HOW TO MAKE PEOPLE BECOME Ambassadors of Jazz - A Comparative Case Study of Voluntary Jazz Concert Promoters in Agder Renate Thauland Supervisor Daniel Nordgård This master’s thesis is carried out as a part of the education at the University of Agder and is therefore approved as a part of this education. However, this does not imply that the University answers for the methods that are used or the conclusions that are drawn. University of Agder 2018 Faculty of Fine Arts Department of Popular Music ii ABSTRACT This study observes the comparative cases of two jazz clubs in the region of Agder, South of Norway. The cases investigated are the Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) and voluntary associations (VOs); Kristiansand Jazzvesen (KJV) and Arendal Jazzklubb (AJ), that has slightly different organisational structures and environments. The main objective has been to unveil if there is a need for ambassadors of jazz, or jazz enthusiasts, in order for these jazz concert promoters to ‘thrive’, improve their live jazz concert experiences and recruit new volunteers. Then, how this can be achieved in a fast-changing digitalised “festivalised” society is examined. The research is based on both qualitative and quantitative research from interdisciplinary research fields, and is inspired by a Mixed Methods methodology developed from the Chicago School. Results shows that there is a need of more jazz ambassadors in Agder for jazz concert promoters to thrive. Other important success factors consist of the following; ‘high quality products’, ‘trustworthiness’, ‘loyal audiences’, ‘live concert experiences’, ‘promotion’, ‘good reputation’, increased numbers of ‘voluntary enthusiasts’, ‘jazz culture’ the development of the Agder Jazz communities, ‘good service’, ‘economical funding’ and ‘communication’ both artistically and on a business level. Also, organisations that are managed or driven by volunteers are very important part of the Norwegian Music Business. Key Words: Jazz Club, Concert Promoters, Non-Profit Organisations, Jazz Ambassadors, Live Concerts, Audience Experiences. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am very thankful to my supervisor Daniel Nordgård. Thank you for your counselling, and your expertise. I also would like to thank Peter Jenner and Michael Rauhut for additional supervision, and in addition Anna Wilrødt, my course manager, for help with the mapping of concert promoters. A special thanks to SØRF, and Norwegian Jazz Forum for helping me with important information. Thanks, Alexander Haugen for giving me access to statistics from NJF research on your members. Thank you Gry Bråtømyr for giving me a platform to speak and for letting me hand out questionnaires at the 2017 national meeting, and Hanne Rekdal from ACN for providing useful historical information of the funding of concert promoters. Thank you, Preben Karlsen and Anne B. Karlsen and Arendal Jazzklubb for giving me insights to your work and time set of for the interviews and Øyvind Nypan for the interview in Kristiansand. Thank you to all of the people I have spoken with trying to dig into the Kristiansand Jazz history, Tor Jones, Erling Johansen, Rune Rokseth, og Jørn Størkson (leader of SNJS), and a special thanks to Bjørn Amundsen, and Bjørn Stendahl for searching up and taking out everything regarding Kristiansand and Arendal from your Jazz History literature, and helping me with lists of Norwegian jazz musicians. These documents have helped med a lot in order to get a brighter picture of future situations. I would also like to give a thanks to the board members of both Kristiansand Jazzvesen and Arendal Jazzklubb, for your being patient and willing. To my family and friends, thank you so much for support, discussions, proofreading and prayers, especially, my twinsister Susanne, my cousin Merethe and grandfather Gunnar for excellent proofreading. The language was much improved by your help, and I would not be able to see those improvements myself. I would also like to thank my fellow student Michael Adewumi Olubenga, for helping and teaching me how to write good academic papers in the advent of our master studies at the University of Agder. Those lessons helped med and improved all my grades. In addition, giving of your time and resources by proofreading, providing me with good text examples to follow, and the help with organising everything, especially the last week until the delivery. A special thanks to my fiancé, Joachim Orseth, for loving me, motivating me to work, helping me to schedule the work, praying for me, encouraging me, and always pushing me towards the goal. Above all, I put my thanks to Jesus, my main inspiration and motivation for this research. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v PART I INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Motivation 3 1.3 Analogy 4 1.4 Objective 5 1.4.1 Purpose and objective of study 5 1.4.2 Problem definition 5 1.4.3 Research Gap 6 1.4.4 Research problem 6 1.5 Outline of the thesis 7 1.6 Abbreviations 8 1.7 Definitions 8 1.7.1 Jazz 8 1.7.2 Ambassador 10 1.6.3 Brand Ambassadors 11 PART II THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT 15 2.1 Underpinning the sociological stand 15 2.2 Influence through brand quality and trust 16 2.3 Promotional influence 17 2.5 Festival Development 20 PART III LITERATURE REVIEW 23 3.1 Jazz History and Concerts in Agder 23 3.1.1 Norwegian Jazz History 23 3.1.2 History of Jazz in Kristiansand 24 3.1.3 Successes and Failures in the Kristiansand Jazz Communities 26 3.1.4 Concert development 26 3.1.5 History of Jazz and concerts in Arendal 27 3.2 Changes to Live music in a Digital Age 27 v 3.2.1 A changing Mass Media Behaviour 28 3.3 Audiences and Prosumers 29 3.4 Entreprenearial skills, Public Relations and Marketing 30 3.6 Volunteer Engagement and Social Community 32 PART IV RESEARCH METHODS 33 3.1 Methodological Framework 33 3.1.1 Primary versus Secondary Research 33 3.1.2 Quantitative versus Qualitative, and Mixed Research Methods 33 3.2 Research Design 34 3.2.1 Case study design 35 3.2.2 Comparative design 35 3.3 Methods 36 3.3.1 Triangulation 36 3.3.2 Pilot Studies 36 3.3.3 Statistics from Norwegian Jazz Forum 37 3.3.4 Data Collection 38 3.3.5 Archival Records and Documentary Evidence 38 3.3.6 Field Work 38 3.3.7 Surveys 39 3.3.8 Shorter case study interviews 40 4.1.1 Transcriptions 41 3.3.9 Data Analysis 42 3.3.10 Ethical considerations 43 PART V RESULTS & ANALYSIS 44 5.1 Survey Findings 44 5.1.1 Generic features 44 5.1.2 Demographical differences 45 Figure 3b – Instruments represented AJK (N=32) 48 48 5.1.3 Educational and job-related differences 48 5.1.4 Interacting Audiences 50 5.1.5 Willingness To Pay and Price Standards 50 5.1.5 Success Factors 52 53 vi 5.1.5 Good Sound, or a Pleasant Place? 54 5.1.7 Ambassadors of jazz and enthusiasts (Ildsjeler) 55 5.2 Findings from Interviews 57 5.2.1 Main Themes 57 5.2.2 Clubs of Jazz, that Filled the Gap 57 5.2.3 Old Audiences and Young Musicians 58 5.2.4 Good Reputation is Decisive 58 5.2.5 Jazz as a Language 60 5.2.6 Building a Jazz Culture 61 5.2.8 Quality assurance builds trust 62 5.2.9 62 Concert Experience 62 5.3 Findings from Other Data Sources 63 5.3.1 Indispensable support 63 5.3.2 A wide network 64 5.3.2 Musicians and Audience Relation 65 PART VI DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION 67 6.1 Initial reflections 67 6.2 Discussion 68 6.2 Conclusion 74 6.3 Limitations and suggestions for further research 76 References I APPENDIX Feil! Bokmerke ikke definert. 1) Mapping of concert promoters in Kristiansand.....................................................p. 2 2) Distribution E-mail to surveyrespondents.............................................................p. 4 3) Survey questions to members and concert audience of KJV............................p. 5 - 9 4) Survey questions to members and concert audience of AJK...........................p.10-14 5) Interview guide KJV.......................................................................................p. 15-16 6) Interview guide AJK.......................................................................................p. 17-18 7) Transcriptions from Interview with Øyvind Nypan (KJV)….........................p. 19-27 8) Transcriptions from Interview with Anne Bulien and Preben Karlsen...........p. 28-44 9) Kristiansand på 70-tallet – Bjørn Amundsen..................................................p. 45-47 vii 10) Jazz history of Kristiansand – Bjørn Stendahl................................................p. 48-54 11) Jazz history of Arendal – Bjørn Stendahl........................................................p. 55-59 12) Årsmelding KJV for 2017...............................................................................p. 60-65 13) SØRF vedtekter...............................................................................................p. 66-68 viii PART I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background The Music Economy has been more focused on the live market since the peak of the record sales in 1999 (Wikström, 2013). Music business conferences and scholars at music business and management departments, have reported that (above1) 50% of the ‘entire music economy’ is accounted for by the ‘live economy’ (Sørveiv conference, 2017; Kellog 2014, Nordgård, 2017) A consequence of the increasing importance of the live market, has been a “baby boom” of new concert promoters and festivals the last decade. Only the city of Kristiansand, I have registered that there has arisen (at least) 10 new concert promoters, since 2008, and there were also established a few new concert promoters that only lasted for a short period or a few years within this period2. In addition, at least three major concert houses or stages has been built or upgraded since 2008 (Kilden; 2012, Q42; 2016, and Agder teater; 2017), and several major festivals has come into to being (Palmesus; 2008, Sørveiv 2010, Måkeskrik; 2012, Den Internasjonale Kulturfestivalen; 2013, Ravnedalen Live; 2015, Bris; 2015).