Selection models in the music industry: How a prior independent experience may affect chart success

The is article analyses the two main approaches for artists’ selection in the recording industry: the direct model in which large major companies directly choose new artists from the supply market, and the agency model in which small independent labels realise the first choice and, subsequently, large organisations pick their new artists among those pre-selected by independents. An empirical analysis of chart sales reveals that artists selected through the agency model exhibit a longer presence on the chart due to repeated successes, while they are slower to reach heavy success once they have entered the chart. Conversely, the direct model leads to artists with a faster path to a strong success, but the same artists have a shorter presence on the chart due to the sporadic nature of their success. The profile of artists selected through these two models is also found to be different: big international soloist stars are more frequently selected through the direct model, while national bands are more frequently selected through the agency model. The insights suggest important implications for management in the cultural industries and especially in the recording industry. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006Artist selection, Cultural industries, Music market,

Crossing the boundaries of the ethnic home: media consumption and ethnic identity construction in the public space: the case of the Cypriot Community Centre in north London

The focus of this article is on media consumption, as it relates to ethnic identity construction. In an attempt to surpass the domination of the domestic as the singular point of reference and research in media studies, the author turns to the public. On one hand, this choice relates to the conceptualization of media consumption as a cultural process exceeding narrowly perceived media use and being implicated in processes of identity and community construction. On the other, it is an attempt to investigate how ethnic identities, initially constructed in the domestic, are challenged and reaffirmed in the public, in processes of constructing group identities and community belongings. These questions are addressed and studied ethnographically in a case study of the Cypriot Community Centre in north London. For the local Greek Cypriot community, this centre is one of the most important ethnic points of reference - both as a real place and as a symbol of a visible and thriving community. The Cypriot Community Centre is an interesting case study for studying ethnicity being reconfirmed, but also redefined in the coexistence of Greek Cypriots with Turkish Cypriots; it is a space for studying ethnic media consumption becoming a public and a communal experience