Guy Morrow

Radiohead's Managerial Creativity

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.

Sustaining artistic practices post George Brandis’s controversial Australia Council arts funding changes: cultural policy and visual artists’ careers in Australia

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:

Disabling web designers : issues surrounding disabled people's use of web related technology

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.

Standing Out in the Crowd

’blinded’ here is a problematic discourse prevalent throughout the web-design economic world concerning the economic issues relating to the re-design of rationalists websites for disabled usage. This discourse is encapsulated within the following quote found on an email/forum/debate list specifically set up for dialogue concerning these issues: ’the blind population is too small for my company to justify the expense’. In some sectors of the market place, the blind/disabled community is considered to be too small a percentage to warrant the effort and expense needed to adjust and modify websites in order to make them compatible with the needs of disabled people. Some web-designers and business people share similar views to the email list participant quoted above.

The New Business of Music

While the opportunities for accessing and sharing music are now extensive, this chapter addresses the ability to be noticed or heard. This can pose significant challenges for artists. An analysis of career development within the new music industries suggests that tension between creativity and management roles dissipates when the artist becomes an artist-entrepreneur or is DIY. These options, however, require artists to be strategic in their individuality and branding. The branding options extend to online presentation and access, as well as merchandising and image. This chapter discusses various artist strategies including startups, online direct-to-fan services, and intermediaries, focusing on hard creativities in these areas.

Conclusion: The ‘New’ Artist

This chapter outlines three career models—360, Entrepreneur and DIY—identified as being significant and viable models within the new industries. The functions and variations of each model are discussed, together with associated revenue streams and risk factors. The chapter discusses traditional linear career development and introduces the concept of new circular career development identified within the new music industries. The differences between traditional and non-traditional career models conclude the chapter.

Creativities, Production Technologies and Song Authorship

This chapter outlines possible futures for the music industries in light of what is determined as the ‘new’ artist. Cumulative research findings, the implications of those findings, and a ‘new’ artist definition and model are presented which raise considerations for future musical creativities and directions. The cumulative findings also raise considerations for policy-makers, education and advocacy. The chapter concludes with consideration for musical and artistic engagement that leads well beyond disruption.

The Realities of Practice

This chapter addresses new concepts of musical creativities, collaborations and contemporary forms of musical authorship. It therefore focuses on diverse creativities and challenges the traditional notion of ‘creativity’. In this context, the crafting of songs, the authorship of songs and the use of technologies that assist in the crafting process are outlined. The ways in which the democratisation of technologies (such as recording software) has resulted in a range of artistic options and practices in music production is also discussed, and new options in networked creativity, co-writing and collaborations are considered. The chapter concludes with discussion of the fusion of narratives.

The State of Play

The realities of practice can prove extremely challenging for some artists and can lead to issues of health, safety and wellbeing. The realities discussed in this chapter include the relevance of image and branding, the significance of a support network, contractual obligations and fiduciary aspects of associated individuals or organisations. It is essential to identify and discuss the realities of practice so that consideration may be given as to how these issues might be addressed in both practice and in education. The chapter concludes with considerations for career sustainability.

Popular Music Education

The democratisation of music technologies and the digitisation of music practices have resulted in the development and fragmentation of related industries. No longer a label-centric industry, these new music industries facilitate increased opportunities for twenty-first century musicians to collaborate, to communicate and to interact with others interested in their music. This chapter introduces and identifies the new music industries, offers related definitions and outlines our research design and method.