Ethics in Music (Including Sustainable Development Considerations)

Ethics in Music (Including Sustainable Development Considerations)

Evolution and changes in my plans and goals

            Since the beginning of this course, my plans and goals have changed tremendously. Initially, I had a vision for a music recording studio although I had not thought much into the specifics of establishing one. I knew what I wanted but did not know of what my first step should have been. My plans were all mixed up and my ultimate goal was a modern state of the art studio. In the course of the assignments that I have been doing, my plan has evolved vastly. I now have set targets that I plan to achieve in three phases, that is, short, medium and long-term. I also have considered the workforce including teammates and how we will structure the business. My plans have also changed to include the type of leadership that we will uphold and the ethical considerations that we will enforce. Proactive planning includes taking initiatives to optimize business efficiency through preparation and advance scheduling of events. I envision my goals and plans changing for the better because of the early groundwork that I am doing. Advance planning ensures that the business is ready and anticipates challenges that may come its way. Such early preparations including knowing exactly what I want the studio to look like and working on the same. It also involves making contingency plans while coming up with targets and ensuring that all concerned parties are aware of the goals. With all these in consideration, I see the business goals evolving even more to include more contractual agreements and expansion. The business also plans to venture into design and branding to offer a more wholesome service thus another area for growth and development..

Ways to address the leadership and decision-making approaches to accommodate changes

            The plan from the onset of the exercise was that Airwaves and Ripples Studio would follow a transformational leadership style. This approach denotes instances where leaders and followers share a vision, know what is needed to achieve it and agree on the ways to do the same. A transformational leadership style prides in its motivating and inspiring factors. All the workmates share a goal and acknowledge the significance of moving together. They know that they all contribute to each other’s work hence the need to appreciate and support one another. Hiring the necessary workforce is among my short-term goals. They are crucial to facilitating everything else. Through their expertise and knowledge, we will come up with more plans and targets to achieve. They will, therefore, have to be at par with any changes made around. In cases where the company adopts new ways of working or technological ways, the workforce shall undergo training until they become well versed in it. Any new changes within the business shall also include the views and contributions of the leadership of the company. Having knowledge is power and their inclusion in every process shall also enable them to take the necessary measures ahead of any changes and evolution that the business may experience. According to Sartori, Constantini, Ceschi & Tommasi (2018), the ability of an organization to grow, survive, and remain competitive in the turbulent labor market, depends on how it anticipates changes in its internal and external environment and its capacity to manage them. As a result, the decision-making and leadership facets are crucial to accommodating and working through changes that may come about in the course of operation of the business.

How to incorporate sustainable development into the business plans.

            Sustainable development of a business includes incorporating policies and strategies that ensure and meet the needs and activities of the company today, while at the same time protecting and enhancing its viability into the future. I will consider the development of Airwaves and Ripples and grow it to make more profits while benefiting the music community. However, the existence of a business is more useful when it can think of tomorrow. Airwaves and Ripples should, therefore, develop to mean more than just a recording studio. Artists should grow to identify with the company and become one with it. As a result, one of the ways that we shall ensure sustainable development shall be through our belief systems. Anything else can change in the business but the belief should stand through the tests of time. We shall work on this by ensuring that the belief of the company is not time bound or too localized. Instead, it shall have room or expansion and the adoption of new ideas and means of working. Secondly, the company shall also focus on creating value proposition. This case means coming up with a service that clients will relate with as it shall address their problem and meet all their needs. We shall work on creating a clear picture of what clients should expect while working with us while also leaving room for their specific and tailor-made needs. The business shall, therefore, adopt a flexible but competent value proposition. It shall highlight our primary focus areas, how they incorporate innovative ideas while helping our artists be their best selves (Skålén, Gummerus, Von & Magnusson, 2015).

The cultural awareness and civic engagement efforts that the company shall adopt.

            Cultural awareness involves understanding differences among various people including, their values, beliefs, backgrounds, way of life, and preferences. Any company in the service industry that interacts with persons should have awareness about their differences. Airwaves and Ripples Studio shall be open to people of all backgrounds and beliefs that want to express themselves through music, poem or even spoken word. It shall allow all and be conscience of their way of doing things. An example is an artist who comes to the studio wearing a turban. The studio shall understand that it is an integral part of such a person’s integrity. The workforce shall, therefore, learn to accept diversity and let go of assumptions such as Muslims being terrorists. They shall also learn communication skills and how to treat each other and everyone else as individuals. Civic engagement, on the other hand, means making efforts and working together to improve, develop and assist the community around us. It means learning the necessary skills and values that make a difference. Airwaves and Ripples Studio aims at promoting art through music by reaching out to artists in impoverished neighborhoods and to young people without the necessary means. It shall provide the chance for such young people to make use of their time and escape idleness and possible delinquent behavior. It shall also engage with such neighborhoods more by volunteering and taking part on more community initiatives such as clean-ups. The potential outcomes of both cultural awareness and civic engagement initiatives are making the workforce more conscious of every human being both at work, the community, and environment around us.

The mission of Airwaves and Ripples Studio is to give artists a chance to ensure people listen to their message, thus impacting on their lives and those around them. The vision is to ensure a world where artists express themselves and their ideas without any form of constrains. As a result, cultural awareness and civic engagement shall promote these goals of the company. Cultural awareness ensures the welcome and giving everyone a chance, without looking at their differences in lifestyle or even philosophical beliefs. It shall ensure that all their messages go out giving them a chance to express themselves in a way that elevates their status. Such an open-door policy shall bring in all clients thus enhancing our income and profits. The civic engagement activities shall ensure that Airwaves and Ripples gives back to the community and appreciates its existence. These shall also improve the image of the business thus making it more appealing to clients. Implementing the ideas in the corporate social responsibility addendum shall elevate the company in the eyes of the customers. Most people love associating themselves with organizations that have community-conscious incentives and improve their environment. One of the intrinsic rewards of this shall be satisfaction and a sense of achievement among the workforce. They shall, therefore, feel more motivated and prouder to keep at their work as it is improving society. An extrinsic reward that the company could also receive is promotions and attracting more clients (Munir, Lodhi, Sabir & Khan, 2016). More clients also mean more income, hence the growth of the business.

Contractual agreements and the music industry code of ethics

            Artists interact with different people from various industries including labels and publishers. Even though contracts govern such relations, there is still a need for abiding to certain codes and ethical guidelines. As a result, I believe that leaders in such industries should abide by the code of ethics in the music industry also. A code of ethics is an outline of principles that professionals set out to guide their conduct. They direct such persons so as to conduct their business with integrity, honesty, and professional competence. Code of ethics uphold the status of organizations by setting out how their employees should behave. It highlights right from wrong so that business continues without any complaints. Having such a code also eases the use of pre-emptive warning to avoid misconduct. In the music industry, such a code of ethics includes the principals of respect, being truthful, protecting reputation, fair pricing, and giving credit where it is due. These could prove vital for such interactions because contracts can be inefficient in some instances. Contracts also only lay down agreements and the terms of the same. They do not direct and cover the processes that lead to such arrangments.

I therefore believe that there should be an ethical code of conduct for leaders in the music industries. This business contains one area where such interactions is inevitable. In some cases, such business leaders may enforce questionable practices including unfair payments for records and exploitation. Vito (2019) offers insight into Independent musicians grievances against record labels that promote practices that benefit them at the expense of the artists. These include controlling copyrights, advances and forwards and also the press and media through artist development contracts and 360 degrees deals. The work also highlights such musicians, especially hip-hop artists move towards resisting the use of such labels. Lesser (2018) also gives a different story about artists not getting enough compensation from their record labels. The examples include three primary labels with shares at Spotify. Their failure at compensating artists creates a bad image or the whole industry. However, Lesser suggests a solution to the problem, that is the treatment of the relationship between a label and an artist as a partnership. Such an angle would bring about fiduciary relationship thus pushing the labels to pay up. Despite all these occurrences and suggestions for rectification, there is also the need for a code of ethics to govern the behaviour of labels. The lack of mechanisms that set out directions for desirable conduct and look into failure to adhere to them permits such labels to mistreat and underappreciate artists. The above instances, therefore, prove the need for the enforcement of a code of ethics for such leaders.

References

Lesser, B. (2018). Record Labels Shot the Artists, But They Did Not Share the Equity. Geo. JL & Pub. Pol’y, 16, 289.

Munir, R., Lodhi, M. E., Sabir, H. M., & Khan, N. (2016). Impact of Rewards (Intrinsic and Extrinsic) on Employee Performance with Special Reference to Courier Companies of Faisalabad City. European Journal of Business and Management, 8(25).

Sartori, R., Costantini, A., Ceschi, A., & Tommasi, F. (2018). How do you manage change in organizations? Training, development, innovation, and their relationships. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 313.

Skålén, P., Gummerus, J., Von Koskull, C., & Magnusson, P. R. (2015). Exploring value propositions and service innovation: a service-dominant logic study. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(2), 137-158.

Vito, C. (2019). Just Say No to 360s: Hip-Hop’s Claim of Economic Exploitation. In The Values of Independent Hip-Hop in the Post-Golden Era (pp. 71-97). Palgrave Pivot, Cham.