Managing artists in the music business : changing strategies for a changing environment

Abstract

What does it means to manage an artists in today's music business? Digitization has deeply changed and reshaped the panorama of music in the last decade, destroying balances and business models of the companies in the industry. The Music industry is not the same anymore and while a lot has been written about management and talent management in general business, the literature focusing on the peculiarity of this subject in the music business is scant. Has the job of a manager changed since digitization took over the world of music? With the aid of interviews made to professionals in the music business and the application of general management theory to the workings of the industry this research will try to dig a little bit deeper into the lives of this important figure of the business. From the results the study will draw similarities and differences between the music business and other industries when it comes to managing talent, and will hopefully give some inputs for new research on the field.