The Music Business

This lesson is part of the Style & Compositional Techniques category.

Objectives

• Students will be familiar with various elements of the the record industry.
• Students will understand the mechanics and politics of music establishments such as Spotify.
• Students will be familiar with the influences business practices and societal pressures have on songwriting.
• Students will be familiar with intellectual property law, including copyright, licensing and royalties.

Resources

Readings

• The Independent: “The Rembrandts: ‘So no one told me it was going to be this way’”
• Graham, “Justin Timberlake’s Two-Part Complementary Forms”
• Negus, “Authorship and the Popular Song”

Listening or Videos

• Frontline: “The Merchants of Cool”

Tools

• Create/OS: Record Deal Simulator

Class Activities

• Discussion and exploration of the record industry and the various roles played within it
• Case studies of styles and genres of artists who have moved into or away from corporate influence

Assignments

Files

• Matching Industry Roles with Descriptions (Word | Pages | PDF)

Notes

While this lesson might feel like overreach for a Music Theory class, I think it addresses an important aspect of how music is made, and reinforces the idea that music creation is more than just writing notes.