Music Collaboration in an Online Environment: Technologies, Roles and Creativity

Collaboration has played a key role in the music production process throughout history. The emergence of the internet and internet-based technologies, in conjunction with the constantly-evolving practice of record production, has opened up new ways to engage with collaborators around the globe.

This thesis studies the creative practices present within the art of record production in a collaborative online environment, exploring how technologies and professional roles impact the creative process. The practice-led approach of this project, aided by phenomenological and autoethnographic methods, looks at the various contributions of collaborators, as well as their thoughts, feelings, and reflections on the online-based creative process. A series of interviews with the participants enables the examination of individual experiences as perceived by the persons
involved.

Contained within is a review of current research into the art of record production, focusing on areas of creativity, online collaboration, and professional roles. The text then analyses the data collected through the interview process, firstly examining the participants, their roles, and resulting expectations, followed by an inspection of individual musical projects developed throughout the course of the study. These findings are then discussed and situated within the context of relevant existent research. The text concludes with a commentary on the practices of music collaboration in an online environment and offers advice for future projects in this field.