Internet, music and communication : How the Internet is affecting communicational efforts of smaller independent record labels

The purpose of this thesis is, through a case study, to analyse how the Internet is affecting smaller independent record labels' communicational efforts, and if these companies are dealing differently with this technological change. In order to accomplish this, a number of interviews have been conducted with smaller independent record labels. The findings have been analysed using a theoretical frame of reference covering innovation management and communicational methods. Our results show that the Internet has had an effect on these labels’ communicational efforts, either directly through an increased use of online communication or indirectly through the decreasing effectiveness of some traditional channels. However, as many traditional channels are still being used, smaller independent record labels are now managing an increased number of channels simultaneously. Furthermore, the degree of online communicational efforts varies depending on musical genre, being more commonly used in popular music genres. For labels with a high online activity, social networks play a prominent role, with considerable effort and time allocated towards working with these. Also, these companies are very attentive to the rapidly changing online environment with the aim of staying at the forefront of this development