Management and the Cultural Industries - Essay Example

? Management and the Cultural Industries 18 April Contents Contents Introduction 3 Features of music industry 3 Diversity 3 Use of rhythms 3 Practical 4 Variety of compositional structures 4 Reality of work in music cultural industry 4 Challenges facing music industry 6 Death of music album 6 Taxes 6 Revenue source 7 True fans of music 7 No business model 8 People taking music as a service not as a product 9 Conclusion 9 References 10 Introduction Music is artistically combining keys to produce a certain form of beauty, unity as well as expressing emotion. Sounds are made by musical instruments or items such as radio, television etc. Music is one of the idols in the world that has ardent followers who are ever online trying to view sites where they can have music all the time. Channels have come up that play music thus attracting many followers who are ever willing to pay any amount to have a certain kind of music. Music industry has as well attracted many followers and new artists are coming up every now and then hoping to make a living out of it. Features of music industry Diversity Music is one industry that has attracted people from all walks of life. No one is taken to be an alien in music since it incorporates all and inspires all regardless of gender, race, tribe or even age. It is so diverse that anyone can choose what they want to listen to (Abraham, 1974, p.292). It is not limited to only one theme but is diversified to accommodate all people so that everyone feels accommodated in this industry. Use of rhythms Any song produced is characterised by a certain way of presenting the lyrics to the audience. This way matters a lot since some musicians may sing off key and thus their music may not sell much. It is the organization of the beats and singing in a rhythmical way that makes all the difference. One can’t just present a song in any way and expect to change the audience. One rule should be: ‘present with audience in mind’. Practical Music is so applicable in our day to day lives and affects the way we lead our lives day in day out. One can identify with a certain song and be positively influenced maybe to stop a certain bad habit. Music is not a past tense event but one we live with thus assists in making our lives better if well applied where possible. Variety of compositional structures Music has several structures of composition since it could be solo or choir depending on the preference of the artist. Passages of homophonic chords could also be applied to make it livelier. This is could have a harmonic accompaniment which could be applied at the introduction, dynamic build up, and others at the climax (Dahlhaus, 1991, p.260). Reality of work in music cultural industry Music industry has grown pretty fast in this century as compared to how it was few decades ago. Much improvement has been made to ensure that this industry competes well with other industries. Players have been sensitised on how to ensure that their music is marketable and can reach many people and help them in various issues of life other than entertaining them. Players ought to concentrate very well to make sure that they are not carried away by fame and forget that music is self-employment and earns a living to them who take with the seriousness it deserves. Taking music as work is one character that will greatly assist the artists and make them realise that it needs to be taken seriously. It calls for one to work very hard and avoid many interruptions to concentrate with it. It could even land one to other side jobs such as master of ceremony in other events if taken seriously and accorded maximum concentration and dedication. In normal business life, working with dedication is suicidal to one’s business as well as life. It is imperative that business people learn to work hard just as music industry players do. Thus, a business person and one who works in the music industry get connected in that both have to work hard to their level best to ensure that they get maximum returns (Kania, 2011, p.372). No artist in any industry can work alone and succeed. Unity is the key to making it in any kind of business and no one should think that they can get to the top by their own effort. Music industry players have to join hands together in support of each other to make sure that they progress and their efforts are paid off. If they become divided, it will be hard for them to stand strong and it will be easy for the industry to collapse and be forgotten. Business, likewise, needs to people to work together as one to avoid exploitation either by government or by middle-men. Managerial positions require co-operation from all employees to guarantee a company of returns (Negus, 1999, p.9). It is challenging if business people fail to work together since it will be hard for them to control the way prices are regulated by the government. Co-operation will also ensure that businesses that are at the blink of collapsing get necessary back up maybe in terms of loans from business organisations hence economy will grow. When a business starts at some place, a similar one comes up in the spirit of competition to ensure that no one enjoys monopoly. Music industry is not an exemption in this since many players have entered in music industry to compete with others who have made a fortune out of music. Most musicians have a competing spirit and they ensure that there is healthy competition in the market and thus good products are made. No business is exempted from competition in any industry. Competition has made consumers get good deals and quality products in the market. Managerial positions are as well faced with competition since better performing employees are a threat to such positions (Parker, 2004, p.219). Managers need to brand themselves in a new way every time to ensure keep their positions intact and ensure that products made are of high quality. Challenges facing music industry Death of music album Artists are ever rising up to go to studios to produce songs and entertain and make money to make ends meet. This has been a norm with more and more people seeking to emulate celebrities in music who have made a fortune out of music. However, if first album of an artist fails to attract a large number of followers, soon it goes underground and gets forgotten. Musicians have to be alert on the kind of music they produce and the setting since fame will make their songs to hit and thus it will be easy to make money (Passman, 2009, p.327). Piracy has acted to destroy music industry in that musicians do not get to enjoy their hard work since this is taken by few individuals who have the know-how to create more copies of music and sell at cheaper prices thus making music albums to die very fast. Taxes Taxes are required for countries to fulfil their obligations of development. No business is an exemption of paying taxes and this is followed by strict penalties if any individual or business fails to remit taxes at the stipulated period by the relevant authority. These penalties even cause closure of businesses affected since they are such high that the only option is closure or risk a jail term if one evades in any way. High taxes have been put and players have been negotiating to have taxes reduced. This has been falling on deaf ears thus making artists to lack alternatives than quitting music. Several individuals have cited harassment by government if they fail to remit taxes at the agreed time (Randel, 2003, p.62). However, there has not been clear ways on how to tax music industry thus government has been taking advantage of this. This is a major challenge making music not to flourish. Revenue source Businesses require capital to start. No business can start without capital since this is the main item for business to start. Music industry, being a business, is faced with major challenge of capital putting in mind that a lot of money is required to start. Good music requires a brave and a dedicated person who will hang on in trying to get finance to support his ambition. Some people have even gone ahead and organised fund raisings to try and set up good and quality music. The kind of money required in shooting a video in music is too high for starters to enter into this lucrative industry which has benefitted a few that started long time ago. One needs to have a god-father who will hold him or her until the album is produced. However, for those who do not have anybody walking with them in this journey, music production becomes a nightmare since no funds are available to support them (Shepherd, 2003, p.292). True fans of music A business needs to have true customers who are loyal regardless of the economic challenges. Such a business can be able to withstand pressures of economy. Music, being an entertainment industry as well as educative should have fans who support it to keep it going. However, this has lacked in this industry. People support what is pleasing to them and leave the rest. Established artists are ever assured of support regardless of the kind of music that they produce. Some have gone far in this industry that they produce music that is patented and thus customize it technologically such that it becomes hard for pirates to copy it (Shucker, 2005, p.71). Lack of true and supportive fans is one other challenge that music is facing since not many people can boldly declare that they are supporters of the music of so and so. Every artist needs true fans to be assured of progress in this industry. The only way to be assured of true fans of one’s music is producing good songs that will be easy to identify with and as a consequence become a supporter. No business model Behind every successful business, there are some efforts that have been put to ensure that one grows in business. Efforts have to be legal so that one can be looked up to by upcoming business people as well as fellow business people. Many people look for someone to identify with in any business so that they can be assured of good and quality advice to help them grow as well. A role model needs to be someone with integrity and who has walked the path they are guiding others to follow. In music industry, players in this industry have been having poor reputation especially when it comes to good morals. Artists have been associated with evil acts to win favour of fans. There is believed to be a lot of devil worship in this industry (Tschmuck, 2012, p.292). Artists have been known to give sacrifices to the spiritual world in exchange of power to influence people and make them follow them foolishly. Some have even found themselves singing songs that are so evil not knowing that this is as a result of the sacrifice given to the spiritual world by the producer. Integrity in music is thus lacking and upcoming artists have model to look up to for guidance on how to have good and legal music. Most of the successful musicians are known to involve themselves in evil acts. It is thus a challenge facing the industry of music since people have started to fear the influence that a song could bring to them or their children (Wikstrom, 2010, p82). People taking music as a service not as a product Business involves either giving a service or selling goods. Goods have to be of high quality and presented well to attract many customers and ensure high returns. Music is both a service and a product though it is more of a product than a service. In the current generation, people have taken music as a service and thus it is taken very lightly even money-wise making it to lose value. If taken as a product, it could be giving high returns to the artists. A service is taken to be of lower value as opposed to a product and players in this industry have to work very hard to promote their music. Conclusion Music is life to the soul and is food for entertainment. Moreover, it is work to those who have that talent and should not be taken for granted. It relates well with business since it is a kind of business though a musician appeals to clients via his or her voice. It is thus a major form of employment if accorded respect by those who are in it. There are great artists who have amassed wealth from music, thus, it is possible to make a living out of music. References Abraham, G. (1974) The Tradition of Western Music. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. Dahlhaus, C. (1991). Nineteenth Century Music. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. Kania, A. (2011) The Routledge Companion to Philosophy and Music. London: Taylor & Francis. Negus, K. (1999) Music Genres and Corporate Structures. London: Routledge. Parker, N. (2004) Music Business: Infrastructure, Practice, and Law. London: Sweet & Maxwell. Passman, D. S. (2009) All you need to know about the music business. New York: Rosettabooks. Randel, D. M. (2003) The Harvard Dictionary of Music. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Shepherd, J. (2003) Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. Shucker, R. (2005) Popular Music: The key Concepts. London: Routledge. Tschmuck, P. (2012) Creativity and innovation in the Music Industry. New York: Springer. Wikstrom, P. (2010) The Music Industry: Music in the cloud. Cambridge: Polity. Read More