Survey Says: MIRA Scores At UCLA

The inaugural Music Industry Research Association conference gathered more than 100 of the global research and economics community’s biggest music fans at the University of California, Los Angeles, campus Aug. 10-11 to discuss trends and plot its future.

– MIRA conference
WME Partner Marc Geiger is interviewed by Hannah Kamp

One would be mistaken to think the gathering was all numbers nerds plugging obscure statistics into elaborate mathematical equations that required knowledge of laws of sines and cosines – although there was some of that. 

The broader mission of using economic research tools to better the lives of artists, audiences and entire communities was on full display. Clearly the music industry stands to benefit from MIRA’s activities and, accordingly, the biz was well-represented.

Participants from the industry included WME partner Marc Geiger, Univer sal Music Group SVP of Global Insights Gabriela Lopes and Quincy Jones Productions President Adam Fell. All were interviewed by Billboard’s Hannah Karp in a full morning block of industry professionals.

Musicians Jacq Becker and Hannah Sidibe talked about the realities, difficulties, and rewards of making a living in music – including opinions about the usefulness of agents, managers and publishing deals that seem counterintuitive but were eye-opening.

Globalization and technology, perhaps unsurprisingly, are two factors driving the current music business, Geiger told his audience.

“Technology is developing more consumers,” he said, while noting that globalization is activating business. Of the festival market, he asked “Why didn’t we think of this sooner?” while acknowledging that the ones that can’t find the key balance of “experiential” and “efficient” are taking themselves out of the market at a quick pace.

 What might be surprising, at least to non-academics, is the extent to which data is being used to explain and predict anything from digital effects on local culture to the level of radio playlist diversity based on station ownership, and many other topics.

Nashville was well-represented, particularly the music business programs of Middle Tennessee State University, where professor Gloria Green – herself a former agent at William Morris – is teaching courses on artist management, concert promotion and touring, music publicity and talent agent fundamentals as she develops a full music industry curriculum.

Marie Connolly, another MTSU professor, talked about ticket pricing and the secondary market, using The Tragically Hip’s onsale and subsequent outrage over ticket scalping that forced StubHub to issue a statement announcing it would donate an unspecified amount of money to charities in order to stem the furor.

Gigi Johnson, the executive director of UCLA’s Center for Music Innovation, presented information supporting the concept of “music cities.” Not just Music City, as in Nashville, but cities that support thriving art scenes. She presented data that helped identify such cities nationally and, within them, neighborhoods and subcultures that support their own distinct artistic and entertainment-consuming populations.

Among the more unusual topics fell under the banner of “Digitization, Radio, Globalization and Opportunity: Is the Global Music Hegemony Nearing an End or Just Starting?” The math got intense during this segment, and included presentations from members of the European economic and academic community such as “Digitalization and Diversity Dynamics of Western Popular Music” by Marc Bourreau (Telecom ParisTech), Francois Moreau (University of Paris 13 & LabEx ICCA France) and Patrik Wikström (Queensland University of Technology).

– MIRA conference Alan Krueger
MIRA co-founder Alan Krueger

MIRA co-founder Alan Krueger, an economist from Princeton University and former chairman of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, presented his findings from a study into the backgrounds of superstar musicians, athletes and top-earning CEOs. There were more similarities than one might assume as well as some surprises.

Krueger closed out the MIRA gathering with a discussion of the association’s future direction and took feedback from the attendees — who indicated they not only wanted to see the MIRA Conference continue but expand into cities like Nashville and New York City, as well as perhaps into Europe in collaboration with established associations in France, Austria and other countries.