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The purpose of this paper is to study and quantify musicians' creativity in order to tune music library services and pinpoint potential musical creative activities.

Webster's conceptual framework for the creative thinking process in music is informing our survey while the analysis adopts a multiple criteria method for quantifying musical creativity. strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis is also adopted developing strategic decisions based on musicians' creativity behaviours.

Mental representations of the music heard (listening) is the most important dimension for creative thinking in music while dimensions such as recorded improvisations (improvisation), written analysis (analysis) and composed music scores (composition) follow. SWOT analysis provides further indications for music library services development based on musicians' creativity behaviours.

This study proposes a novel research vein based on multicriteria analysis within the contexts of musical creativity for managing music library services.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the connection between musicians’ information seeking behaviour and the creative process in music, providing a framework for understanding the role of information needs satisfaction in musical creativity. A number of studies in information science literature have been carried out attempting to model cognitive, affective, behavioural and contextual factors associated with music information seeking behaviour. However, only few studies have addressed the relationship between information seeking behaviour and musical creative activities such as composition, performance and improvisation, listening and analysis.

The focus of this paper is to provide a framework for the study of information seeking behaviour for the purposes of satisfying musical creativity information needs, combining the theoretical basis of an established model of information behaviour developed by Wilson and the theoretical perspectives of a music creative thinking model proposed by Webster. The key features of the two models are synthesized in a unified model of information seeking behaviour for musical creativity and enriched with research findings identified in the literature of both musical information seeking and musical creativity.

The proposed conceptual framework offers an integrated interpretation of the combinations of information needs, information resources and environmental/personal barriers, which enable musical creativity. In the authors’ approach “musical creativity” is treated as a musician’s aim or ambition or drive for expression and is influenced by the way musicians seek information for that purpose. Therefore, musical creativity is an intentional behaviour which acts as motivator for information seeking and is affected by the available information and the musician’s information seeking profile. The current study include three important findings: first, the design and development of music library and information services for musical creativity; second, the development of music information literacy skills for creativity; and third, the information seeking behavioural perspective for universal musical creativity, and the implications for cultural musical heritage diffusion around the world.

An integrated information seeking behaviour model which includes musical creativity is developed through the synthesis of two already existing approaches, that of Wilson for information seeking behaviour and that of Webster for creative thinking in music. The present conceptual study presents a three stage pattern or process for modelling information seeking for musical creativity: the process initiates with the intention-motivation for creativity, then proceeds to information seeking behaviour and then concludes with the musical creativity outcomes. This is the first study that seeks to understand the relationships between creativity and information seeking behaviour.

This chapter is a position paper that explores issues relating to the design of new digital technologies that could enable even nonmusicians to create music they find meaningful and through which they can express their unique musical personality. We first propose criteria for evaluating the musical effectiveness of new tools, and then present a simple cognitive model to help explain key issues related to how humans are able to create and experience music. On this basis, we derive a set of guiding principles towards designing a new generation of tools that support creation. A major theoretical and practical challenge we raise is the need to bridge between mind and tool – that is, between the creator’s intents, which represent subjective musical experiences, and the computational formalisms required by digital tools in order to realize them. We also discuss the need for deep personalization on the levels of concepts, tools, and workflow. We finally propose components for a common framework that will enable the design of a new generation of tools that can explore many different approaches for expanding the bounds of personal creative expression

This chapter investigates Yiddish-language heavy metal music as a manifestation of postvernacularity. Yiddish, the traditional language of Ashkenazic Jews, is now endangered with a geographically dispersed speaker base and a low rate of transmission to younger generations outside of strictly Orthodox communities. However, as the heritage language of most Ashkenazic Jews, Yiddish continues to play an important symbolic role in contemporary Jewish life even among those who do not speak or understand it. This phenomenon has been termed ‘postvernacularity’ (Shandler, 2006).

Yiddish is associated with a rich tradition of folk songs, popular songs, and ballads. Recent decades have seen a growing interest among younger generations in Yiddish language and culture, including its musical tradition. In addition to musicians specialising in traditional Yiddish song, there are also currently two bands worldwide who have produced a metal album in Yiddish: Gevolt (Israel) and Dibbukim (Sweden). The repertoire of both bands is comprised largely of classic Yiddish songs interpreted in a metal style but retaining the traditional lyrics and melodies.

The fact that these metal bands often choose to reinterpret traditional staples rather than composing original Yiddish songs can be seen as a reflection of the predominantly postvernacular status of Yiddish. The language plays an iconic role for band members and audiences. Concurrently, the fusion of familiar Yiddish songs with metal style makes a language often associated with traditional Ashkenazic society relevant to the twenty-first century.

In recent years there has been a welcome growth of interest in learning how artists understand, engage with and respond to aspects of business practice such as marketing. In the case of music it has been suggested that artists are by no means universally motivated by commercial success, and in many cases find the practices of mass marketing repellent. However, there is general agreement that the study of attitudes of artists is still in its infancy, not just in terms of identifying the research agenda, but just as pressingly in identifying a range of appropriate methodological tools for understanding the phenomenon. This paper aims to address these issues.

This paper describes a study where the focus was narrowed to a single genre (jazz), a single country (Poland) and a single artistic level (acts which have been successful both commercially and artistically). In total three biographical interviews were completed, involving four jazz musicians.

The research found many points of convergence with earlier studies, in particular the primacy of the artistic ideal over commercial imperatives. The evidence of this study, though, suggests that jazz musicians can engage with markets through a variety of different methods, which are heavily influenced by their desired and actual artistic identities.

This study sought to make a contribution to a growing area of research into musicians' identities outside the USA.

International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (IAML) aims to promote activities and cooperation between music libraries worldwide. IAML configures policies affecting to set up their working framework as well as music information services at national and international level. Furthermore, IAML’s function promotes the role of music libraries linking the cultural life of every place, fostering musical creativity. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to present the crucial role of IAML’s function in enhancing musical creativity.

The paper provides theoretical and practical issues on topics related to music information employed for musical creativity in the context of music librarianship. It presents the function of music information management organizations and especially that of IAML as a mechanism for enhancing musical creativity, and at the same time it discusses suggestions and practices for the interrelation between them. More specifically, it discusses perspectives about educational programs on information literacy for musical creativity, the enhancement of the digital presence of all musical trends (the long tail to the demand of music information services), the strengthening of the culture of openness to a wider scale and the use of music information management software, as well as the linkage and stimulation of synergies between music information management organizations for the benefit of various music communities.

The outcomes of the study set up a theoretical connection between music librarianship issues and musical creativity, in terms of identifying that musical creativity is directly linked to music information and to the operation of the music libraries, and it can also be influenced by the availability of music information services and the information profile of the musicians involved.

The significance and originality of the study should be emphasized since it is the first study providing theoretical and practical issues linking music librarianship with musical creativity.

This paper explores the nature of art as a product through a network perspective, accounting for key contributing stakeholders in shaping its essence.

This study adopted a qualitative data collection and analysis design and is centred on a series of face-to-face interviews with established Australian visual artists.

Results support the notion of an art product shaped by interconnections and interdependencies of actors in the art market. In particular, attention is paid to the roles of actors in conceptual, production and distribution networks.

Although there are idiosyncrasies that (in part) define the Australian art market context, the issues identified here are nonetheless useful in determining the nature of the interconnectedness of the art market in other similar Western contexts. Many Australian artists have achieved similar recognition and status to other established artists elsewhere. Future cross-cultural comparative research should be carried out in order to assess this relationship in the longer term.

Artists at different stages of their careers can transfer the findings of this research into the development of a series of relevant strategies and tactics for developing their art and culture products more effectively.

Although philosophical assessments of art as a product have been carried out elsewhere, there is a lack of evaluation from an art versus marketplace lens in considering the perspectives of interested stakeholders

The purpose of this paper is to explore and discuss some of the possibilities and risks that one can encounter in the process of doing ethnographic organization research with an at-home approach.

The paper draws on self-reflexive analyses of a four-year research process, where the author – a rock musician – investigated how rock bands within the author’s social networks organize their activities. The materials used for analysis were notes and diaries, as well as reflections on memories.

The findings illustrate aspects of the researcher’s “breaking out” process, which involved the researcher’s initial impulse to leave his practitioner-self, a subsequent lack of interest and eventually a return to what felt genuinely intriguing for him to study. The paper argues that one important aspect of the at-home researcher’s breaking out process may involve an active recognition of his/her practitioner-self as a resource – not least to avoid losing interest or getting lost in abstractions.

This paper conceptualizes and builds further upon previous discussions on at-home research, adding insights into the “breaking out” process and the curious paradox of the proposed necessity for the researcher to leave and utilize his/her at-home experience and familiarity.

This chapter explores the way teaching music lends itself to the inclusive pedagogical approach in action framework, focusing on four key areas: working outside of ability groups, using what learners can do as their starting point, engaging in learning at their own level whilst contributing to a collaborative outcome and developing the whole creative child rather than just a skillset.

This paper investigates the information behaviour of creative DJs, a group previously not considered from the perspective of information studies. The practice of DJing is a musically creative process, where a performance can draw on a vast range of music to create a unique listening and dancing experience. The authors study what are the information behaviour processes involved in creative DJing and what roles embodied information play in DJing practice.

From a set of semi-structured interviews with 12 experienced DJs in Scotland, UK, that were subjected to inductive thematic analysis, the authors present a model of how DJs undergo the process of planning, performing and evaluating a DJ performance.

From this study, a model of creative DJs’ information behaviour is presented. This three-stage model describes the information behaviours and critical factors that influence DJs’ planning, decision-making and verification during the pre-performance, performance and post-performance stages, with particular emphasis on DJs’ performances as a rich site of embodied information interactions.

This research provides insight into a new activity in information behaviour, particularly in the use of embodied information, and presents a model for the information behaviour of creative DJs. This opens the way for future studies to consider minorities within the activity, the audience as opposed to the performer, as well as other creative activities where physicality and performance are central.