Analysis of Shared Leadership Practices During an Original Music Production Process

Abstract

The process of making an original music album is highlighted to illustrate aspects of the music production process in addition to how leadership and related factors play out during this process. Background information is detailed regarding musicians as entrepreneurs, the music production process, group dynamics, learning approaches, aspects of group dynamics, and an emphasis on more shared, distributive forms of leadership. The conceptual framework and results of the ethnographic field study describe a music production process consisting of the following phases: Pre-Production; Production; and Post-Production, with decision-making, direction-setting, and overall leadership approaches playing out at each phase. Reflections, key learnings, and recommendations for future research are presented, all centering on the usefulness in identifying the process of original music production.