Making advantage of emerging technologies in music marketing : how does a music label start-up survive in the changing operating environment?

Abstract

Emerging technologies are shaping the music industry as a whole, influencing customer behaviour and requiring labels to rethink their strategies in order to achieve the best results for their artists. Having these external drivers and internal technological development combined, music marketing seeks answers on how to make the MusicTech work for the best results. Furthermore, while digitalisation has eased the process of establishing independent music companies, start-up labels may struggle to find ways of im-plementing the emerging technologies successfully. In this sense, music industry on the example of music label start-up operations in marketing, was studied. The research aimed at understanding the key technological influences on music business operating envi-ronment and labels’ work, as well as the future of music business models. The research objectives were reached with the assistance of an inductive approach in the collection and analysis of qualitative data. Six semi-structured interviews were conducted. To this extent, the study revealed the current stage of emerging technologies adoption in the music mar-keting field. The gathered insights were tailored to the start-up area of operation, their strengths and weaknesses. Finally, the study proposed practical recommendations for music marketers to make use of technologies in the future of start-up work.