Martin James: We Perceive Music as Ecosystem

11:32, October 4, 2019

British professor told university students how the creative makers make money out of music

‘Big cities today are focusing on making music a means of financing their lives’, says professor of creative and cultural industries at Solent University Martin James during his lecture at UrFU. In his opinion, today's music is a mixture of various directions, affecting not only artists and audience, but also entire living areas.

“Today we look at music as if it was a kind of ecosystem. This includes education, administrative support, involvement of communities, including national and local, and most importantly - work with the media and promotion. Music is also related to the tourism industry, healthcare and is even tied to your city – for example, it has connections with the industry of sports, transport, nightlife,” – says the professor.

James points that, in the music industry, people often define everything. And they open the doors.

“Once I was asked to write a note for the magazine called Melody Maker, one of the oldest in the UK. And at some point, I left the music industry and became a full-time music journalist. My best-selling book was dedicated to Dave Grohl, and I also had a very interesting experience working with a book about The Prodigy,” – recalls Martin James. “It turned out to be useful because it pulled my name out of nonexistence and introduced the Russian audience to this group.”

As the professor notes, the most important aspect in books publication is not the income from their sales, but fame, allowing to earn from that in the future. This is very important to understand for everyone in the music industry, as current ways and principles of earnings in this industry have changed. Back in the days, musicians independently recorded music, engaged in its release and promotion, and, then, received profit from it. But today this is far from the case of the old days. Each country has a specific copyright law, and one got to understand that this law regulates one’s income from authorship of a creative product.

Copyright has turned into an industry where people from various professional backgrounds have learned how to extract money from it. We are talking about live performances and studio recordings, arrangements, writing music, recording work, physical media and even taper leaflets on the piano. As people gain the privilege of managing each of these areas, they must pay the musicians.

“The problem is different though. The system itself has already changed. Academics say the copyright era is a short-lived moment in modern history. This does not mean that we will no longer receive money from this. We just need new means to do this,” – James notes.

According to the professor, the global music industry finds itself expanding the outreach of the audience, since it cannot sell like in the old days. This happens through live concerts, streaming services and various merchandise: T-shirts, mugs, covers and other items.

“In 2017, there is such a thing as a 360 record deal. Such form of contracts indicate that money comes to artists from all products – merchandise, tickets from venues, distribution. For stars like Taylor Swift or Madonna, this works great, but not for new artists. If you want to work in the music industry, do not give it up to labels, use your own brand. Most of your work is creating great music, as well as a solid social media platform,” – James explains.

The presentation by the professor became one of several open lectures in the University dedicated to the music industry. The head of the School of Creative and Performing Arts at Liverpool Hope University, Stephen Davismoon, spoke about the musical score and its movement in history. Professor Adrian Hall of Portsmouth University told students how music technology is being used to develop traditional compositional, performance and creative skills. Tim Franz, a member of the Academy of Higher Education, pointed to the styles and genres of popular music.