Module overview
The business of music is evolving at an accelerating pace. Technological change is driving disruption to models of production, distribution and consumption – and globalising the music industry in ways never seen before. The global music industry, worth billions, is a unique field for exploring issues of innovation, translation between fields, new modes of collaboration, and the interface between the arts and technology. This module introduces you to the global music industry. It takes a practical approach and will introduce you to industry issues such as budgets (income streams and production costs), markets (models and patterns of distribution and consumption), legal aspects (including copyright), and marketing and communications (including social media strategies and data-driven approaches). Our teaching staff and industry guest speakers are all practitioners in the international music industries and will prepare you to enter this dynamic field.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Demonstrate self-direction and originality in planning your own career and that of others
- Demonstrate ability to synthesise current academic and industry literature and data.
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- Key challenges and potential opportunities, including economic and legal ones, within and afforded by the global music industry
- Key roles and contemporary marketing & communication strategies in the global music industry
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Critically evaluate information from multiple sources to develop a coherent market position
- Research relevant music markets and audiences, budgets and schedules, technologies and platforms using established techniques of research and enquiry
- Understand and apply professional music industry language and terminology
Subject Specific Practical Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Understand IP-specific contracts
- Create a media strategy, using traditional and new (social) media
- Identify audiences and create a budget and schedule for an IP-specific project
Syllabus
This module introduces you to the economics of the global music industries. Topics that typically will be covered in the module include:
- Income streams and production costs (budgets)
- Models and patterns of distribution and consumption (markets)
- Legal aspects of global music industry
- Marketing and Communications
- Creators (Artists, Producers, Technicians, etc)
- Administrators (agents, booking agents, publishers, labels, royalty collection societies)
- Distributors (venues and presenting company managers, associated technicians, caterers, etc, sponsorship co-ordinators)
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
You will attend regular seminars taught by global music industry professionals on University of Southampton staff. You will also attend masterclasses by invited guests from the global music industry and academics from other specialist Academic Units in the Univeristy, such as the Southampton Law School, the Southampton Business School, Winchester School of Art, The Future Worlds Engineering incubator….so as to learn of areas such as copyright, entrepreneurship and media management Help will be available through tutorials. You will have an opportunity to work on your individual study skills with support from Blackboard and other online resources.
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Practical classes and workshops | 6 |
| Independent Study | 264 |
| Seminar | 30 |
| Total study time | 300 |
Resources & Reading list
Internet Resources
Journal Articles
Fairchild, Charles (2016). "Crowds, Clouds, and Idols: New Dynamics and Old Agendas in the Music Industry, 1982–2012.". American Music, 33(4), pp. 441-476.
Textbooks
Nordgard, Daniel (2018). The Music Business and Digital Impacts: Innovations and Disruptions in the Music Industries. Springer Nature.
Moser, David J (2012). Music Copyright Law. Cengage Learning.
Herstand, Ari (2017). How to Make it in the New Music Business: Practical Tips on Building a Loyal Following and Making a Living as a Musician. New York: WW Norton & Co..
Fairchild, Charles (2008). Pop Idols and Pirates: Mechanisms of Consumption and the Global Circulation of Popular Music. Ashgate.
Assessment
Assessment strategy
The mid-semester essay will assess your ability to
- research and analyse a problem or problems related to the contemporary global music industry
- test your familiarity with relevant music industry language and terminology.
Write clearly and convincingly in English appropriate to academic and/or industry contexts.
The final portfolio will assess the practical skills acquired in this module. You will have to conduct your own research using appropriate library and web resources to research relevant music markets and audiences, budgets and schedules, technologies and platforms and devise your own strategy to manage your career and that of others.
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Portfolio | 70% |
| Individual written report | 30% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Portfolio | 100% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Portfolio | 70% |
| Individual written report | 30% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External