The Decline of Music Magazines in Greece

Ethnomusicology Forum, 2019

This paper presents an exploratory study on content diversity in the local music radio and the recording industry in a small media market (Greece) analyzing the most heavily promoted output in a short period of time. It is the first study for the Greek case based on primary data and focuses on supplied diversity. A sample of 563 songs aired most often by 57 stations dispersed in 28 regions of the country is analyzed considering variety, balance, and disparity as properties of diversity. The Simpson's D index, the Lorenz curve, and the Gini coefficient, have been used. To compare with the repertoire promoted by the recording industry, the charts published by the Greek branch of the IFPI before, during, and after the broadcast period, were used. Analysis shows that although there is no significant correlation between the content promoted by the local music radio and the recording industry in terms of artists and albums, both media are very close in terms of lower diversity of genres, languages and countries represented in their repertoires. In this respect, a clear indication that various communities are inadequately served, was found. Nevertheless, diversity in the charts -i.e. in a far more concentrated industry -is larger. As this is an exploratory study, the limitations and the directions for future research are also discussed.

Journal of International Association for the Study of Popular Music, 2014

2019

This thesis was written as part of the MA in Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean Studies at the International Hellenic University. The main topic is popular music in the Greek press of Thessaloniki during the decade 1912-1922. Initially, it is examined, how in the process of nation-building nationalistic agendas took shape in the field of culture-music, art, dance-, and the media-literature, press. The forging of national identity in Greece, was intimately connected with the need to assert cultural continuity between ancient, Byzantine and modern Greece; this connection was traced in the "pure" rural musical idioms of the Greek countryside. Literacy assisted in this direction, with Folklore studies on the one side, and the Greek press-which forms the topic of this thesis-on the other. The newly incorporated lands after the Balkan Wars and World War I ("Nees Chores" of Northern Greece) including the city of Thessaloniki, posed a challenge towards this direction of utilizing rural musical idioms for national consolidation. This thesis looks into the Greek press of Thessaloniki in the period 1912-1922, and in particular the newspapers Makedonia, To Fos and Tachydromos Voreiou Ellados. Emphasis was given on articles that contain references to local feasts, celebrations, folk happenings and social gatherings, even songs themselves with lyrics. The main results reveal interesting connections between music and the press, and also demonstrate the interesting ways in which Greek popular music was (re)presented through the Greek press, in order to appeal to the majority of urban readers.

"The paper explores the complexities of collecting statistical data on the music industries. It is based on the generally accepted assumption about the contribution of culture to the development - the so-called "cultural turn" realized on a global level during the last decades of the twentieth century. This turn has been expressed both in theory and practice through - on the one hand - the shift from the notion about the cultural to the concept about the creative industries, and on the other, through decisions made, policies developed and institutions created about the creative economy and the creative industries. However, analysis shows that the Greek case seems to contradict and lag behind these developments due to several reasons. Hence, there is a rather problematic situation concerning the collecting, processing and distributing data on the complex set of music-related activities, goods and services. Two main interrelated issues - a political and a methodological one - are discussed on this basis: On the one hand, data is needed for developing appropriate policies to support the growth of a music sector able to contribute to the development of the country. On the other hand, investment in infrastructure, technical support, and expertise development in this field, are impossible under the dominant political mindset for horizontal cuts regardless of consequences and future costs. The paper discusses this paradox. Secondly, it analyses – on this background – the complex methodological issues raised by the current nomenclatures and classifications of products, services and economic activities from the perspective of the data needed on the music industries for research and policy making. If there is something positive in the Greek case concerning the lag behind the developments, this may be the opportunity to elaborate and improve the methodology for collecting, processing and distributing data on the music industries (and other sectors of the cultural production as well). The paper concludes with a suggestion to resolve both issues mentioned above."

Publishing Research Quarterly, 2017

The effects of the 2010-2015 economic recession on the Greek publishing market have been dramatic, by all means, affecting its structure, operation, quantity and quality features. What is interesting to investigate, thereof, is the response of the publishing environment to the economic downturn in the form of resilience, adaptation, innovation and change within the industry. While the 'crisis' has had more severe consequences for the firms at the top, connected often (but not always) to media groups, the experienced, specialized small to medium publishers and booksellers proved to be more resilient, sustaining a vibrant and diversified production within a fewer number of books published. New book titles were reduced by 35% between 2008 and 2012, with signs of further containment following to that. At the same time, a number of small, independent booksellers have sprung up, out of the need to support the distinct quality features of literary production, based on the 'personal quality' service model. An approximate 8% of the Greeks can be ranked among the 'medium to systematic' readers (i.e. reading over 10 books a year); they are the ones to support the volume and diversity of book title production, including some of the bestsellers, while the outbreak of the crisis concurred with a positive development towards the weaker strand of the readership. The international interest in the economic circumstances met in Greece has helped, to some extent, the export of rights of literary works either dealing with the individuals affected, or analyzing the reasons of the default. At the same time, digital innovation may prove to be a sign of a changing book publishing industry, striving to become international.

Journalism and Media, 2022

The web publishing strategy of media organizations is a very important factor in their success. The aim of the strategy is to cover their audience’s news article consumption needs, but is this valid? In order to address this question, this paper compares data from two studies, namely a study that explored the publishing patterns of the top 22 Greek media websites and a second study that focused on web news article consumption habits. The results indicate that there are various deviations between the compared data, and thus the study concludes that Greek media organization publishing strategy is not aligned with the audience consumption needs. The identified discrepancies have to do with the published news articles after 14:00 during weekdays as well as the news articles that are available during weekends. Additionally, it seems that media organizations publish a very limited number of articles on specific thematic categories that the audience is interested in reading. Specific actio...

2019

The Internet and modern-day technologies have changed the way people connect with the world around them. The music industry is one of the areas that is undoubtedly affected by the Internet. Music technologies have faced a drastic reorganization process due to the digital revolution that changed the way people consume, source, listen, purchase, discover, experience, produce, read and learn music. These technological advancements have induced great changes for artists, listeners, and producers. This study will attempt to investigate the business models of digital music that can be profitable in the future. As previous studies suggest (Arditi, 2017), with the introduction of the technological revolution the whole revenue mechanism has shifted. This study attempts to give insight into the changing revenue mechanism of how musicians, record labels, make money from digital music by analyzing the digital music business models from the perspective of the consumer, the record labels and the artists. The fundamental questions this study attempts to address are a) how technology has changed by presenting an overview of the music industry, b) what kind of digital music business models exist by analyzing their effects from the perspective of the listeners, artists and record labels, and c) what happens if the business model does not meet the demand of the users by explaining the ‘piracy’ phenomenon. The present research seeks to identify where digital music services in the contemporary era are heading, to investigate the effectiveness and operation of digital music services and to offer implications about what can be expected in the future. To answer the given research questions, the literature on related topics suggests that both a quantitative and a qualitative approach are considered as the necessary methods for the present study. In the first phase, drawing on relevant literature review qualitative analysis is used to present the theoretical background for the thesis. In the second phase quantitative analysis is utilized. The primary tool is the questionnaire, which contains three sections of questions. The first section focuses on the personal background of the participants, determining the type of the person under examination. The second section includes questions regarding music consumption habits. The last section analyzes listeners’ perception towards piracy phenomenon. As an artist, I will also myself make empirical analysis based on my observations and experiences during my work with Sony Music Turkey in 2015 in the conclusion.

Music journalism is a practice that concerns the production of judgements and evaluations about music. As other forms of criticism, it deals with 'culture' in the sense of 'the works and practices of intellectual and especially artistic activity' (Williams 1993, pp. 87-93).

Journal of Modern Hellenism 36, 2024

The building of national identity in Greece was intimately connected with the need to assert cultural continuity between ancient, Byzantine, and modern Greece; this connection was traced in the "pure" rural musical idioms of the Greek countryside. The addition of the territories acquired following the Balkan Wars (1912-13) and World War I (1914-18), known as the "Nèes Chores" of Northern Greece (New Lands), which included the city of Thessaloniki, posed a challenge towards this direction of utilizing rural musical idioms for national consolidation, as ethnic and linguistic diversity prevailed in previously Ottoman territories. Literacy assisted in this direction, with Folklore studies on the one side, and the Greek press-which forms the topic of this article-on the other. The research focuses on the Greek press in Thessaloniki from 1912 to 1922, with a specific emphasis on the newspapers Makedonia, To Fos, and Tachydromos Voreiou Ellados. Attention was directed towards articles that covered local festivals, celebrations, cultural events, and military mobilizations, encompassing songs along with their corresponding lyrics. The primary findings establish intriguing correlations between music and politics, illustrating the captivating methods through which Greek popular music was portrayed and promoted in the Greek press. 2 This essay focuses on rural musical idioms, which are usually referred to as "folk" or "traditional" music. In lack of abundant references in the Greek press to this type of music, the essay also looks, complementarily, at urban popular musical genres, such as the Ottoman urban/popular music played in café-amans and other venues of popular entertainment. The term "popular music" is used as an umbrella term to cover both rural and urban popular music.

Journal of Management Information Systems, 2002

We describe the emerging competition between music companies and their star acts, and the role of online distribution in this industry. We then contrast this with the lack of competition newspapers will face from their reporters, writers, and photographers, but does identify other possible competitors for newspaper publishers. We examine what resources have previously enabled record companies to lock in their star acts and ways in which technology has altered artists' ability to reach the market independently and thus their dependency upon record companies. We examine which resources have been eroded in the newspaper industry and the remaining value that the newspaper company does still create, other than bundling stories, adding advertising, and printing and selling the papers. We consider what part of the business is vulnerable, if any, and where threats may arise. We combine the resource-based view of competitive advantage to examine which industry may have become newly easy to enter, and the theory of newly vulnerable markets to assess which industry may actually have become vulnerable as a result. Our analyses are then used to create a computer simulation model to make the implications more explicit under a range of assumptions.

Media Culture & Society, 2005

This article examines a crisis of reproduction that began to afflict the music industry in the late 20th century. It considers the causes of the crisis and explores some of the ways in which the industry is being reformed in the face of the emergence of a new regime of socio-technical organization. The musical economy, at the time of writing, was dominated by four large corporations-AOL-Time Warner, Sony/BMG, Universal and EMI-that were responsible for 80 percent of global music sales and had significant interests across the media, entertainment and technology sectors. In the early 21st century, the music divisions of all these companies experienced a reversal of fortune, linked to falling sales and numerous misplaced investments. This marked a significant break with what, in retrospect, may subsequently be interpreted as a 'golden era' in the history of the music industry, during which it enjoyed about 15 years of steady growth in recorded music sales following the introduction of the compact disc (CDs) as the predominant format for the playback of recorded music (Figure 1). In 2001, global music industry sales fell by 5 percent, and then by over 9

Eastern European Music Industries and Policies after the Fall of Communism: From State Control to Free Market, ed. Patryk Galuszka, Routledge, 2021

Following the 1989–90 transition and formal reintegration into the world-system (Wallerstein 2004), the ‘opening up’ of post-socialist countries towards the global cultural industries, and within them, the music industries, primarily meant a creation of new markets for major record labels and other central actors of the global music economy during a time of significant economic growth for the recorded music industry. In the 1990s, subsidiaries of major record labels (Warner, Universal, Sony, EMI1), which, up until the 2000s, undoubtedly constituted the most powerful actors in the economy of music, appeared in Eastern European countries, including Hungary. The operation of these subsidiaries typically consisted of selling both local and international – primarily Anglo-American – artists, thus creating new markets on the semi-periphery for their musical commodities. At the same time, local artists signed to these labels tended not to cross borders; the international flow of musical commodities thus remained mostly one-way. Culturally, the post-transition era in Hungary and other Eastern European countries can be characterised by a strong western orientation parallel to the process of reintegration, which could also be observed in popular music consumption (the introduction of MTV and other music television channels, for instance, was highly influential on the cultural socialisation of the generation growing up in the 1990s). At the same time, there was also a significant growth in local music production – resulting in Hungarian-language pop, rock and dance music, for instance – and a multiplicity of newly emerging actors such as radio stations, record labels, venues, and a much higher number of specialised magazines than today. The turn of the twenty-first century, however, saw the escalation of a rad- ical structural transformation the music industries along with digitisation, symbolised by the appearance of global file-sharing platform Napster in 1999. The new channels of distribution and sharing enabled by digital and online media temporarily weakened the economic power of record com- panies by leading to a drastic decline in the sales of recordings – at the time still mostly physical. This global process could certainly be felt locally too, in the decreasing sales and the accompanying decreasing number, and power, of industry actors, and even less interest from majors in local artists due to increasing constraints on the subsidies themselves (Elavsky 2011). It was also a time when optimistic discourses around disintermediation – for instance, that record companies no longer appeared necessary for artists to reach an audience – and individual musical entrepreneurship relying on dig- ital and online media thrived. In Eastern European countries, belonging to the global semi-periphery, references to the small size of the local market, as well as a lack of a professional environment, interpreted as a post-socialist legacy, mitigated this optimism to an extent. Nevertheless, the entry of tech companies into the music economy – Amazon, Apple (through iTunes), Google (through purchasing video streaming platform YouTube in 2006) –, followed by the emergence of music streaming companies, helped along the commodification of digital music (Morris 2015), and ultimately led the way towards a new era of consolidation, and concentration, for the recording industry. This also meant a reinforcing of the power inequalities inherent in the industry’s capitalistic logic. Andrew Leyshon (2001; 2014) brought attention to the continued impor- tance of geographical networks, and the geographical embeddedness of the production of music, in the era of digital music. More recently, Timothy D. Taylor (2015) has demonstrated, through the phenomenon of ‘world music,’ how industrial practices, as well as recorded music aesthetics, function to reinforce global economic and cultural inequalities. The starting point of this chapter is that the (im)balance between music import and export, along with the proportion of local (national) versus international music in national markets, is an area where global relations, and the positions of countries within the global economy of music and the global capitalistic world-system in general, can be fruitfully studied. Through the case of popular music export initiatives in Hungary, I pro- ceed to reflect on the particular semi-peripheral position of the national music industries of Eastern Europe within global relations of dependency. I explore what music export in Hungary looks like, and what its particular- ities and expressed aims and objectives are. Has the focus on ‘making it’ in the West in terms of international success shifted? How can the observed objectives and strategies be linked to shifts in the structure of the music industries? And how do the observed discourses, aims, and strategies fit into the moral order of the capitalist world-system? In order to answer these questions, I rely on semi-structured interviews with professionals involved in the Hungarian export programme HOTS (I1; I2) and the Budapest Showcase Hub (BUSH) (I3), which I have interpreted as expressions of narratives, discourses, attitudes, values, and positions; the analysis of promotional and educational material (e.g. videos) related to music export in Hungary; observation of events (e.g. BUSH); as well as a review of international literature and published statistical data.