This research project will culminate in a biography of James Weldon Johnson as a songwriter and commentator on the arts during the early music industry as well as digital recordings of Johnson’s songs, documenting his career as a songwriter through recordings. The biography will probably take the form of a book included in a boxed set of recordings of Johnson’s songs.

The aim of this research is to show, side-by-side, the different mechanical licensing processes, as well as the associated administrative costs, employed in the major territories around the world today. The significance of this research will be the conclusion as to which licensing process model is the most efficient and least costly. The expected outcome is that the research will spark renewed efforts in the industry with respect to mechanical licensing process reform, and could become the foundation upon which a new set of processes are built.

The recording industry has suffered tremendously during the past five years in terms of reduced CD sales and digital piracy resulting in job layoffs and reduction of artist rosters.  Because it is still expensive to "break" an artist in any mainstream genre, do record labels avoid signing too many artists and does that translate to less artists who are marketed to the consumer? Does it still make sense to actively pursue a major label recording contract or is the new artist better off by pursuing an independent record deal and/or marketing themselves directly to the consumer? What's the percentage of recording artists who are offered a major record label compared to those pursuing a recording contract in light of today's music business climate?  Do we really know how many artists are no longer pursuing a recording contract, and instead focusing on alternative ways to establish or maintain their careers?

May 2008. The media industry in the twenty-first century continues to undergo a profound transformation because of multiplying distribution channels, declining entry barriers for content producers, continuous technological advancements, and mounting competitive pressures. Because the entertainment industry has been transformed by the internet, educational institutions must shift their focus to adequately prepare students to be successful in an industry that is rejecting old business models, eliminating career options, and struggling to find new directions. This study will survey educators to determine how curricular content and pedagogical methodology is meeting the challenge of the changing business environment in the music and entertainment industry.

"Just How Long Is Your 'Fifteen Minutes'? The Length Of Artist Careers Before the Long Tail and After"

May 2008. One criticism of the recording industry is that there is more "churn" and less development of artists, reducing the length of artists' careers. Our aim is to examine such thought based on the historical and present-day lengths of "chart careers." Our expected outcomes include identification of trends in such durations, as well as a comparison of artists and/or periods of both shorter and longer careers to identify commonalities. Such an analysis would be significant in that not only could results of the study address industry theories, but would also provide aspiring artists with real data relevant to their career planning.

July 15, 2007.  Serving as Principle Investigator of the project entitled "Music Business Employment Attributes:  A Comparison of Employer, Student and Professor Expectations” Dr. Rolston will conduct a survey tool with co-investigators, Theo Papdopoulos, Associate Dean of Victoria University and Richard Strasser, Assistant Professor at Northeastern University.  Their project will examine the valuation of general skills over technical abilities, curriculum outcomes against employer requirements, and strategies that close the gap between students’ perception and employers’ expectations.

MEIEA Junior Research Grant ($1,500) awarded to Principle Investigator, Storm Gloor
Assistant Professor, Department of Music and Entertainment Industry Studies
University of Denver in Colorado

July 15, 2007.  Assistant Professor Gloor will direct, with co-investigator Clyde Rolston, Associate Professor at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, the project entitled "Determinant Attributes in the Buy or Burn Decision:  An Exploratory Study” in an effort to identify what influences consumers to pay for recordings rather than download them, illegally or legally.

John Kellogg (Berklee College of Music) awarded first MEIEA Research Grant

July 17, 2006.  MEIEA is pleased to announce the first winner of the newly-instituted MEIEA Research Grant program. John Kellogg, Assistant Chair of the Music Business/Management Department at the Berklee College of Music, was awarded a $1,500 research grant for his proposal "Freeing the Music: An Examination of Proposed Methods of Streamlining the Process of Licensing of Music for Sale on the Internet." 

"U.S. Copyright law makes it difficult for Internet Download Services (IDS) to license virtually all of the songs recorded for digital sale. The true potential of the vastly growing digital sale market is thwarted by the difficulty IDS encounter when trying to license songs for digital sale, causing the music to be imprisoned in label vaults.  Problems occur when the services attempt to license mechanical and performance rights, requiring separate licenses and payments to two different licensing agents.  I propose to write a journal article examining the proposals to remedy this problem and fairly compensate publishers and songwriters."

There are three types of MEIEA Research Grants. The first award, to Professor John Kellogg, is the Junior Faculty Grant. In the fall and spring MEIEA will call for applications for the Senior Faculty Grant and the Collaborative Grant (faculty/industry).