The Cultural Capital Project is a research initiative, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, that investigates the political economy of music in the streaming age and the struggles of musicians in a highly consolidated, global industry. Digital technologies and new listening practices have established innovative methods for circulating music, but the corporate music industry remains so consolidated that independent and diverse voices are increasingly unable to compete against a small handful of American megastars. Three transnational corporations (Universal, Sony, and Warner) control roughly 80% of the global recording and publishing industries and 86% of the North American market. At the same time, platforms such as Spotify, Apple, and Amazon largely control and have altered the established method by which songwriters and recording artists are paid. Transnational financialization and consolidation means the livelihoods of Canadian musicians are subject to the structural constraints established by Fortune 500 CEOs, Silicon Valley programmers, and hedge fund managers.
This situation motivates our project to ask several timely questions: What is the corporate infrastructure for Canadian artists and how are independent creators funded? What alternative monetization models result in a sustainable livelihood for smaller Canadian creators? How might universities and libraries, with their prioritization of open access and public space, provide new models for the digital music industry? Our answers will enable Canadian artists to leverage new technologies for their own financial benefit and provide new knowledge for Canadian listeners and artists to thrive in an interconnected global landscape.
The Cultural Capital Project responds to industry consolidation by rethinking a digital music industry based on sustainability and fair pay for artists. The disregard for providing details on how royalty arrangements operate in the digital era has sparked interest by music advocacy organizations to unite around a shared appeal for transparency, but few have proposed an iterative alternative trajectory as our project aims to do. We integrate academic research on the political economy of the music industries, creative labour, and open access to argue for the practicality of public infrastructure for an equitable industry built upon sustainable funding of music in the digital age.
We are a growing team of scholars and fans working towards the realization of the project. If you want to get involved, particularly if you have programming, design, animation, video, writing, or business experience, please contact us.
For more information:
- people – our team
- publications – our academic writing and policy briefs
- data – all of the data and figures we have generated
- updates – the latest news on the project
- twitter – links and commentary from members of the team
The Cultural Capital Project has or is receiving generous support from:
