Guy Morrow is a Senior Lecturer in Arts and Cultural Management at the University of Melbourne. Phone: +61 413 197 880 Address: School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne, VIC, 3010.
Morrow, G., Nordgård, D. & Tschmuck, P. (eds.) (2022). Rethinking the Music Business: Music Contexts, Rights, Data and COVID-19, Cham, Switzerland: Springer., 2022
In this chapter, we introduce the book by first outlining the challenges of designing, writing an... more In this chapter, we introduce the book by first outlining the challenges of designing, writing and editing a research-based book during the COVID-19 pandemic. We explain why Part 1 features six chapters that concern the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the music business, while Part 2 is comprised of six chapters that present original insights into the music business in general. We edited this book in solidarity with the various authors who managed to contribute chapters to this volume despite COVID-19-related disruptions and time out from work due to illness. We also edited this book in solidarity with all the participants who contributed to our own research projects that feature in this book and with the participants who took part in our contributing authors' research projects. Our aim in this book was to provide as holistic a picture of the music business as we could at this time by gathering contributions from authors who were in the United Kingdom, Austria,
Designing the Music Business: Design Culture, Music Video and Virtual Reality, 2020
This book addresses the neglect of visual creativities and content, and how these are commerciali... more This book addresses the neglect of visual creativities and content, and how these are commercialised in the music industries. While musical and visual creativities drive growth, there is a lack of literature relating to the visual side of the music business, which is significant given that the production of meaning and value within this business occurs across a number of textual sites.
Popular music is a multimedia, discursive, fluid, and expansive cultural form that, in addition to the music itself, includes album covers; gig and tour posters; music videos; set, stage, and lighting designs; live concert footage; websites; virtual reality/augmented reality technologies; merchandise designs; and other forms of visual content. As a result, it has become impossible to understand the meaning and value of music without considering its relation to these visual components and to the interrelationships between them.
Using design culture theory, participant observation, interviews, case studies, and a visual methodology to explore the topic, this research-based book is a valuable study aid for undergraduate and postgraduate students of subjects including the music business, design, arts management, creative and cultural industries studies, business and management studies, and media and communications.
Keywords Music Business, Popular Music, Graphic Design, Stage Design, Music Video, Virtual Reality, Augmented reality, Lighting Design
Artist managers ‘create’ careers for musicians, yet little has been written about their creativit... more Artist managers ‘create’ careers for musicians, yet little has been written about their creativity in the academic domain. Thus this thesis develops the notion of managerial creativity. Artist managers build and maintain ‘brands’, and this is a creative industry function. The thesis begins with a description of what artist management is, then it reviews the way in which various Australian musicians’ and artist managers’ careers are created and maintained. A musical idea or product arises from the synergy of many sources and not only from the mind of a single person (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996). Therefore it is easier to enhance creativity by changing conditions in the environment the artist is located in than by trying to make artists think more creatively. Managerial creativity involves the creation and maintenance of the system, context or environment from which artistic creativity emerges and is therefore the facet of the music industry that can most effectively enhance musical creativity.
DESCRIPTION:
Artists are creative workers who drive growth in the creative and cultural industri... more DESCRIPTION:
Artists are creative workers who drive growth in the creative and cultural industries. Managing artistic talent is a unique challenge and this concise book introduces and analyzes its key characteristics.
Artist Management: Agility in the Creative and Cultural Industries makes a major contribution to our understanding of the creative and cultural industries, of artistic and managerial creativities, and of social and cultural change in this sector. The book undertakes an extensive exploration of the increasingly pivotal role of artist managers in the creative and cultural industries and argues that agile management strategies are useful in this context. This book provides a comprehensive and accessible account of the artist-artist manager relationship in the twenty-first century. Drawing from research interviews conducted with artist managers and self-managed artists in five cities: New York, London, Toronto, Sydney and Melbourne, this book makes an original contribution to knowledge. Nation-specific case studies are highlighted as a means of illuminating various thematic concerns.
This unique book is a major piece of research and a valuable study aid for both undergraduate and postgraduate students of subjects including arts management, creative and cultural industries studies, arts entrepreneurship, business and management studies, and media and communications.
REVIEWS: “The theoretical components of the book sing. Locating the research in the very personal relationship between artist and artist manager makes it a very rich area … it represents one of the all too few intellectual products from the arts which fully elaborates on the ways in which a sophisticated understanding of creative practices, can enhance broader theoretical thinking and practice in business and management.” Associate Professor Kate MacNeill, Director of the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences and Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) in the Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne.
'Guy Morrow goes well beyond truisms such as "an artist is a start-up business" because he knows that such truisms don't sustain the various phases of any artistic career. Instead, his focus is on the value of agility amidst increasing complexity. Managers in every industry can learn from this.' — Catherine Moore, PhD, Adjunct Professor, University of Toronto, Canada
'Guy Morrow has had a fascinating career as an artist management ‘pracademic’ (i.e. both a practitioner and academic). This makes his work of particular relevance and interest to those of us seeking to bridge theory and practice.' — Paul Saintilan, CEO, Collarts and Macleay Colleges, Australia, co-author of Managing Organizations in the Creative Economy: Organizational Behaviour for the Cultural Sector
'Artist Management offers a timely understanding of the manifold ways in which contemporary creative producers need to deal with uncertainty and career development. Incorporating the experiences of practitioners and the insights of contemporary scholarly work, Guy Morrow has crafted a highly engaging book.' — Dr. Erik Hitters, Associate Professor of Media and Creative Industries, Managing Director of the Erasmus Research Centre for Media, Communication and Culture, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands.
'This book opens up key concerns for theory and practice: how do contemporary practices such as agile management, lean start up and crowd-funding relate to the big questions of what are the arts and how should they be managed.' — Doris Ruth Eikhof, CAMEo Research Institute, University of Leicester, UK
This research-based book outlines career models for artists, methods of creative engagement, arti... more This research-based book outlines career models for artists, methods of creative engagement, artistic options including individuality and branding, production practices, the realities of being a musician in the new industries, and implications for popular music education. Due to the profound effects of the digitisation of music, the music industries have undergone rapid transformation. The former record label dominated industry has been supplanted by new industries, including digital aggregators, strategists and online platforms. These new music industries now facilitate ‘direct’ access to both artists and their music. While such accessibility and the potential for artist exposure have never been greater, the challenge to stand out or to even navigate a musical career pathway is formidable. A useful resource for musicians and educators, this text highlights the ways in which the new music industries facilitate increased opportunities for 21st Century popular musicians to collaborate, communicate and interact with others interested in their music.
Developing an impact framework for Science Gallery Network: Final report, 2022
The aim of this project was to develop an impact framework for the Science Gallery Network (SGN).... more The aim of this project was to develop an impact framework for the Science Gallery Network (SGN). This work was commissioned by the Science Gallery International (SGI). The SGN has eight member organisations across four continents: Dublin, London, Melbourne, Bengaluru, Detroit, Rotterdam, Atlanta and Berlin. Whilst the network consistently sees unprecedented levels of accomplishment by its members, a testimony to their capacity, innovation and vision, the SGN does not have a systematic way to measure and monitor this impact. An impact framework that can assist with understanding and reporting the value of this impact will provide important recognition that the SGN has achieved what it sets out to do— bringing science, art, technology and design together to deliver world-class educational and cultural experiences for young people. This report details the robust consultation approach that was undertaken by the University of Melbourne’s project team—one that included a desktop review, focus group discussions, surveys and interviews—to ensure multiple perspectives were gathered on what could be considered a multi-faceted concept. The desktop review provided a thorough review and an environmental scan of the impact literature and its measurement. In addition, the focus group discussions and interviews provided a rich understanding of what ‘good impact’ means for the SGN and the implications of this to the measurement of impact outcomes. Five key recommendations are provided and summarised. Note that these key recommendations should be taken as a point of departure for further in-depth consultation throughout the wider SGN.
Designing the Music Business: Design Culture, Music Video and Virtual Reality , 2020
This chapter concludes the book and addresses XR design. It features a case study of Icelandic mu... more This chapter concludes the book and addresses XR design. It features a case study of Icelandic musician and visual artist Björk's release of her full VR album Vulnicura (Björk 2019c). A case study of Florida-based company Magic Leap's work with Icelandic band Sigur Rós is also provided. Sigur Rós (2020) and Magic Leap collaborated to develop an interactive music and mixed reality experience called Tónandi. This chapter then traces the declining cost of XR production and the role companies such as Facebook, and platform economics generally, have to play in this. Design culture has agency here for changing practice norms for the visual creators/designers and artists interviewed for this book, particularly in relation to intellectual property policies, and therefore design culture has an instrumental role to play in changing the deal making around visual representative media in this business; the music business can be changed through a new kind of design culture.
This chapter concerns artist management practices within the creative and cultural industries, sp... more This chapter concerns artist management practices within the creative and cultural industries, specifically within the music, dance and film sectors, during the period 2009 to 2018. It therefore locates artist management practices within a time period that includes the present historical moment; a context in which there is increasingly prevalent discourse concerning ‘big data’ and ‘automation’ and the impact these will have on the lives and work of future human beings.
The premise of this chapter is that we need thriving artists to have thriving arts organisations and a healthy arts sector overall. It is in this context that this chapter examines the question: in what ways does the data economy impact artist management practices? It presents a spectrum of engagement with data analytics services from what I will call ‘small data’ to ‘big data’ and asks an additional research question: can data analytics services that are specific to the arts help artists to thrive? In addition to an engagement with the data from in-depth semi-structured interviews with artist managers and self-managed artists, this chapter presents brief case studies of services such as Culture Counts, an Australian and United Kingdom-based company that believes in using data to inform arts management-related decisions; Capacity Interactive, a New York-based company that likewise believes in using data to inform arts management-related decisions; Next Big Sound, a New York-based company that believes in the power of data to transform the music industries; Music Glue, a London-based company that enables artists and other entities in the music industries to control their own data with a specific focus on direct artist-to-fan relations; and Facebook, the largest online social media and social networking service company in the world. This chapter considers the extent to which these services are automating artist management. In doing so, it examines what small and big data mean for the field of arts management.
The purpose of this chapter is to investigate student team-based possibilities for expanding the ... more The purpose of this chapter is to investigate student team-based possibilities for expanding the range of delivery modes for internship programmes within a popular music degree. A case study of the collaborative approach used in an arts entrepreneurship and management internship programme at Macquarie University (MQ) is provided in addition to pre- and post-programme experience interview data featuring the perspectives of some of the students and staff involved. This exercise in self-reflection concerning the pedagogical approach we have taken at MQ will explore the research question: What is the nature of student team-based internships in terms of collaborative creativity? Through an engagement with the literature pertaining to higher popular music education (HPME), arts entrepreneurship curricula in higher education and group creativity, we examine our case study data in order to explore the possibilities for building teams of student interns in our popular music programme.
This chapter examines the Chinese government’s investment in the music sector of the cultural ind... more This chapter examines the Chinese government’s investment in the music sector of the cultural industries in China. The chapter argues that this investment has fostered horizontal integration across music content and technology industry boundaries in the country. By examining the role of the Chinese government in developing creative industries via financial subsidies and other forms of infrastructure support, an important difference in cultural industry policy between China and many countries in the West is outlined. Specifically, China’s top-down policy approach (Cai et al. 2006; Zhu 2009) and censorship of digital content (De Kloet 2010; Street 2012) contrasts starkly with the emergent ‘bottom-up’ paradigm (Young and Collins 2010, pp. 344–5; Hracs 2012, pp. 455–6; Hesmondhalgh and Meier 2015) that has arisen in a number of countries in the West.
Morrow, G., 'The Psychology of Musical Creativity: A Case Study of Creative Conflict in a Nashville Studio', Colombo, B (ed.) The Psychology of Creativity, Nova Science Publishers: Hauppauge, New York, 2013., 2013
This chapter addresses the question of whether the conflict that occurred between the band Boy & ... more This chapter addresses the question of whether the conflict that occurred between the band Boy & Bear and the record producer Joe Chicarrelli, and within the collaborative web surrounding them, was necessary for the production of an album that became commercially successful. It is clear that a certain degree of conflict within this creative group was necessary for the production of a commercially successful album. However the album is less creative or ‘novel’ than the producers would have liked. This is because the conflict that occurred during the sessions was at times creative and at other times destructive. While conflict may not be a necessary part of making records in and of itself, ‘group flow’ (Sawyer, 2007) does necessitate there being a certain degree of creative conflict. This chapter contributes to our understanding of the ways in which conflict and power can be productive.
There are two main types of income earned by musicians. The first is capital income, which is the... more There are two main types of income earned by musicians. The first is capital income, which is the type of income derived from owning the intellectual rights to music, either through record sales or leveraging moral rights. The second is labour income, which is generated from live per- formance and takes the form of performance fees. Historically, these two activities are consid- ered separate with some ontological and economic interdependences, creating two different streams of income; however, we present a case which shows that the two merged when much ‘live’ music appeared online during the COVID-19 pandemic in the form of livestreams. These livestreams theoretically allow musicians to earn both capital income and labour income from the same activity. We use ‘design culture’, as a form of organizational culture, to describe how musicians can use the new livestreaming trend to realize better/fairer deals for themselves. This is especially prescient because in contemporary history, most musicians cannot earn a sustaina- ble income from releasing recorded music, so have relied on live performance. Live performance has thus become less ephemeral, as has the income derived from it.
This article investigates the relationship between the concept of attention- and reputation-build... more This article investigates the relationship between the concept of attention- and reputation-building mechanisms in the new music industries, with a specific focus on artist co-management. It addresses the following research question: How can artists and artist managers design artist-led organizations that operate effectively and efficiently in a world in which attention is increasingly scarce? The argument is made that agile artist comanagement practices are becoming ever more useful due to the plunging costs of experimentation in the increasingly globalized music industries. In order to explore these issues, interviews were held with 20 artist managers from a number of different territories of the international music industries, including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. The findings highlight both the challenges and the opportunities facing artists and artist managers in relation to the specific deal structures that can facilitate distributed agility.
This article analyses how public funding enables artistic practices from the perspectives of both... more This article analyses how public funding enables artistic practices from the perspectives of both national cultural policy decision makers, and our three interviewed subjects in the visual arts. Funding from the Australia Council for the Arts is examined in terms of the extent to which it is perceived to dis/enable ongoing artistic practice. This examination is timely given Australia’s former Minister for the Arts George Brandis’s 2015 shock annexation of Australia Council funding: $104.7 million was originally to be transferred from the Australia Council to the newly established National Programme for Excellence in the Arts (NPEA). This body represented a move away from the ‘arms-length’, independent peer-reviewed funding decisions with the arts minister having the ultimate authority with regard to the NPEA. The NPEA has now been renamed Catalyst – Australian Arts and Culture Fund (Catalyst) as a result of consultations and feedback relating to the NPEA.
Convergence: The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies, 2009
This article will explore the way in which Radiohead have been managerially creative through thei... more This article will explore the way in which Radiohead have been managerially creative through their use of new media technologies. The band released their seventh album In Rainbows
on the 10 October 2007 as a digital download for which consumers chose their own price: beginning at nothing. The issue of whether this example presents a model for other artists to bypass established record labels will be explored. This article will also use this discussion to look more broadly at how artist managers create marketing strategies that involve new technologies and in doing so it will address various issues concerning the future management and control of the five key income stream groups stemming from contemporary music in the digital age. While Radiohead are in a position to be able to control all of their own income streams, they have only gotten into this position as a result of the old system.
Asia Pacific Journal of Arts and Cultural Management, 2014
Artistic practices are subjected to numerous situational factors that simultaneously hinder and/o... more Artistic practices are subjected to numerous situational factors that simultaneously hinder and/or enable future artistic activity: public funding is positioned in this research as one such situational factor. This article explores the immediate impacts public funding has on the artistically creative processes of the funded art project using three case studies of Australian-based visual artists Kelly Doley, Agatha Gothe-Snape and Nigel Helyer. Each of these artists has recently received new work grants from the Australia Council for the Arts. Notions relating to definitions of creativity are explored. We conclude that while public funding can impact on the creative process of the funded projects, the (in)ability to access funding does not necessarily impact on the motivations to continuing practicing art.
Morrow, G ‘Creative Process as Strategic Alliance’, International Journal of Arts Management, v11n1, Fall (2008).
This article explores the various contractual pathways that are available to bands from smaller m... more This article explores the various contractual pathways that are available to bands from smaller markets who wish to move into larger, more lucrative territories. As there is no definitive managerial ‘method’ for artist managers from smaller markets to employ in order to achieve success in foreign territories, this article primarily serves to ‘map out’ the issues surrounding the following three methods for releasing recordings in the US or the UK:
1) Signing directly to a US or UK independent or major label
2) Sourcing a deal with a multinational out of a smaller market and having it released in the US or UK through an inter-company license agreement
3) Licensing or assigning the right to exploit the copyright in a pre-existing record to a label in the US or UK
It is evident that artists and artist managers from smaller markets should not become disillusioned because there is ‘no answer’, rather they should feel optimistic because there are ‘multiple answers’.
Abstract
Authors: Keith, Sarah; Hughes, Diane; Crowdy, Denis; Morrow, Guy; Evans, Mark
This artic... more Abstract Authors: Keith, Sarah; Hughes, Diane; Crowdy, Denis; Morrow, Guy; Evans, Mark This article explores the concept of musical liveness, and seeks to clarify how digital technologies are changing conceptions of live performance. It draws on research into contemporary music industries in Australia. Discussions of live music performance, and liveness, are often equated to the real-time performance of music by a musician in front of an audience. However, such performance opportunities are diminishing (Johnson and Homan, 2003) due to a number of factors, including changes to venue and live music legislation. In response to this decline, a number of action groups such as SLAM (Save Live Australian Music) have formed in opposition to such policies and are reviving live music communities in certain areas. In the absence of consistent performance options, online and DIY approaches have allowed artists to connect with audiences, engage in one-on-one interactions with fans, and showcase their performance abilities outside of traditional performance contexts. Strategic uses of social media allow artists to attract audiences to non-conventional spaces (such as busking performances or house parties); while online videos, whether they are created by artists themselves, impromptu or candid videos, or unauthorised videos created by fans, allow online audiences to participate in the live music experience and to connect with the artist. Research findings indicate that digital technologies are crucial in both promoting and sustaining a live presence for musicians. Musical liveness is no longer confined to offline physical performances; online technologies develop the concept of a technologically mediated ‘liveness’. References Johnson, B & Homan, S (2003), Vanishing acts: an inquiry into the state of live popular music opportunities in New South Wales, Australia Council & the NSW Ministry for the Arts, Sydney.
International Journal of Music Business Research (IJMBR), 2013
Contemporary artists embarking on a musical career enter into a highly competitive and complex en... more Contemporary artists embarking on a musical career enter into a highly competitive and complex environment. Whereas the pre-digital music industries consisted of de-finable streams of income and markers of achievement, such as live performance opportunities, record deals, royalties, and radio play, today's music industries involve multiple platforms and strategies that artists need to engage with. Defining "success" in this new environment goes beyond standard definitions of financial independence or peer respect (Letts 2013). Success is contingent on planning for and leveraging numerous smaller successes in areas including developing "Do It Your-self" (DIY) and management skills and engaging in funding opportunities such as government grants. Artists may also employ crowdfunding or alternate means for raising capital, engaging with fans via social media, managing their online identities and personas, utilising online music video, and expanding into overseas markets in order to maintain financial viability. This research draws on a series of focus groups with artists and industry practitioners within the Australian music industries, and considers the diverse contemporary approaches that artists take in order to achieve success in their careers. 1 Diane Hughes is Senior Lecturer in Vocal Studies. She has an extensive background in contemporary singing and pedagogy. Her work within the industry has involved artist development and recording. Research interests include vocal artistry, vocal processing, expressive techniques and performance, and career development in the music industries (diane.hughes@mq.edu.au). Sarah Keith is Lecturer in Music Production. Her research includes: contemporary music production, particularly of the voice; East Asian pop music performance and music video; Australian popular music culture and media; developing musical industries; and documentary film and sound (sarah.keith@mq.edu.au). Guy Morrow is Lecturer in Arts Practice and Management. His research includes: music, design and innovation in the music industry; managing creativity; entrepreneurship, start up management and collaborative creativity; and music video production (guy.morrow@mq.edu.au). Mark Evans is Associate Professor. He is series editor for Genre, Music and Sound series (Equinox Publishing), considering the role of sound in various genres of feature films, and has research interests in film and television sound, religious music, spatiality and popular music (mark.evans@mq.edu.au). Denis Crowdy is Senior Lecturer in Music. His research interests encompass popular and commercial music in Melanesia, particularly Papua New Guinea; music production aesthetics; virtual home studio practices; critical eco-musicology; cross-cultural and hybrid musics; and copyright and musical ownership (denis.crowdy@mq.edu.au).
Morrow, G., Nordgård, D. & Tschmuck, P. (eds.) (2022). Rethinking the Music Business: Music Contexts, Rights, Data and COVID-19, Cham, Switzerland: Springer., 2022
In this chapter, we introduce the book by first outlining the challenges of designing, writing an... more In this chapter, we introduce the book by first outlining the challenges of designing, writing and editing a research-based book during the COVID-19 pandemic. We explain why Part 1 features six chapters that concern the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the music business, while Part 2 is comprised of six chapters that present original insights into the music business in general. We edited this book in solidarity with the various authors who managed to contribute chapters to this volume despite COVID-19-related disruptions and time out from work due to illness. We also edited this book in solidarity with all the participants who contributed to our own research projects that feature in this book and with the participants who took part in our contributing authors' research projects. Our aim in this book was to provide as holistic a picture of the music business as we could at this time by gathering contributions from authors who were in the United Kingdom, Austria,
Designing the Music Business: Design Culture, Music Video and Virtual Reality, 2020
This book addresses the neglect of visual creativities and content, and how these are commerciali... more This book addresses the neglect of visual creativities and content, and how these are commercialised in the music industries. While musical and visual creativities drive growth, there is a lack of literature relating to the visual side of the music business, which is significant given that the production of meaning and value within this business occurs across a number of textual sites.
Popular music is a multimedia, discursive, fluid, and expansive cultural form that, in addition to the music itself, includes album covers; gig and tour posters; music videos; set, stage, and lighting designs; live concert footage; websites; virtual reality/augmented reality technologies; merchandise designs; and other forms of visual content. As a result, it has become impossible to understand the meaning and value of music without considering its relation to these visual components and to the interrelationships between them.
Using design culture theory, participant observation, interviews, case studies, and a visual methodology to explore the topic, this research-based book is a valuable study aid for undergraduate and postgraduate students of subjects including the music business, design, arts management, creative and cultural industries studies, business and management studies, and media and communications.
Keywords Music Business, Popular Music, Graphic Design, Stage Design, Music Video, Virtual Reality, Augmented reality, Lighting Design
Artist managers ‘create’ careers for musicians, yet little has been written about their creativit... more Artist managers ‘create’ careers for musicians, yet little has been written about their creativity in the academic domain. Thus this thesis develops the notion of managerial creativity. Artist managers build and maintain ‘brands’, and this is a creative industry function. The thesis begins with a description of what artist management is, then it reviews the way in which various Australian musicians’ and artist managers’ careers are created and maintained. A musical idea or product arises from the synergy of many sources and not only from the mind of a single person (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996). Therefore it is easier to enhance creativity by changing conditions in the environment the artist is located in than by trying to make artists think more creatively. Managerial creativity involves the creation and maintenance of the system, context or environment from which artistic creativity emerges and is therefore the facet of the music industry that can most effectively enhance musical creativity.
DESCRIPTION:
Artists are creative workers who drive growth in the creative and cultural industri... more DESCRIPTION:
Artists are creative workers who drive growth in the creative and cultural industries. Managing artistic talent is a unique challenge and this concise book introduces and analyzes its key characteristics.
Artist Management: Agility in the Creative and Cultural Industries makes a major contribution to our understanding of the creative and cultural industries, of artistic and managerial creativities, and of social and cultural change in this sector. The book undertakes an extensive exploration of the increasingly pivotal role of artist managers in the creative and cultural industries and argues that agile management strategies are useful in this context. This book provides a comprehensive and accessible account of the artist-artist manager relationship in the twenty-first century. Drawing from research interviews conducted with artist managers and self-managed artists in five cities: New York, London, Toronto, Sydney and Melbourne, this book makes an original contribution to knowledge. Nation-specific case studies are highlighted as a means of illuminating various thematic concerns.
This unique book is a major piece of research and a valuable study aid for both undergraduate and postgraduate students of subjects including arts management, creative and cultural industries studies, arts entrepreneurship, business and management studies, and media and communications.
REVIEWS: “The theoretical components of the book sing. Locating the research in the very personal relationship between artist and artist manager makes it a very rich area … it represents one of the all too few intellectual products from the arts which fully elaborates on the ways in which a sophisticated understanding of creative practices, can enhance broader theoretical thinking and practice in business and management.” Associate Professor Kate MacNeill, Director of the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences and Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) in the Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne.
'Guy Morrow goes well beyond truisms such as "an artist is a start-up business" because he knows that such truisms don't sustain the various phases of any artistic career. Instead, his focus is on the value of agility amidst increasing complexity. Managers in every industry can learn from this.' — Catherine Moore, PhD, Adjunct Professor, University of Toronto, Canada
'Guy Morrow has had a fascinating career as an artist management ‘pracademic’ (i.e. both a practitioner and academic). This makes his work of particular relevance and interest to those of us seeking to bridge theory and practice.' — Paul Saintilan, CEO, Collarts and Macleay Colleges, Australia, co-author of Managing Organizations in the Creative Economy: Organizational Behaviour for the Cultural Sector
'Artist Management offers a timely understanding of the manifold ways in which contemporary creative producers need to deal with uncertainty and career development. Incorporating the experiences of practitioners and the insights of contemporary scholarly work, Guy Morrow has crafted a highly engaging book.' — Dr. Erik Hitters, Associate Professor of Media and Creative Industries, Managing Director of the Erasmus Research Centre for Media, Communication and Culture, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands.
'This book opens up key concerns for theory and practice: how do contemporary practices such as agile management, lean start up and crowd-funding relate to the big questions of what are the arts and how should they be managed.' — Doris Ruth Eikhof, CAMEo Research Institute, University of Leicester, UK
This research-based book outlines career models for artists, methods of creative engagement, arti... more This research-based book outlines career models for artists, methods of creative engagement, artistic options including individuality and branding, production practices, the realities of being a musician in the new industries, and implications for popular music education. Due to the profound effects of the digitisation of music, the music industries have undergone rapid transformation. The former record label dominated industry has been supplanted by new industries, including digital aggregators, strategists and online platforms. These new music industries now facilitate ‘direct’ access to both artists and their music. While such accessibility and the potential for artist exposure have never been greater, the challenge to stand out or to even navigate a musical career pathway is formidable. A useful resource for musicians and educators, this text highlights the ways in which the new music industries facilitate increased opportunities for 21st Century popular musicians to collaborate, communicate and interact with others interested in their music.
Developing an impact framework for Science Gallery Network: Final report, 2022
The aim of this project was to develop an impact framework for the Science Gallery Network (SGN).... more The aim of this project was to develop an impact framework for the Science Gallery Network (SGN). This work was commissioned by the Science Gallery International (SGI). The SGN has eight member organisations across four continents: Dublin, London, Melbourne, Bengaluru, Detroit, Rotterdam, Atlanta and Berlin. Whilst the network consistently sees unprecedented levels of accomplishment by its members, a testimony to their capacity, innovation and vision, the SGN does not have a systematic way to measure and monitor this impact. An impact framework that can assist with understanding and reporting the value of this impact will provide important recognition that the SGN has achieved what it sets out to do— bringing science, art, technology and design together to deliver world-class educational and cultural experiences for young people. This report details the robust consultation approach that was undertaken by the University of Melbourne’s project team—one that included a desktop review, focus group discussions, surveys and interviews—to ensure multiple perspectives were gathered on what could be considered a multi-faceted concept. The desktop review provided a thorough review and an environmental scan of the impact literature and its measurement. In addition, the focus group discussions and interviews provided a rich understanding of what ‘good impact’ means for the SGN and the implications of this to the measurement of impact outcomes. Five key recommendations are provided and summarised. Note that these key recommendations should be taken as a point of departure for further in-depth consultation throughout the wider SGN.
Designing the Music Business: Design Culture, Music Video and Virtual Reality , 2020
This chapter concludes the book and addresses XR design. It features a case study of Icelandic mu... more This chapter concludes the book and addresses XR design. It features a case study of Icelandic musician and visual artist Björk's release of her full VR album Vulnicura (Björk 2019c). A case study of Florida-based company Magic Leap's work with Icelandic band Sigur Rós is also provided. Sigur Rós (2020) and Magic Leap collaborated to develop an interactive music and mixed reality experience called Tónandi. This chapter then traces the declining cost of XR production and the role companies such as Facebook, and platform economics generally, have to play in this. Design culture has agency here for changing practice norms for the visual creators/designers and artists interviewed for this book, particularly in relation to intellectual property policies, and therefore design culture has an instrumental role to play in changing the deal making around visual representative media in this business; the music business can be changed through a new kind of design culture.
This chapter concerns artist management practices within the creative and cultural industries, sp... more This chapter concerns artist management practices within the creative and cultural industries, specifically within the music, dance and film sectors, during the period 2009 to 2018. It therefore locates artist management practices within a time period that includes the present historical moment; a context in which there is increasingly prevalent discourse concerning ‘big data’ and ‘automation’ and the impact these will have on the lives and work of future human beings.
The premise of this chapter is that we need thriving artists to have thriving arts organisations and a healthy arts sector overall. It is in this context that this chapter examines the question: in what ways does the data economy impact artist management practices? It presents a spectrum of engagement with data analytics services from what I will call ‘small data’ to ‘big data’ and asks an additional research question: can data analytics services that are specific to the arts help artists to thrive? In addition to an engagement with the data from in-depth semi-structured interviews with artist managers and self-managed artists, this chapter presents brief case studies of services such as Culture Counts, an Australian and United Kingdom-based company that believes in using data to inform arts management-related decisions; Capacity Interactive, a New York-based company that likewise believes in using data to inform arts management-related decisions; Next Big Sound, a New York-based company that believes in the power of data to transform the music industries; Music Glue, a London-based company that enables artists and other entities in the music industries to control their own data with a specific focus on direct artist-to-fan relations; and Facebook, the largest online social media and social networking service company in the world. This chapter considers the extent to which these services are automating artist management. In doing so, it examines what small and big data mean for the field of arts management.
The purpose of this chapter is to investigate student team-based possibilities for expanding the ... more The purpose of this chapter is to investigate student team-based possibilities for expanding the range of delivery modes for internship programmes within a popular music degree. A case study of the collaborative approach used in an arts entrepreneurship and management internship programme at Macquarie University (MQ) is provided in addition to pre- and post-programme experience interview data featuring the perspectives of some of the students and staff involved. This exercise in self-reflection concerning the pedagogical approach we have taken at MQ will explore the research question: What is the nature of student team-based internships in terms of collaborative creativity? Through an engagement with the literature pertaining to higher popular music education (HPME), arts entrepreneurship curricula in higher education and group creativity, we examine our case study data in order to explore the possibilities for building teams of student interns in our popular music programme.
This chapter examines the Chinese government’s investment in the music sector of the cultural ind... more This chapter examines the Chinese government’s investment in the music sector of the cultural industries in China. The chapter argues that this investment has fostered horizontal integration across music content and technology industry boundaries in the country. By examining the role of the Chinese government in developing creative industries via financial subsidies and other forms of infrastructure support, an important difference in cultural industry policy between China and many countries in the West is outlined. Specifically, China’s top-down policy approach (Cai et al. 2006; Zhu 2009) and censorship of digital content (De Kloet 2010; Street 2012) contrasts starkly with the emergent ‘bottom-up’ paradigm (Young and Collins 2010, pp. 344–5; Hracs 2012, pp. 455–6; Hesmondhalgh and Meier 2015) that has arisen in a number of countries in the West.
Morrow, G., 'The Psychology of Musical Creativity: A Case Study of Creative Conflict in a Nashville Studio', Colombo, B (ed.) The Psychology of Creativity, Nova Science Publishers: Hauppauge, New York, 2013., 2013
This chapter addresses the question of whether the conflict that occurred between the band Boy & ... more This chapter addresses the question of whether the conflict that occurred between the band Boy & Bear and the record producer Joe Chicarrelli, and within the collaborative web surrounding them, was necessary for the production of an album that became commercially successful. It is clear that a certain degree of conflict within this creative group was necessary for the production of a commercially successful album. However the album is less creative or ‘novel’ than the producers would have liked. This is because the conflict that occurred during the sessions was at times creative and at other times destructive. While conflict may not be a necessary part of making records in and of itself, ‘group flow’ (Sawyer, 2007) does necessitate there being a certain degree of creative conflict. This chapter contributes to our understanding of the ways in which conflict and power can be productive.
There are two main types of income earned by musicians. The first is capital income, which is the... more There are two main types of income earned by musicians. The first is capital income, which is the type of income derived from owning the intellectual rights to music, either through record sales or leveraging moral rights. The second is labour income, which is generated from live per- formance and takes the form of performance fees. Historically, these two activities are consid- ered separate with some ontological and economic interdependences, creating two different streams of income; however, we present a case which shows that the two merged when much ‘live’ music appeared online during the COVID-19 pandemic in the form of livestreams. These livestreams theoretically allow musicians to earn both capital income and labour income from the same activity. We use ‘design culture’, as a form of organizational culture, to describe how musicians can use the new livestreaming trend to realize better/fairer deals for themselves. This is especially prescient because in contemporary history, most musicians cannot earn a sustaina- ble income from releasing recorded music, so have relied on live performance. Live performance has thus become less ephemeral, as has the income derived from it.
This article investigates the relationship between the concept of attention- and reputation-build... more This article investigates the relationship between the concept of attention- and reputation-building mechanisms in the new music industries, with a specific focus on artist co-management. It addresses the following research question: How can artists and artist managers design artist-led organizations that operate effectively and efficiently in a world in which attention is increasingly scarce? The argument is made that agile artist comanagement practices are becoming ever more useful due to the plunging costs of experimentation in the increasingly globalized music industries. In order to explore these issues, interviews were held with 20 artist managers from a number of different territories of the international music industries, including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. The findings highlight both the challenges and the opportunities facing artists and artist managers in relation to the specific deal structures that can facilitate distributed agility.
This article analyses how public funding enables artistic practices from the perspectives of both... more This article analyses how public funding enables artistic practices from the perspectives of both national cultural policy decision makers, and our three interviewed subjects in the visual arts. Funding from the Australia Council for the Arts is examined in terms of the extent to which it is perceived to dis/enable ongoing artistic practice. This examination is timely given Australia’s former Minister for the Arts George Brandis’s 2015 shock annexation of Australia Council funding: $104.7 million was originally to be transferred from the Australia Council to the newly established National Programme for Excellence in the Arts (NPEA). This body represented a move away from the ‘arms-length’, independent peer-reviewed funding decisions with the arts minister having the ultimate authority with regard to the NPEA. The NPEA has now been renamed Catalyst – Australian Arts and Culture Fund (Catalyst) as a result of consultations and feedback relating to the NPEA.
Convergence: The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies, 2009
This article will explore the way in which Radiohead have been managerially creative through thei... more This article will explore the way in which Radiohead have been managerially creative through their use of new media technologies. The band released their seventh album In Rainbows
on the 10 October 2007 as a digital download for which consumers chose their own price: beginning at nothing. The issue of whether this example presents a model for other artists to bypass established record labels will be explored. This article will also use this discussion to look more broadly at how artist managers create marketing strategies that involve new technologies and in doing so it will address various issues concerning the future management and control of the five key income stream groups stemming from contemporary music in the digital age. While Radiohead are in a position to be able to control all of their own income streams, they have only gotten into this position as a result of the old system.
Asia Pacific Journal of Arts and Cultural Management, 2014
Artistic practices are subjected to numerous situational factors that simultaneously hinder and/o... more Artistic practices are subjected to numerous situational factors that simultaneously hinder and/or enable future artistic activity: public funding is positioned in this research as one such situational factor. This article explores the immediate impacts public funding has on the artistically creative processes of the funded art project using three case studies of Australian-based visual artists Kelly Doley, Agatha Gothe-Snape and Nigel Helyer. Each of these artists has recently received new work grants from the Australia Council for the Arts. Notions relating to definitions of creativity are explored. We conclude that while public funding can impact on the creative process of the funded projects, the (in)ability to access funding does not necessarily impact on the motivations to continuing practicing art.
Morrow, G ‘Creative Process as Strategic Alliance’, International Journal of Arts Management, v11n1, Fall (2008).
This article explores the various contractual pathways that are available to bands from smaller m... more This article explores the various contractual pathways that are available to bands from smaller markets who wish to move into larger, more lucrative territories. As there is no definitive managerial ‘method’ for artist managers from smaller markets to employ in order to achieve success in foreign territories, this article primarily serves to ‘map out’ the issues surrounding the following three methods for releasing recordings in the US or the UK:
1) Signing directly to a US or UK independent or major label
2) Sourcing a deal with a multinational out of a smaller market and having it released in the US or UK through an inter-company license agreement
3) Licensing or assigning the right to exploit the copyright in a pre-existing record to a label in the US or UK
It is evident that artists and artist managers from smaller markets should not become disillusioned because there is ‘no answer’, rather they should feel optimistic because there are ‘multiple answers’.
Abstract
Authors: Keith, Sarah; Hughes, Diane; Crowdy, Denis; Morrow, Guy; Evans, Mark
This artic... more Abstract Authors: Keith, Sarah; Hughes, Diane; Crowdy, Denis; Morrow, Guy; Evans, Mark This article explores the concept of musical liveness, and seeks to clarify how digital technologies are changing conceptions of live performance. It draws on research into contemporary music industries in Australia. Discussions of live music performance, and liveness, are often equated to the real-time performance of music by a musician in front of an audience. However, such performance opportunities are diminishing (Johnson and Homan, 2003) due to a number of factors, including changes to venue and live music legislation. In response to this decline, a number of action groups such as SLAM (Save Live Australian Music) have formed in opposition to such policies and are reviving live music communities in certain areas. In the absence of consistent performance options, online and DIY approaches have allowed artists to connect with audiences, engage in one-on-one interactions with fans, and showcase their performance abilities outside of traditional performance contexts. Strategic uses of social media allow artists to attract audiences to non-conventional spaces (such as busking performances or house parties); while online videos, whether they are created by artists themselves, impromptu or candid videos, or unauthorised videos created by fans, allow online audiences to participate in the live music experience and to connect with the artist. Research findings indicate that digital technologies are crucial in both promoting and sustaining a live presence for musicians. Musical liveness is no longer confined to offline physical performances; online technologies develop the concept of a technologically mediated ‘liveness’. References Johnson, B & Homan, S (2003), Vanishing acts: an inquiry into the state of live popular music opportunities in New South Wales, Australia Council & the NSW Ministry for the Arts, Sydney.
International Journal of Music Business Research (IJMBR), 2013
Contemporary artists embarking on a musical career enter into a highly competitive and complex en... more Contemporary artists embarking on a musical career enter into a highly competitive and complex environment. Whereas the pre-digital music industries consisted of de-finable streams of income and markers of achievement, such as live performance opportunities, record deals, royalties, and radio play, today's music industries involve multiple platforms and strategies that artists need to engage with. Defining "success" in this new environment goes beyond standard definitions of financial independence or peer respect (Letts 2013). Success is contingent on planning for and leveraging numerous smaller successes in areas including developing "Do It Your-self" (DIY) and management skills and engaging in funding opportunities such as government grants. Artists may also employ crowdfunding or alternate means for raising capital, engaging with fans via social media, managing their online identities and personas, utilising online music video, and expanding into overseas markets in order to maintain financial viability. This research draws on a series of focus groups with artists and industry practitioners within the Australian music industries, and considers the diverse contemporary approaches that artists take in order to achieve success in their careers. 1 Diane Hughes is Senior Lecturer in Vocal Studies. She has an extensive background in contemporary singing and pedagogy. Her work within the industry has involved artist development and recording. Research interests include vocal artistry, vocal processing, expressive techniques and performance, and career development in the music industries (diane.hughes@mq.edu.au). Sarah Keith is Lecturer in Music Production. Her research includes: contemporary music production, particularly of the voice; East Asian pop music performance and music video; Australian popular music culture and media; developing musical industries; and documentary film and sound (sarah.keith@mq.edu.au). Guy Morrow is Lecturer in Arts Practice and Management. His research includes: music, design and innovation in the music industry; managing creativity; entrepreneurship, start up management and collaborative creativity; and music video production (guy.morrow@mq.edu.au). Mark Evans is Associate Professor. He is series editor for Genre, Music and Sound series (Equinox Publishing), considering the role of sound in various genres of feature films, and has research interests in film and television sound, religious music, spatiality and popular music (mark.evans@mq.edu.au). Denis Crowdy is Senior Lecturer in Music. His research interests encompass popular and commercial music in Melanesia, particularly Papua New Guinea; music production aesthetics; virtual home studio practices; critical eco-musicology; cross-cultural and hybrid musics; and copyright and musical ownership (denis.crowdy@mq.edu.au).
This article explores the role of synchronisation agents, and the current music business environm... more This article explores the role of synchronisation agents, and the current music business environment in Australasia more generally, in order to examine the various methods for music and image synchronisation and the extent to which the process of synchronisation can assist artist managers in building and maximizing their clients’ musical careers. ‘Sync agents’ are similar to song publishers. However, while song publishers work to maximise revenue from the exploitation of the performance and mechanical copyright of songs and having the songs in their catalogue synchronised with visual imagery, sync(hronisation) agents just work with the latter. Chris Anderson’s ‘Long Tail’ theory (2006) provides the model for arguing that the exchange value of musical copyrights has decentralised and therefore, as aggregators, sync agents are in the best position to generate revenue from synchronising more songs with a lot more images. This contrasts with artists or artist managers who are poorly positioned to generate revenue via this means. The article reports on a research project involving the International Music Managers Forum that seeks to create new standards in relation to artist management practices in the contemporary dispersed media context.
Dr Guy Morrow and Associate Professor Josephine Caust are teaming up to launch their new books.
... more Dr Guy Morrow and Associate Professor Josephine Caust are teaming up to launch their new books.
Morrow, G (2018) Artist Management: Agility in the Creative and Cultural Industries (Routledge) makes a major contribution to our understanding of the creative and cultural industries, of artistic and managerial creativities, and of social and cultural change in this sector. To be launched by Associate Professor Kate MacNeill.
While Caust, J (2018) Arts Leadership in Contemporary Contexts (Routledge) explores and critiques different aspects of arts leadership within contemporary contexts and is an exploration of the ways arts leadership is understood, interpreted and practised within a changing cultural and economic paradigm. To be launched by Mr James McCaughey.
Both books are important pieces of research and are valuable study aids for the graduate students in the Arts and Cultural Management program within the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne.
This program is focused on the relationship between management practices and creative production in both Australian and international contexts. The program delivers subjects in the key areas of management, law, cultural and industry policy and marketing.
Associate Professor Kate MacNeill is Director of the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences and Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) in the Faculty of Arts.
James McCaughey is a graduate of the Universities of Melbourne, Cambridge and Dublin and has been a member of the Theatre Board of the Australia Council, a Trustee of the Geelong Performing Arts Centre and is currently Chairman of the Board of the Gasworks Arts Park. In 2016 he was made an Honorary Doctor of Letters at the University of Melbourne.
Dr Guy Morrow is a Lecturer in Arts and Cultural Management at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He is author of Artist Management: Agility in the Creative and Cultural Industries and co-author of The New Music Industries: Disruption and Discovery. Guy has also worked extensively as an artist manager in the international music industries.
Associate Professor Jo Caust is an Honorary (Principal Fellow) in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne and formerly Associate Professor in Arts and Cultural Management in the School of Management at the University of South Australia. She is Founder Editor of the Asia Pacific Journal of Arts and Cultural Management and is the author of Arts and Cultural Leadership in Asia and Arts Leadership: International Case Studies. She has also worked in the arts sector as an arts practitioner, manager, bureaucrat and consultant.
Thursday, 17 May 2018 6.00pm to 8.00pm
4th Floor Linkway John Medley Building University of Melbourne Parkville Vic 3010
This video is a sample of the videos that will be available with my book Artist Management: Agili... more This video is a sample of the videos that will be available with my book Artist Management: Agility in the Creative and Cultural Industries via its companion website.
This article initially examines a basic question for popular music studies: is a band a startup? ... more This article initially examines a basic question for popular music studies: is a band a startup? It offers a definition of a startup and argues that some bands can be considered ‘startups’ because of the ambiguity surrounding the term ‘novel’ in definitions of artistic creativity. Because of this ambiguity, some bands are operating in circumstances of extreme uncertainty. Using this argument, this article will then examine the following question: what is the nature of the relationship between these startups and the cultural intermediaries that constitute the music industries? This research draws on a series of focus groups with artists and industry practitioners, and from interviews with practitioners within the music industries, and it presents a new way of conceptualizing career development within the new music industries.
Background: This article examines group creativity and diversity across healthcare and non-health... more Background: This article examines group creativity and diversity across healthcare and non-healthcare disciplines and how they can assist students in constructing their own understandings and knowledge of professionalism. Methods: A total of 30 students from different tertiary levels and across disciplines participated in the study. They explored either a gallery or museum and examined an artefact relating to professionalism. We evaluated whether and how students experienced this activity as enhancing their creativity and learnings of professionalism via survey results and thematic analyses of their reflective essays and semi-structured interviews. Results: Our findings showed that the group work increased students’ understandings of professionalism and their appreciation of the perspectives and skills of one another. The creative aspect of the task was fun and engaging, and group diversity enabled different opinions and perspectives to be heard and shared. This is analogous to a pr...
This paper concerns symbiotic relationships that have been formed between Australian music manage... more This paper concerns symbiotic relationships that have been formed between Australian music management and production companies and major record labels in foreign territories. These relationships are the result of the problems facing major labels in the new digital environment and the challenges Australian music managers face when trying to break into foreign markets from Australia.
Examines the tribute band phenomenon and its place within the global popular music industry. This... more Examines the tribute band phenomenon and its place within the global popular music industry. This book also looks at music industry attitudes towards imitation, including copyright issues and the use of multimedia performance techniques to deliver the authentic tribute experience.16 page(s
This chapter compares Australian music managers' operations to those of their counterparts in... more This chapter compares Australian music managers' operations to those of their counterparts in Canada. Once the global context of the music industry has been established, and Canada and Australia's part in this industry has been highlighted, this chapter will locate the discourse of a select number of Australian and Canadian music managers within this global context. The degree to which Australian and Canadian music managers and artists have access to key music territories such as the US and the UK will form a particular focus. Particular attention will be paid to the opinions and perspectives of industry practitioners who are located in the US and the UK, practitioners who are looking out at Australian and Canadian attempts to break in. My analyses initially begin by engaging with interview data concerning the perspective of managers who operate at a micro/indie/local level and then it to an outline of the perspective of practitioners who operate at macro/national and/or international levels through their dealings with major labels
Trajectories for future music education and innovation require understanding of here-and-now musi... more Trajectories for future music education and innovation require understanding of here-and-now musical conduits and a range of technologies. Our research is situated in the contemporary music industries and identifies new and emerging pathways within those industries. Historically, the music industry has been monopolised by major record labels. A notable consequence of this control has been that independent artists and musicians have typically not had access to the opportunities, distribution avenues and promotional exposure afforded by the major labels. New industrial practices, avenues for music distribution and the associated democratisation of technologies have decentralised major label domination. In doing so, new music industries have created a range of platforms and opportunities that challenge the conventional model of contemporary music practices. This has implications for music education and future innovation. Our research investigates career development in the contemporary,...
Uploads
Popular music is a multimedia, discursive, fluid, and expansive cultural form that, in addition to the music itself, includes album covers; gig and tour posters; music videos; set, stage, and lighting designs; live concert footage; websites; virtual reality/augmented reality technologies; merchandise designs; and other forms of visual content. As a result, it has become impossible to understand the meaning and value of music without considering its relation to these visual components and to the interrelationships between them.
Using design culture theory, participant observation, interviews, case studies, and a visual methodology to explore the topic, this research-based book is a valuable study aid for undergraduate and postgraduate students of subjects including the music business, design, arts management, creative and cultural industries studies, business and management studies, and media and communications.
Keywords
Music Business, Popular Music, Graphic Design, Stage Design, Music Video, Virtual Reality, Augmented reality, Lighting Design
Artists are creative workers who drive growth in the creative and cultural industries. Managing artistic talent is a unique challenge and this concise book introduces and analyzes its key characteristics.
Artist Management: Agility in the Creative and Cultural Industries makes a major contribution to our understanding of the creative and cultural industries, of artistic and managerial creativities, and of social and cultural change in this sector. The book undertakes an extensive exploration of the increasingly pivotal role of artist managers in the creative and cultural industries and argues that agile management strategies are useful in this context. This book provides a comprehensive and accessible account of the artist-artist manager relationship in the twenty-first century. Drawing from research interviews conducted with artist managers and self-managed artists in five cities: New York, London, Toronto, Sydney and Melbourne, this book makes an original contribution to knowledge. Nation-specific case studies are highlighted as a means of illuminating various thematic concerns.
This unique book is a major piece of research and a valuable study aid for both undergraduate and postgraduate students of subjects including arts management, creative and cultural industries studies, arts entrepreneurship, business and management studies, and media and communications.
REVIEWS:
“The theoretical components of the book sing. Locating the research in the very personal relationship between artist and artist manager makes it a very rich area … it represents one of the all too few intellectual products from the arts which fully elaborates on the ways in which a sophisticated understanding of creative practices, can enhance broader theoretical thinking and practice in business and management.” Associate Professor Kate MacNeill, Director of the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences and Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) in the Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne.
'Guy Morrow goes well beyond truisms such as "an artist is a start-up business" because he knows that such truisms don't sustain the various phases of any artistic career. Instead, his focus is on the value of agility amidst increasing complexity. Managers in every industry can learn from this.' — Catherine Moore, PhD, Adjunct Professor, University of Toronto, Canada
'Guy Morrow has had a fascinating career as an artist management ‘pracademic’ (i.e. both a practitioner and academic). This makes his work of particular relevance and interest to those of us seeking to bridge theory and practice.' — Paul Saintilan, CEO, Collarts and Macleay Colleges, Australia, co-author of Managing Organizations in the Creative Economy: Organizational Behaviour for the Cultural Sector
'Artist Management offers a timely understanding of the manifold ways in which contemporary creative producers need to deal with uncertainty and career development. Incorporating the experiences of practitioners and the insights of contemporary scholarly work, Guy Morrow has crafted a highly engaging book.' — Dr. Erik Hitters, Associate Professor of Media and Creative Industries, Managing Director of the Erasmus Research Centre for Media, Communication and Culture, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands.
'This book opens up key concerns for theory and practice: how do contemporary practices such as agile management, lean start up and crowd-funding relate to the big questions of what are the arts and how should they be managed.' — Doris Ruth Eikhof, CAMEo Research Institute, University of Leicester, UK
The premise of this chapter is that we need thriving artists to have thriving arts organisations and a healthy arts sector overall. It is in this context that this chapter examines the question: in what ways does the data economy impact artist management practices? It presents a spectrum of engagement with data analytics services from what I will call ‘small data’ to ‘big data’ and asks an additional research question: can data analytics services that are specific to the arts help artists to thrive? In addition to an engagement with the data from in-depth semi-structured interviews with artist managers and self-managed artists, this chapter presents brief case studies of services such as Culture Counts, an Australian and United Kingdom-based company that believes in using data to inform arts management-related decisions; Capacity Interactive, a New York-based company that likewise believes in using data to inform arts management-related decisions; Next Big Sound, a New York-based company that believes in the power of data to transform the music industries; Music Glue, a London-based company that enables artists and other entities in the music industries to control their own data with a specific focus on direct artist-to-fan relations; and Facebook, the largest online social media and social networking service company in the world. This chapter considers the extent to which these services are automating artist management. In doing so, it examines what small and big data mean for the field of arts management.
on the 10 October 2007 as a digital download for which consumers chose their own price: beginning at nothing. The issue of whether this example presents a model for other artists to bypass established record labels will be explored. This article will also use this discussion to look more broadly at how artist managers create marketing strategies that involve new technologies and in doing so it will address various issues concerning the future management and control of the five key income stream groups stemming from contemporary music in the digital age. While Radiohead are in a position to be able to control all of their own income streams, they have only gotten into this position as a result of the old system.
1) Signing directly to a US or UK independent or major label
2) Sourcing a deal with a multinational out of a smaller market and having it released in the US or UK through an inter-company license agreement
3) Licensing or assigning the right to exploit the copyright in a pre-existing record to a label in the US or UK
It is evident that artists and artist managers from smaller markets should not become disillusioned because there is ‘no answer’, rather they should feel optimistic because there are ‘multiple answers’.
Authors: Keith, Sarah; Hughes, Diane; Crowdy, Denis; Morrow, Guy; Evans, Mark
This article explores the concept of musical liveness, and seeks to clarify how digital technologies are changing conceptions of live performance. It draws on research into contemporary music industries in Australia. Discussions of live music performance, and liveness, are often equated to the real-time performance of music by a musician in front of an audience. However, such performance opportunities are diminishing (Johnson and Homan, 2003) due to a number of factors, including changes to venue and live music legislation. In response to this decline, a number of action groups such as SLAM (Save Live Australian Music) have formed in opposition to such policies and are reviving live music communities in certain areas.
In the absence of consistent performance options, online and DIY approaches have allowed artists to connect with audiences, engage in one-on-one interactions with fans, and showcase their performance abilities outside of traditional performance contexts. Strategic uses of social media allow artists to attract audiences to non-conventional spaces (such as busking performances or house parties); while online videos, whether they are created by artists themselves, impromptu or candid videos, or unauthorised videos created by fans, allow online audiences to participate in the live music experience and to connect with the artist. Research findings indicate that digital technologies are crucial in both promoting and sustaining a live presence for musicians. Musical liveness is no longer confined to offline physical performances; online technologies develop the concept of a technologically mediated ‘liveness’.
References
Johnson, B & Homan, S (2003), Vanishing acts: an inquiry into the state of live popular music opportunities in New South Wales, Australia Council & the NSW Ministry for the Arts, Sydney.
Popular music is a multimedia, discursive, fluid, and expansive cultural form that, in addition to the music itself, includes album covers; gig and tour posters; music videos; set, stage, and lighting designs; live concert footage; websites; virtual reality/augmented reality technologies; merchandise designs; and other forms of visual content. As a result, it has become impossible to understand the meaning and value of music without considering its relation to these visual components and to the interrelationships between them.
Using design culture theory, participant observation, interviews, case studies, and a visual methodology to explore the topic, this research-based book is a valuable study aid for undergraduate and postgraduate students of subjects including the music business, design, arts management, creative and cultural industries studies, business and management studies, and media and communications.
Keywords
Music Business, Popular Music, Graphic Design, Stage Design, Music Video, Virtual Reality, Augmented reality, Lighting Design
Artists are creative workers who drive growth in the creative and cultural industries. Managing artistic talent is a unique challenge and this concise book introduces and analyzes its key characteristics.
Artist Management: Agility in the Creative and Cultural Industries makes a major contribution to our understanding of the creative and cultural industries, of artistic and managerial creativities, and of social and cultural change in this sector. The book undertakes an extensive exploration of the increasingly pivotal role of artist managers in the creative and cultural industries and argues that agile management strategies are useful in this context. This book provides a comprehensive and accessible account of the artist-artist manager relationship in the twenty-first century. Drawing from research interviews conducted with artist managers and self-managed artists in five cities: New York, London, Toronto, Sydney and Melbourne, this book makes an original contribution to knowledge. Nation-specific case studies are highlighted as a means of illuminating various thematic concerns.
This unique book is a major piece of research and a valuable study aid for both undergraduate and postgraduate students of subjects including arts management, creative and cultural industries studies, arts entrepreneurship, business and management studies, and media and communications.
REVIEWS:
“The theoretical components of the book sing. Locating the research in the very personal relationship between artist and artist manager makes it a very rich area … it represents one of the all too few intellectual products from the arts which fully elaborates on the ways in which a sophisticated understanding of creative practices, can enhance broader theoretical thinking and practice in business and management.” Associate Professor Kate MacNeill, Director of the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences and Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) in the Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne.
'Guy Morrow goes well beyond truisms such as "an artist is a start-up business" because he knows that such truisms don't sustain the various phases of any artistic career. Instead, his focus is on the value of agility amidst increasing complexity. Managers in every industry can learn from this.' — Catherine Moore, PhD, Adjunct Professor, University of Toronto, Canada
'Guy Morrow has had a fascinating career as an artist management ‘pracademic’ (i.e. both a practitioner and academic). This makes his work of particular relevance and interest to those of us seeking to bridge theory and practice.' — Paul Saintilan, CEO, Collarts and Macleay Colleges, Australia, co-author of Managing Organizations in the Creative Economy: Organizational Behaviour for the Cultural Sector
'Artist Management offers a timely understanding of the manifold ways in which contemporary creative producers need to deal with uncertainty and career development. Incorporating the experiences of practitioners and the insights of contemporary scholarly work, Guy Morrow has crafted a highly engaging book.' — Dr. Erik Hitters, Associate Professor of Media and Creative Industries, Managing Director of the Erasmus Research Centre for Media, Communication and Culture, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands.
'This book opens up key concerns for theory and practice: how do contemporary practices such as agile management, lean start up and crowd-funding relate to the big questions of what are the arts and how should they be managed.' — Doris Ruth Eikhof, CAMEo Research Institute, University of Leicester, UK
The premise of this chapter is that we need thriving artists to have thriving arts organisations and a healthy arts sector overall. It is in this context that this chapter examines the question: in what ways does the data economy impact artist management practices? It presents a spectrum of engagement with data analytics services from what I will call ‘small data’ to ‘big data’ and asks an additional research question: can data analytics services that are specific to the arts help artists to thrive? In addition to an engagement with the data from in-depth semi-structured interviews with artist managers and self-managed artists, this chapter presents brief case studies of services such as Culture Counts, an Australian and United Kingdom-based company that believes in using data to inform arts management-related decisions; Capacity Interactive, a New York-based company that likewise believes in using data to inform arts management-related decisions; Next Big Sound, a New York-based company that believes in the power of data to transform the music industries; Music Glue, a London-based company that enables artists and other entities in the music industries to control their own data with a specific focus on direct artist-to-fan relations; and Facebook, the largest online social media and social networking service company in the world. This chapter considers the extent to which these services are automating artist management. In doing so, it examines what small and big data mean for the field of arts management.
on the 10 October 2007 as a digital download for which consumers chose their own price: beginning at nothing. The issue of whether this example presents a model for other artists to bypass established record labels will be explored. This article will also use this discussion to look more broadly at how artist managers create marketing strategies that involve new technologies and in doing so it will address various issues concerning the future management and control of the five key income stream groups stemming from contemporary music in the digital age. While Radiohead are in a position to be able to control all of their own income streams, they have only gotten into this position as a result of the old system.
1) Signing directly to a US or UK independent or major label
2) Sourcing a deal with a multinational out of a smaller market and having it released in the US or UK through an inter-company license agreement
3) Licensing or assigning the right to exploit the copyright in a pre-existing record to a label in the US or UK
It is evident that artists and artist managers from smaller markets should not become disillusioned because there is ‘no answer’, rather they should feel optimistic because there are ‘multiple answers’.
Authors: Keith, Sarah; Hughes, Diane; Crowdy, Denis; Morrow, Guy; Evans, Mark
This article explores the concept of musical liveness, and seeks to clarify how digital technologies are changing conceptions of live performance. It draws on research into contemporary music industries in Australia. Discussions of live music performance, and liveness, are often equated to the real-time performance of music by a musician in front of an audience. However, such performance opportunities are diminishing (Johnson and Homan, 2003) due to a number of factors, including changes to venue and live music legislation. In response to this decline, a number of action groups such as SLAM (Save Live Australian Music) have formed in opposition to such policies and are reviving live music communities in certain areas.
In the absence of consistent performance options, online and DIY approaches have allowed artists to connect with audiences, engage in one-on-one interactions with fans, and showcase their performance abilities outside of traditional performance contexts. Strategic uses of social media allow artists to attract audiences to non-conventional spaces (such as busking performances or house parties); while online videos, whether they are created by artists themselves, impromptu or candid videos, or unauthorised videos created by fans, allow online audiences to participate in the live music experience and to connect with the artist. Research findings indicate that digital technologies are crucial in both promoting and sustaining a live presence for musicians. Musical liveness is no longer confined to offline physical performances; online technologies develop the concept of a technologically mediated ‘liveness’.
References
Johnson, B & Homan, S (2003), Vanishing acts: an inquiry into the state of live popular music opportunities in New South Wales, Australia Council & the NSW Ministry for the Arts, Sydney.
catalogue synchronised with visual imagery, sync(hronisation) agents just work with the latter. Chris Anderson’s ‘Long Tail’ theory (2006) provides the model for arguing that the exchange value of musical copyrights has decentralised and therefore, as aggregators, sync agents are in the best position to generate revenue from synchronising more songs with a lot more images. This contrasts with artists or artist managers who are poorly positioned to generate revenue via this means. The article reports on a research project involving the International Music Managers Forum that seeks to create new standards in relation to artist management practices in the contemporary dispersed media context.
Morrow, G (2018) Artist Management: Agility in the Creative and Cultural Industries (Routledge) makes a major contribution to our understanding of the creative and cultural industries, of artistic and managerial creativities, and of social and cultural change in this sector.
To be launched by Associate Professor Kate MacNeill.
While Caust, J (2018) Arts Leadership in Contemporary Contexts (Routledge) explores and critiques different aspects of arts leadership within contemporary contexts and is an exploration of the ways arts leadership is understood, interpreted and practised within a changing cultural and economic paradigm.
To be launched by Mr James McCaughey.
Both books are important pieces of research and are valuable study aids for the graduate students in the Arts and Cultural Management program within the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne.
This program is focused on the relationship between management practices and creative production in both Australian and international contexts. The program delivers subjects in the key areas of management, law, cultural and industry policy and marketing.
Associate Professor Kate MacNeill is Director of the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences and Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) in the Faculty of Arts.
James McCaughey is a graduate of the Universities of Melbourne, Cambridge and Dublin and has been a member of the Theatre Board of the Australia Council, a Trustee of the Geelong Performing Arts Centre and is currently Chairman of the Board of the Gasworks Arts Park. In 2016 he was made an Honorary Doctor of Letters at the University of Melbourne.
Dr Guy Morrow is a Lecturer in Arts and Cultural Management at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He is author of Artist Management: Agility in the Creative and Cultural Industries and co-author of The New Music Industries: Disruption and Discovery. Guy has also worked extensively as an artist manager in the international music industries.
Associate Professor Jo Caust is an Honorary (Principal Fellow) in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne and formerly Associate Professor in Arts and Cultural Management in the School of Management at the University of South Australia. She is Founder Editor of the Asia Pacific Journal of Arts and Cultural Management and is the author of Arts and Cultural Leadership in Asia and Arts Leadership: International Case Studies. She has also worked in the arts sector as an arts practitioner, manager, bureaucrat and consultant.
Thursday, 17 May 2018
6.00pm to 8.00pm
4th Floor Linkway
John Medley Building
University of Melbourne
Parkville Vic 3010
Admission is free.
Bookings are required.
Bookings: For catering purposes please register your attendance to this free event: http://alumni.online.unimelb.edu.au/morrow
For further information please contact: Dr Guy Morrow guy.morrow@unimelb.edu.au
The book is available for pre-order here:
https://www.routledge.com/Artist-Management-Agility-in-the-Creative-and-Cultural-Industries/Morrow/p/book/9781138697669
http://www.guymorrow.com