Module: The Music Business

Please select one of the following prompts and write a 4,000-word essay response. The 4,000-word count does not include bibliography; final word count must be +/- 5%.

Final assessment questions

1)  Select an issue discussed in the module related to inequality, fairness, diversity, and/or inclusion in the music industry and imagine an alternative. This alternative can be in the form. of a technology you invent (such as an app) or a novel approach to contracts, labels, management, royalties, and so on. In your essay, you should consider how your technology/approach intervenes in relation to at least two of the following themes: making music, managing music, marketing music, and monetising music; and you should consider how your technology/approach is suitable (or not) across multiple geographic locations, including discussing how it might work in one case study inside and one case study outside Europe/North America. Tips for writing this essay: First thoroughly explain and dissect your chosen issue, citing appropriate sources and examples. Be sure to explain how this issue came to be (what is its history and context) and what are its consequences (consider real-world case studies). A thorough explication and analysis of the existing issue should comprise at least 25% but no more than 40% of the essay.

5.  To what extent is digital technology transforming the music business? Consider carefully in what ways the digital turn presents new alternatives and to what extent it serves as a continuation of previous practices and structures of power. To support your answer, consider at least two of the following themes: making music, managing music, marketing music, and monetising music; and discuss at least two concrete case studies, one from inside and one from outside Europe/North America. 

6)  What roles do globalization and capitalism play in the development of music as ‘business’ and in the power asymmetries upon which this business relies? Discuss how globalization and capitalism intersect in at least two of the following themes: making music, managing music, marketing music, monetising music; and explore the implications of this intersection using at least two concrete case studies, one inside and one outside Europe/North America.

7)  In what ways do the current legal logics (e.g. contracts, copyright, and so on) dominant in the North American and European music industries reflect global (universal) vs. culturally specific values. Discuss the arguments for and against current legal logics, considering how they manifest in at least two of the following themes: making music, managing music, marketing music, monetising music. To support your claim, discuss at least two case studies, one example inside and one example outside Europe/North America. Tips for writing this essay: Be sure to thoroughly describe and analyse the legal logics as they currently work in the North American/European music industries. This explication should comprise at least 25% but no more than 40% of the essay.