Literature Review

This assignment is an early assessment task and is designed to give you feedback within the first third of the study period. 

In 800 words, summarize the arguments contained in the readings that have been set for the first 4 weeks of this unit. 

Marking criteria:

- Demonstrated understanding of how key theories are framed within disciplinary contexts 

- Demonstrated familiarity with and communication of the relevant literature covered on the unit so far
- Demonstrated ability to clearly articulate the arguments put forth in the readings so far using academic language
- Demonstrated ability to engage with, interpret and apply academic sources
- Clear identification of assignment aims (and whether these are achieved)
- Cited works should be referenced using an established system
- Clarity of expression in line with expected academic standards

An example of a literature review is available via the unit iLearn site. Check out how the author has reviewed the literature and in doing so, has produced a ‘dense’ piece of writing that surveys a lot of literature while also picking up on key themes. Note how the different texts are put ‘in conversation’ with each other. This is what you should aim to do for your literature review assignment for this unit. This will help you to work towards the learning outcome of being able to describe the history of the music business and locate your own arguments within a broad historical context.

This type of exercise is called a ‘literature review’ because in order to create new knowledge (the aim of academia), we first need to find the gaps in the literature and to survey what has come before. This assessment task will therefore help you to meet the learning outcome of being able to practice creative thinking in order to discover new knowledge concerning the music business. In this way what you are doing as undergraduate students in this unit mirrors the approach that a Higher Degree Research (HDR) student would take. By doing a literature review, you will have learnt a valuable new skill and you will have started to engage with the ideas, to see links between the different topics, and by thinking in a critical and analytical way early on, you will now be able to let the ideas incubate in your mind across the semester. This will lead to better moments of insight when you produce the following assessment tasks. By way of its design, this unit will enable you to generate moments of insight and this often results in outstanding conceptual elaboration, metaphorical thinking and conceptual combination in the latter assessment tasks.

This assessment task is only for the external students. The internal students are required to complete the group tutorial presentation. Each week the external students are required to engage with the content available via the iLearn site and post at least one comment to the discussion forum concerning it. 

Marking Criteria:

In order to pass this assessment task, students will need to:

- Display comprehension of key debates, theories, and perspectives, through the detailed analysis of key texts and further readings

- Demonstrate an adequate familiarity with and communication of the relevant literature in the field

- Actively engage with the class in order to generate discussion

- Demonstrate knowledge of current industry trends

- Integrate the information presented with the broader themes of the week

- Demonstrate independent research of the topic

- Appropriateness of links provided to websites that are of interest

Due Date: October 9 via Turnitin drop box on iLearn site (by 12 midnight). 

Description: Students are required to discuss, rewrite and paraphrase a music business contract in order to design a contractual relationship between an artist and another party (for example an artist manager, a record company, or a song publishing company).

Marking Criteria:

Agreement Part A will be examined in relation to the following criteria:

- Does the student demonstrate an adequate familiarity with and communication of the relevant clauses in their chosen agreement?

- Does the agreement clearly identify its aims and achieve these through the way it is constructed?

- Does the agreement make an original contribution to the area?

- Is the agreement presented in a competent style?

• This assessment task is designed to help you to achieve the learning outcome of being able to interpret and evaluate various music business contracts in order to design contractual relationships between artists and other parties, including (but not limited to) artist managers, agents, producers, record companies, and song publishing companies.

Due Date: October 9 via Turnitin drop box on iLearn site (by 12 midnight). 

Description: In a 1000 word essay, justify the structure and content of your contract, highlighting the parts that you consider to be essential to its fairness. Substantiate your argument with references/evidence. Use a formal writing voice and put a clear argument that is grounded in the literature covered on the unit. This assessment task is designed to help you to achieve the learning outcome of being able to interpret and evaluate various music business contracts in order to design contractual relationships between artists and other parties, including (but not limited to) artist managers, agents, producers, record companies, and song publishing companies.

Marking criteria:

- Demonstrated familiarity with and communication of the relevant literature in the field

- Application of literature to substantiate any assertions made regarding the fairness of the agreement presented

- Clear identification of the aims of the essay and whether these have been achieved 

- Originality of the essay's contribution to the area

- Demonstrated understanding of the structure of, and relationship between the relevant entities that their proposed agreement concerns, such as entities within the recording, music publishing, merchandising, sponsorship and live performance industries

- Cited works should be referenced using an established system

- Clarity of expression in line with expected academic standards

- Use of relevant examples

For your final essay, you will be required to select one question from a list that will be distributed during the second half of the semester. This list will feature questions that draw from ideas that emerge across the semester so that you can explore these further. You will play a part in developing the essay question options and ideas through group brainstorming sessions that will take place in the tutorials and lectures in the latter weeks of the semester. This way we can crowd source ideas from the MUS209 student body and then collaboratively generate the essay questions and topics that you would like to research. By helping to develop, and then selecting, your own research question, this assessment task will help you to achieve the learning outcome of being able to apply professional and personal judgment and initiative regarding the complexity, ambiguity and diversity that is generated by the changing music business environment.

•     Questions and further details will be available on iLearn and discussed at the lecture.

•     Grading Criteria in the form of a rubric is available on iLearn.

•     Assignments must be submitted via the Turnitin dropbox that is available via the unit iLearn site. 

Marking criteria:

- Demonstrated understanding of the essay question

- Demonstrated understanding of how theory is used and framed in Music Business Studies and how it differs from other disciplines

- Demonstrated ability to clearly and articulately structure an argument using academic language

- Evidence of analysis and understanding of key music business studies theories demonstrated in a sophisticated application of these theories or theory to everyday practice and life

- Demonstrated ability to research, interpret and apply academic sources

- Relevance of sources

- Credibility of sources

- Clear identification of assignment aims (and whether these are achieved)

- Detailed analysis of key texts and further readings

- Demonstrated ability to conduct independent wider research

- Cited works should be referenced using an established system

- Clarity of expression in line with expected academic standards
 

Essay grades:

Obviously at the base level there is referencing. This needs to be in order. There is a referencing guide available on the unit iLearn site. Grades above P as a general rule have to be referenced well. 
 
After this, there is the issue of writing style. Essays above P have to be written clearly and appropriately. You need to employ a formal/academic writing style and you need to substantiate claims you make with evidence. Your topic sentences need to flow together and your paragraphs need to be tight and punchy, for eg: 
 
Topic Sentence 
Statement of Position 
Evidence/quote 
Summary 
 
Essays that employ a colloquial/conversational and/or journalistic writing style will be viewed unfavourably. Don't use rhetorical questions and don't write in the first person. You also need to use numerous references in order to contextualise your essay within the surrounding discourse. Remember, you are making a contribution to knowledge. There is academic freedom; not freedom of expression. These are different. Academics are only free to make points that they can prove. Your opinions can not be based on thin air. 
 
Essays that will receive grades higher than CR will need to have a certain density to them. Academic writing usually involves big words and concepts. In this way, academic writing is a form of short hand (for e.g. relativism and essentialism are words that signify larger paradigms of thought). Authors who demonstrate that they are fluent in this shorthand will be viewed favourably. The amount of extra-curricular research conducted and the originality of each individual research initiative will also be considered. Furthermore an essay is considered to be excellent or outstanding when the student can fluently relate the readings and lectures to the arguments and evidence made in the essay. Students will therefore be assessed on how well they evaluate theories and issues, which means that students will be assessed on how they make judgments about the value of ideas they are expected to comment on or write about. Making judgments or evaluating would usually be demonstrated by a reflection or discussion on what the student considers to be the limitations or intellectual perspectives of the theory, or a discussion of the limitations and perspectives taken by particular texts or readings, or by comparing and discriminating between ideas, issues and theories.