Aplicación de las teorías de agencia y Stewardship en el análisis de las relaciones entre sello discográfico y artista en la industria musical de Medellín

Abstract

The music industry has undergone major changes in its business model and relationship with artists given the impact that technology has had in terms of democratization of music and access to information, changing the roles of both labels and artists. The interaction between both parts is influenced by aspects such as trust, autonomy and power, risk treatment and motivations of each of them, which configures a complex relationship that resembles the literature proposed by agency and stewardship theories. This study aimed to understand the visions of labels and artists around their needs when generating a relationship between them, through the analysis of three in-depth interviews and nine questionnaires administered to different actors in the music industry in Medellín, in order to identify mechanisms that allow a greater viability of long term relationships. It was found that these actors are aware of how technology has been changing the industry and the importance of empowering themselves with the new tools that allow potentiating all the fronts involved in an artistic project such as production, administration, promotion, distribution, among others. In addition, there are great challenges in building trust between the two, due to the old ways of relating and generating contracts without enough knowledge. However, there is currently a great willingness of all actors to fight against information asymmetry, through the appropriation of knowledge and accessible resources that allow them to work in cooperation.