Filippo Barracco

This dissertation analyses the way independent labels, also known as indies, move within music industry, trying to outline their future identity in this business. To do so, this analysis will go through a study of the context in which music business is nowadays (cultural, social, technological issues) and the way indies moved in the past and are moving in the present of the industry. These issues will be examined in the first section, while in the second one will be provided the business structure of the labels, to be put in comparison with different models within the music industry (major labels and self-produced artists). Then, the second chapter will outline a common history of independent record labels, in order to provide a unified vision of their work, despite of subjective contexts. The last section will point out, via speculations and theories on the near future of the music business, the prospected expectations of independent labels, aiming to detect the identity and the role of these companies in today’s and tomorrow’s business.
Finally, this research will explain how close is the relationship between the purely-economic model of independent labels and the artistic production, trying to determine a link between the success of these labels and the artistic freedom given to the artists.

Nonostante gli eroi degli Oscar di domenica scorsa siano stati, per quanto riguarda l’opinione pubblica del nostro paese, l’exploit, atteso ma discusso, di Paolo Sorrentino per La Grande Bellezza, insieme all’ennesimo schiaffo dell’Academy a Leonardo DiCaprio, c’è un film che di nomination ne ha avute parecchie e di premi non se n’è fatti certo mancare (sette statuette su dieci nomination).
Sto parlando di Gravity, uno di quei film che veramente ricorderemo per anni nel suo pionierismo nella tecnologia cinematografica.
Di scarsa risonanza, però, questa vincita straordinaria, un po’ adombrata dal successo nostrano, un po’ dal fatto che, di queste sette statuette, solo una appartiene a quelle amate dal pubblico (Miglior Regia ad Alfonso Cuarón), mentre le altre fanno parte di quegli Oscar tecnici, meno importanti o, in qualche modo, meno sentiti dalla pancia del popolo.

This paper will go through an analysis of Derek Bailey’s and Lars von Trier’s works within Free Improvisation music and Dogma 95. To do that, the different historical context will be presented and analysed together with a comparison of the aesthetics of their work to have a final evaluation about the necessity of rules and spontaneity in the avant-garde art.

This research explores the world of recordings live in the studio.
Trying to analyze advantages and disadvantages, a lot of different recording and mixing techniques will be examined, to find out how having all the band playing at the same moment could be an advantage to the final result instead of a big problem. Because every engineer, as well as any musician and producer, has a different idea about the "perfect recording session", many interviews of experienced people in this field have been reported.
To clearly understand the pros and cons of live recording and overdub recording, has been taken in consideration a big part of the commercial music, from classical and jazz to rock and pop, because is often the situation and the music itself that dictate the session plan: for example, while a rock band is usually recorded in overdub, if involved in soundtrack for cinema or visual arts, it needs to be recorded live.
The contrast between overdub and "live in studio" recordings changes radically the role of producers and engineers in all the production stages. Particularly the producer, while is often responsible of the arrangement, in case of the overdubbing, in case of a live recording should be almost transparent to allow the musicians to give the best performance.