audience labour’, the process by which audiences work on cultural material to
“sell” things to themselves. Mass media companies such as commercial radio
stations harness specific types of programming (music is our case in point here) to
motivateaudiencelabouronamassscaleandbuildaudiencesthattheycanthensell
to advertisers (1981, p. 4). And because they are not directly involved in the
productionorexploitationofmusicmediacompaniesarethereforeeasilyunderstood
aseither musicindustry orbusiness.Yet promotionofmusic throughmass media-
tiongreatlyincreasesdemandforrecordedmusic,isanessentialaspectofcopyright
exploitation, and has formed the bedrock of the mass market for commercial
recorded music since at least the mid 1930s (Tschmuck, 2012, chap. 5; Wikström,
2013). Marx’s (1981, chap. 48) theorising of circulation, including transport and
communication as moments in the process of exchange, is useful here, especially
when we note the essential role of promotion in the exploitation of ephemeral
cultural goods of which music is a primary exemplar (Attali, 1985/2009, p. 57).
Culturalcommoditiesoperatewithaninverselogictothatofmoremateriallybound
commodities (Graham, 2006). That is especially evident when we consider three
elements that are inherent in the recorded musical work: (1) any recorded musical
work can be reproduced without limit and, with the advent of digital, by means of
reproduction that are almost universally of high fidelity; (2) unlike material com-
modities which are defined as undifferentiated and therefore substitutable for one
another(Pine&Gilmore,2011),eachnewmusicalcommodityisnecessarilyunique,
even when it is a “cover” or “copy” of another; (3) unlike material commodities,
recordedmusicalworks,andthemusiciansthatmakethem,increaseinculturaland
commercialvalueasthecommoditiesareusedmore,regardlessofwhethertheyare
purchased or simply played in environments that are susceptible to promotion and
publicperformancerightsgeneration.
HereiswhereMarx’selaborationofAdamSmith’s(1776/1997)labourtheoryof
valuebecomesuseful.Itishelpfultofocusonthekindsof“work”involvedateach
1 Introduction 3
stageofthevaluechain,withoutwhichthegroundsofindustrialtransformationget
obscured. Peter Tschmuck (2012, p. 253) identifies ‘Artist & Repertoire (A&R)
management’, ‘music production and ... physically manufacturing phonograms’,
‘musicmarketingandpromotion’,and‘phonogramdistribution’as‘themostimpor-
tant processes of action’ for analytical focus on innovations in the value chain of
commercial recorded music. The interviews collected here address all those and
more,heraldinginsomecases,analmosttotalreorientationofrelationshipsamong
and between the various aspects of labour in the face of digital technologies
(Wikström, 2013, chap. 3). Such changes are especially evident in the interview
withKateMiller-HeidkeandKeirNuttallwhichtookplacejustasKatewasonthe
verge of moving from being a “signed” to a major label to becoming entirely
independent.
There is much discussion throughout the interviews about digital challenges to
copyright, new kinds of contracts, and the vastly changed relationships between
majorrecordlabelsandmassmedia,especiallycommercialradioandtelevision.The
interviews of course contain much about the effects and affordances of digital
technologies right across the value chain. In some cases there are claims that there
is not much about digital that is very new given the long history of technological
innovations, associated faux pas, and outright pratfalls in the history of recorded
music (Tschmuck, 2012).Wemustkeepinmind thatnew technologies aresimply
innovations in the way we do things (White, 1940) rather than necessarily being
innovations in the things we do. The temptation to see technology as incidental
beckons to the latter perspective. Again, I find Marx helpful in understanding the
roleoftechnologicalchange,notingthatthedevelopmentofthemeansofproduction
(thatis,historicalchangesinthewaywemakeanddothings)isalwaysshapedby
prevailingconditions,regardlessofwhetherthosedevelopmentsaccordwithorreact
tothoseconditions(Marx,1976,chap.15).
Thisisperhapsanoverlycomplexweboftheorytofoistuponthereadergiventhe
largely concrete character of the interviews presented here. But I think those
perspectivescanhelpusunderstandthenatureofthechangesaddressedthroughout
the interviews, why they are important well beyond the sphere of commercial
recorded music, and why this collection is important in helping us understand
those changes, both practically and theoretically. I should also be clear and honest
about my own position in all of this because, as becomes evident throughout the
interviews, one’s place in the chaotic changes of the commercial music landscape
profoundlyshapesthewayoneperceivesthechallengesthesectorcontinuestoface.
My own experience of commercial music certainly shaped the questions I asked. I
wantedtoknowwhymusicians’shareofrecordingrevenueshaddropped.Iwanted
toknowhowmusicianscouldmakeabetterlivinginfuture.Iwantedtoknowhow
experts and professionals from different parts of the music value chain understood
the changes that had taken place during their careers and what they meant for the
future of musical careers. I wanted to know how they thought about new technol-
ogies and new kinds of commercial relationships that had begun to develop since
digitaldistributionhadmadesuchapublicimpactonperceptionsofwhatitmeantto
beaprofessionalintherecordedmusicbusinessandindustries.