The Sonification of Money: Applying Creative Innovation in the Music Industry

Location

King Building 327

Document Type

Presentation

Start Date

4-28-2017 1:30 PM

End Date

4-28-2017 2:50 PM

Abstract

Is the music industry really failing? Mainstream and scholarly rhetoric is fierce on this topic, much of it centering around the Recording Industry Association of America’s annual music industry’s annual reports which show gross revenues halving every year since 1994. In this paper I will examine the current profitability and sustainability of the music industry, and argue that there remains significant untapped commercial potential in the American music market. My analysis will use the IDEO design company and Creative Problem Solving Institute’s creative design process tools. (see fig. 1 and 2.) With this framework of Human-centered design and creative problem solving, I will identify and define the following goals of the music industry: distribution, artist sustainability, and audience relations. I will also put each of these issues into context with case studies on RIAA economic figures, market constriction, and shifting technological mediums to propose three solutions to combat economic stagnation in these areas. These solutions, which include restructuring management models, leveraging podcasting, and matching media formats to markets, are inherently useful, but also serve as examples of creative problem solving process applied to the music industry. My conclusion is that the industry requires a new approach to solving the economic struggles it is experiencing, and that creative design thinking can be a powerful tool in this process.

Keywords:

music, business, creativity, innovation

Notes

Session I, Panel 2 - Applied | Music
Moderator: Ben Geyer, Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Theory

Major

Musical Studies; Creative Writing

Advisor(s)

Jennifer Fraser, Ethnomusicology; Anthropology
Sylvia Watanabe, Creative Writing

Project Mentor(s)

Ben Geyer, Music Theory

April 2017

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Apr 28th, 1:30 PM Apr 28th, 2:50 PM

The Sonification of Money: Applying Creative Innovation in the Music Industry

King Building 327

Is the music industry really failing? Mainstream and scholarly rhetoric is fierce on this topic, much of it centering around the Recording Industry Association of America’s annual music industry’s annual reports which show gross revenues halving every year since 1994. In this paper I will examine the current profitability and sustainability of the music industry, and argue that there remains significant untapped commercial potential in the American music market. My analysis will use the IDEO design company and Creative Problem Solving Institute’s creative design process tools. (see fig. 1 and 2.) With this framework of Human-centered design and creative problem solving, I will identify and define the following goals of the music industry: distribution, artist sustainability, and audience relations. I will also put each of these issues into context with case studies on RIAA economic figures, market constriction, and shifting technological mediums to propose three solutions to combat economic stagnation in these areas. These solutions, which include restructuring management models, leveraging podcasting, and matching media formats to markets, are inherently useful, but also serve as examples of creative problem solving process applied to the music industry. My conclusion is that the industry requires a new approach to solving the economic struggles it is experiencing, and that creative design thinking can be a powerful tool in this process.