This year’s American Sociological Association Conference took place virtually. This gave me the opportunity to record my presentation and share it with everyone. I presented part of a chapter on The Voice from my forthcoming book Getting Signed. Watch and let me know what you think.
I recently spoke to Arlington Citizen Media about my research from MusicDetour to Getting Signed.
Listen to “Episode 35 – UTA Professor Dr. David Arditi and Craig Cummings from Arlington Water” on Spreaker.https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.jsRecently, I had the opportunity to discuss Getting Signed with Brian Frye on the Ipse Dixit Podcast. See below for more information.
In this episode, David Arditi, Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Theory at the University of Texas at Arlington, discusses his new book, “Getting Signed: Record Contracts, Musicians, and Power in Society,” which will be published by Palgrave Macmillan. Arditi begins by describing the experience of the music business from the perspective of a musician. How explains how the idea of “getting signed” functions ideologically to compel musicians to pursue record contracts, even when they are not in the best interests of the musician. He also explains how audio streaming has changed the music business. Arditi is on Twitter at @david_arditi.
This episode was hosted by Brian L. Frye, Spears-Gilbert Associate Professor of Law at the University of Kentucky College of Law. Frye is on Twitter at @brianlfrye.
When states and localities shutdown all gatherings over 10 people, the impact was devastating on musicians’ lives and many supporting workers in the entertainment industry. However, I can’t help but think how things would be different if recording artists were employees of record labels.
Read my full post on the Working In Music blog.
Getting Signed: Record Contracts, Musicians, and Power in Society will be published on September 28, 2020. This is weird timing with the semester, but it will still be available to teach in the second half of the Fall semester. If you are interested in teaching it, feel free to reach out and I can get you an advanced look at it. Below are the chapter abstracts. Please let me know if you want to know more.
Chapter 1 Introduction
In the Introduction, Dr. David Arditi familiarizes readers with the ideology of getting signed through an experience he had as a gigging drummer. This presents the overall argument of the book. Next, Arditi presents his approach to research (i.e. methodology). The next section examines key aspects of record contracts. This helps the introductory reader to become accustomed to important aspects of record contracts. Then, Arditi places the book in the context of other literature related to the ideology of getting signed. Finally, the Introduction provides an overview of each chapter.
Keywords:Record Contracts, Record Labels, American Dream
Chapter 2 Record Contracts: Ideology in Action
Critique of ideology has been an underlying theme in critical theory dating back to Marx. This chapter provides definitions of key terms that Arditi uses throughout the book including ideology, hegemony, and exploitation. Ideology helps to reproduce the dominant material relations in society. This chapter analyzes the “ideology of getting signed” and theorizes ideology. Because most people are unaware of how record contracts operate at the same time they see celebrity musicians living lavish lifestyles, they believe record contracts result in wealth. Alienation between different musicians, fans, and the broader music industry allow this ideology to function. Part of the functioning of the ideology of record contracts is that musicians possess a different relationship with the product of their labor. Arditi demonstrates that ideology obscures the lived reality of recording artists and it motivates aspiring musicians to sign record contracts.
Keywords:Record Contracts, Ideology, Exploitation, Hegemony, Contracts
Chapter 3 Copyright Enclosure
Record contracts deploy copyright as the means through which record labels turn musicians into workers. In this chapter, Arditi discusses Karl Marx’s analysis of England’s land enclosure acts. Then Arditi demonstrates the parallels between the process of land enclosure, and what he calls, copyright enclosure. English land enclosures created property rights that kicked serfs off the land thereby forcing them into a wage relation under capitalism. Similarly, copyright creates what many describe as an intellectual property right, but it is not property in the traditional sense. Rather, law creates a set of statutory rights that some describe using an analogy to property. In turn, copyright law allows record labels to profit from musician labor similar to how land enclosure allowed landowners to profit from farm workers’ labor. This chapter highlights the institutional incentive to sign a record contract under the current political economy of the recording industry.
Keywords:Copyright, Land Enclosure, Karl Marx, Exploitation, Intellectual Property
Chapter 4 The Digital Turn: Music Business as Usual
While the recording industry changed over the past twenty years, much of the underlying business structure remains the same. In Chapter 4, Arditi takes the rhetoric about change seriously, but finds that the main change to the ideology of getting signed lies in the way record labels find new talent. Whereas the route to a record contract used to be through bars, now record labels sign young artists who are viral social media sensations. Streaming platforms favor social media reach over everything else. This chapter explores the changes that streaming brings to the recording industry while the logics of the recording industry remain fundamentally unchanged. Finally, this chapter looks at the alternatives to the major record labels, but Arditi demonstrates that those musicians who find alternative ways of surviving in the music industry cling to the more conventional paths to success.
Keywords:Music Business, Music Industry Studies, Streaming, Viral, Digital Music
Chapter 5 On Competition in Music
In this chapter, Arditi shows how competition not only leads musicians to covet record contracts, but also how this competition reinforces the need for a contract. The ideology of getting signed develops from the American capitalist ethos of competition: eat or be eaten. Neoliberalism is the current stage of capitalism that views competition as the crucial characteristic of society. This chapter presents competition in music as a visible expression of this neoliberal ideal. Arditi traces it through inter- and intra-school band competitions to the views that astounding musicians receive on Instagram. Arditi describes several ethnographic experiences that he had during the research of this book. One was an experience at a music showcase. Another involved local band competitions in two cities in Texas. While these are limited events, he demonstrates how competition permeates the demeanor of musicians. The ultimate way to win the competition is to sign a record contract.
Keywords:Competition, Capitalism, Neoliberalism, Band competitions, Auditions
Chapter 6 We’re getting the Band Back Together
One factor that helps determine a band’s success relates to the commitment that individual members have towards playing in their band, along with the degree to which they want to make a living from it. This chapter addresses one of the motivations behind signing a record contract: the cohesion of bands. Arditi focuses on the following questions. Does an individual band member see himself or herself as a musician or as a band member? How does this affect the desire for a record contract? How does it influence cohesion? Band members have varying reasons for performing in a band. One factor that leads to the potential for a band to sign a contract relates to their organizational structure. Arditi argues that when musicians view their performance identity linked to their band’s identity, the band has greater solidarity, and is more likely to last longer through more contractual arrangements.
Keywords:Bands, Solidarity, Record Contracts, Basic Needs, Success
Chapter 7 The Voice: Popular Culture and the Perpetuation of Ideology
Since American Idol, aspiring singers have viewed television singing competitions as a way to bypass playing in bars to achieve success in the music industry. Many musicians define success in the music industry as obtaining a record contract. As the reigning singing competition on television, ABC’s The Voice positions itself as a way to “coach” singers to become celebrities. Through a cultural study of the show, legal documents and news reports, Arditi argues the show advances ideology about record contracts while it exploits contestants. Whereas contestants labor for up to eight months without pay, show executives and coaches earn millions each season. Meanwhile, the show seduces viewers at home who come to believe the show provides a pathway to musical success. This affects the attitudes viewers and aspiring musicians have about the recording industry, allowing industry executives to perpetuate the exploitation of musicians.
Keywords:The Voice, Talent Shows, Flexible Labor, Precarity, Exploitation
Chapter 8 Conning the Dream
Not all strategies that appeal to the ideology of getting signed have the same effects on artists. Some strategies that target aspiring musicians are confidence games that charge musicians exorbitant fees to participate for the chance to be seen. This chapter looks at a case study of Coast 2 Coast LIVE – an artist showcase that travels and charges participants for the chance to compete in future showcase competitions. This is one scheme, among dozens, that targets young musicians with the chance to be discovered by Artist & Repertoire staff.
Keywords:Artist Showcase, Confidence Game, Aspiring Musicians, Pay-for-play, American Dream
Chapter 9 Conclusion
In the conclusion, Arditi summarizes and builds upon the argument of the book. Signing a record contract is not only an ideological dream, but also something that many musicians receive benefits from signing. While most musicians will never be a wealthy celebrity, signing a record contract does allow them to live the “rock star” dream. This section of the conclusion demonstrates seductive forces exist to sign a record contract that benefit musicians. By exploring some of the benefits of signing a record contract, Arditi demonstrates that musicians are not necessarily unwitting victims. Additionally, Arditi discusses alternatives to the current recording industry structure.
Keywords:Celebrity, Benefits, Alternatives, Record Contracts, Ideology
From the Lexington Books page:
The second edition of iTake-Over: The Recording Industry in the Streaming Era sheds light on the way large corporations appropriate new technology to maintain their market dominance in a capitalist system. To date, scholars have erroneously argued that digital music has diminished the power of major record labels. In iTake-Over, sociologist David Arditi suggests otherwise, adopting a broader perspective on the entire issue by examining how the recording industry strengthened copyright laws for their private ends at the expense of the broader public good. Arditi also challenges the dominant discourse on digital music distribution, which assumes that the recording industry has a legitimate claim to profitability at the expense of a shared culture.
Arditi specifically surveys the actual material effects that digital distribution has had on the industry. Most notable among these is how major record labels find themselves in a stronger financial position today in the music industry than they were before the launch of Napster, largely because of reduced production and distribution costs and the steady gain in digital music sales. Moreover, instead of merely trying to counteract the phenomenon of digital distribution, the RIAA and the major record labels embraced and then altered the distribution system.
Reviews:
In the first edition of iTake-Over, Arditi mapped the myriad ways that the music industry, claiming to be the victim of piracy, sought legal protection against file-sharing and bent the digital transformation to its bottom line. Six years on—a virtual lifetime in the digital world—he has updated his compelling analysis, adding new players to the debates over copyright and -left, and assessing the impact of streaming and subscription services on both the production and consumption of music. The result is critical reading for anyone with an interest in how the music industry has adapted to the digital ‘revolution’; restructured the ways in which we produce, find, and listen to music; and expanded its market dominance.
— Nancy Weiss Hanrahan, George Mason University
David Arditi has done musicians and listeners as well as scholars of culture industries a real service by updating iTake-Over. In the past five years, streaming has come to dominate our experiences and analyses of the business of music, yet Arditi’s cogent account of the “piracy panic narrative” remains an authoritative critique of the record industry’s initial response to digitization. And while the bogey of file-sharing has come and gone, in this second edition, Arditi adds a detailed consideration of the political-economic stakes of music consumption’s reorganization from acquisition to access in the streaming era.
— Michael Palm, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Footage Owned by The University of Texas at Arlington
“Footage owned by the University of Texas at Arlington”
“Footage owned by the University of Texas at Arlington
While thinking about and writing about music during the COVID-19 Pandemic has been slow-going, I have good news. The Second Edition of iTake-Over should be available at the end of June! The slightly different title is iTake-Over: The Recording Industry in the Streaming era.
