Sociology & Music Business
Entertaiment Industry Studies
Marketing
'Sociology was a wake up call for me, both professionally and personally, as it helped me to look at society with a fresh perspective. This perspective, along with the thinking, writing, and research skills that I developed in Belmont's Sociology department carried over into the way I approach my job as Director, Radio Marketing and Promotion with Spalding Entertainment.'
Denise Nichols, Belmont University graduate, 2003 - Director of Radio Marketing and Promotion, Spalding Entertainment
Clients: Brooks & Dunn, Terri Clark, Pat Green.
How is Sociology Useful in the Entertainment
Field?'
Researching Music. Any time art merges with commerce and the
need to attract a consumer comes into play, research will soon
follow. This is particularly true of the music that makes it way
onto the commercial radio airways. Because of the amount of money
at stake in the world of radio advertising, radio station ownership
groups hope to attract and keep as many listeners as possible. Thus
they continually research the music they play to determine their
listening audience's likes and dislikes. As a result, the
music industry has access to extensive statistical data on the
country radio listening audience. This in turn provides a means of
extracting data that is useful to a particular artist and making it
available to others in an attempt to propel that artist's
career forward.
Researching the Consumer. The idea of particular consumers
comes with certain cultural and demographic stereotypes. In the
case of country music audiences, the stereotype is that they are
rural, lower middle class, white, limited post-secondary education,
35-54, etc. To fully accept this stereotype as truth comes with the
risk of excluding other potential audiences. Therefore, consumer
research projects are frequently commissioned by industry trade
organizations, individual companies, and artists. As with music
research (see above), gathering data allows us to identify the
consumer and trend their patterns over time and in various markets.
Marketing Music. Once the music industry is armed with the
above data, they enhance the ability to target market their product
and maximize sales.
What Other Advice Do You Have For MUB/EIS Majors?' I had a wonderful time taking classes in Belmont's Sociology program and highly recommend that MUB and EIS students do the same. The professors provided one-on-one guidance and helped me to develop my own skills and interests.
I got something out of all my Sociology classes, but Music Business and Entertainment Industry Study majors would find the following courses particularly useful: Sociology of Music, Politics of Knowledge, Cultural Theory, Introduction to Sociology, Methods, and the Sociology of Popular Culture.
