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Academic Paper Sessions


Friday 3:15-4:15
Presentation of Academic Papers 6 (Terrace C)
Kim L. Wanger, Moderator


Entertainment Management Students: Why They Share Files and How They Process Their Behavior

Patrick Preston
Associate Professor of Entertainment Management
Bay State College

Abstract

     In its 2012 Digital Music Report, released in January, the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) reported that globally 28% of Internet users, using a variety of sites including P2P, blogs, and on-line forums, “accessed unauthorized services on a monthly basis” (16) in order to share or download digital music files illegally. This percentage, over one in four Internet users, is considerable and represents a continuing challenge to the recorded music content providers; however, the growth in both legal subscription-based services and paid digital downloading, as well as the recent US Department of Justice shutdown of Megaupload.com, demonstrates that consumers have increasingly responded to the opportunity to legally download and that governments can and do limit unauthorized file sharing. On the whole, while illegal file sharing continues, the recorded music industry can rightly claim some victories in this new digital world order.

     The question of who actually shares files illegally has remained largely unanswered with any degree of certainty. Various reports and surveys have tried to identify profiles or user behaviors (e.g., The Pew Internet & American Life Project; Rainie, Fox and Lenhart 2000; Madden 2004; Madden and Lenhart 2003; Madden and Rainie 2005); in the end, though, we can only say with certainty that file sharing is omnipresent: both older and younger people share files, as do even those industry stakeholders, such as musicians, who ostensibly would have a stronger interest in respecting intellectual property rights.

     One population of file-sharing users that remains unexamined, however, is college students preparing to be future entertainment management professionals, especially those focused on the music industry. The goal in focusing on these students is to explore how this population engages in, views, rationalizes, and defends its own industry-adverse file-sharing behaviors. Using data collected over a three-year period, covering 2009-2011 from one school’s program, surveying students at all stages of their college careers, this paper will examine several related questions: What do these entertainment management students think about the threat level the music industry faces from illegal file sharing? Who do they think should be held responsible for illegal file sharing? How do they view their own behavior, including both its ethical and legal implications? How do they perceive the effects of their file sharing behavior on musical artists?

     This two-part study will employ both quantitative and qualitative analytical approaches to provide a richer understanding and thick description of the beliefs, attitudes, and values surrounding music file-sharing that characterize this population of future entertainment management professionals. The first part of this study, to be presented at the MEIEA LA 2012 Summit, will offer the quantitative results with the expectation that feedback from the conference will inform and shape the second part of the study, the qualitative research.

Patrick Preston, L.P.D., is an Associate Professor and the Department Chair for Entertainment Management at Bay State College in Boston since 2005. Dr. Preston received his B.A. in Theater Arts from the University of Massachusetts/Boston and both his M.A. in Public History and his Doctorate in Law & Policy from Northeastern University. In 2009, Dr. Preston joined colleagues from the L.P.D. program and formed the IALAP (International Association for Law and Policy) where Dr. Preston served as an interim board member.  His current fields of interests include the production, financing and distribution of film and television. Prior to his coming to Bay State College, Dr. Preston was both an actor and playwright in the Boston/New England markets, and undertook additional coursework in screenwriting at the UCLA Writers Program and Improv training with the Groundlings.


Digital Audio Workstations’ Growth in Education

Devin Marsh
Program Director, Media Writing and Production
University of Miami

Abstract

     The number of wireless devices in the United States is now greater than its population. The pervasive use of computers in almost all aspects of our lives is undeniable. So why not include computer based recording and composition skills within core music curricula? Digital Audio Workstation’s growth in education offers students the benefit of recording private lessons, practice sessions, and rehearsals for later reference. An easily manipulated accompanist is now as close as a power button. The same device can also include an equally accessible portable composition tool. In the past, cost effectiveness has always been one of the biggest obstacles. A laptop in a backpack now has enough power to be a basic recording and composition studio. These advancements will enhance any musician’s ability to create wherever they may be. This paper will discuss how to make these tools a part of every music student’s repertoire. How do institutions of higher education implement these concepts for all music students? What are the obstacles and solutions necessary to make these concepts a reality?

Dr. Devin Marsh is an accomplished performer, writer, arranger, producer and instrumentalist. He has toured internationally with his band Nori Nori supporting his three self-produced CDs. He has composed, recorded, and produced for various films, commercials, ballets, dance groups and other artists, all while managing his recording facility, The Chill Lodge. On a Gary Burton Scholarship, Marsh studied at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. He continued his studies at the University of Miami where he received his Bachelors in Music Education, a Masters in Commercial Music, and a Doctorate in Theory and Composition. He serves as program director for the Media, Writing and Production department at the University of Miami. Additionally, he is the Director of Sound and Recording at the distinguished Robert Morgan Educational Center where he also teaches television production.

Moderator

Kim L. Wanger, MM, MBA, joined the faculty of Appalachian State University in 2005 as Director of the Music Industries Program. Ms. Wangler teaches management, marketing, and music entrepreneurship as well as serving as the faculty consultant for Split Rail Records—the university’s student-run record label. She has served in the industry as President of the board of directors for the Orchestra of Northern New York, House Manager for the Community Performance Series, and as CEO of Bel Canto Reeds—a successful online venture. Ms. Wangler is published through the MEIEA Journal, the NACWPI Journal (National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors), Hal Leonard, and Sage Publishing.

© 2012 MEIEA Nashville TN