Musicians in the Marketplace Flashcards

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1
Q

Music is …

A
  • an untouchable experience, intangible, immaterial

- a cultural good (valued ethically + aesthetically) + cultural goods, a commodity (exists in a ‘market’)

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2
Q

What is music when not a commodity?

A

A ‘perishable service’ (Adam Smith) - perishable as it only lasts as long as it is played. To make money it is made into a commodity

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3
Q

Commodity?

A

something produced for sale, an object of trade

goods, merchandise, wares, produce

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4
Q

Commodification?

A

action of turning something into/treating something as a commodity, commercialisation of an activity (that is not by nature commercial)

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5
Q

Examples of commodification in music

A
  • Printed music/sheet music - standardisation of notation
  • Mass production of instruments - standardisation of tuning systems
  • Tuition (music lessons)
  • Tickets/subscriptions to live performances/operas/concerts
  • Recordings (LPs(vinyl)/EPs/CDs/download… but streaming? - music a utility not a commodity?)
  • Royalties
  • Programmes, merch
  • Music Degree
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6
Q

The charge of ‘economic reductionism’

A

David Hesmondhalgh - ‘economic reductionism’ - ‘supposed reduction of social and cultural events and processes to ultimately economic forces’ - limited resources/money to support cultural and social events

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7
Q

‘economic reductionism’ however… but….

A

-cultural value transcends economic value with artistic products - the price tag can change!
-industry demographs suggest musicians aren’t in it for the money! - supply of musicians exceeds demand
BUT
-society puts a price tag on music - value of labour + commodities - music goes through commodification
-artistic activity isn’t immune to ‘economic’ interests - musicians engage in activities for a ‘profit’

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8
Q

What increases a commodity’s value?

A

Scarcity/rarity + desirability

e.g. scarcity reinvented - resurgence of vinyl - limited edition vinyl records sell for high prices to collectors

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9
Q

“cultural capital”

A
  • Pierre Bourdieu

- taking money and turning it into a status e.g. music degree (economic capital - cultural capital)

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10
Q

The market of ‘symbolic goods’

A
  • Pierre Bourdieu - ‘field of cultural production’ - creating a market of ‘symbolic goods’
  • ‘symbolic’ as value ‘fluctuates’ according to changing tastes, also high production rates + low reproduction rates
  • Producers in mass market ‘bet on the short-term’ (produce material in line with current tastes), Producers in ‘restricted’ market ‘bet on the long-term’ (produce material valued symbolically
  • symbolic/cultural ‘capital’ to ‘economic capital’ - award winning to bestseller
  • individuals settle for adifferent balance of symbolic + economic capital (dependent on inclination + opportunity) - some music for mass market for economic capital in short term or symbolic capital in long term
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11
Q

Raymond Williams, Culture

A
  • Institutionalistation + patronage - artists with an official role in community or in service of Church/patronage, full-time work/irregular payment - Haydn + Esterhazys
  • Market professional - artistic work ‘sold to public through intermediaries, artistis ‘autonomous’ but ‘dependent’ on a market - composers through publishers, performers through concert agents
  • Corporate or complex professional - artistic work involving ‘complex’ ‘division of labour’ between creators + producers
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12
Q

Complex professional tasks

A
  • Creation - conception (idea), execution (orchestrating score, recording artists), transcription (editing, mixing), reproduction (print run, CD, digital files)
  • Circulation - marketing (research, advertising, packaging), distribution + wholesaling, retailing exhabition/performance
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13
Q

Mozart in Vienna 1781-1791

A

William + Hilda Baumol (On Mozart):

  • Mozart took ‘control of his own professional life’ - Mozart among the first in Vienna to turn his talents as a composer and virtuoso pianist into a commodity
  • Earnt his living through patronage, commissions, performance, publication and music lessons - 2 sources of his work from 2nd half of 18th century were through ‘patronage’ and emergence of ‘free market’
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