Conceptualizing entrepreneurship in music: A project-based view of entrepreneurship in high art music performance

Sammanfattning: The concept of entrepreneurship in research and society has been firmly rooted in the realm of economics and business. This narrow focus excludes a large number of entrepreneurial acts that occur outside of economic contexts. The discipline of high art music performance is rich with innovative acts that challenge the boundaries of conventional practices. However, these acts largely go unnoticed because of the strength of the bond between entrepreneurship and economics. In this research paper, a literature review will be used to examine how entrepreneurship can best be conceptualized in the discipline of high art music performance. It is argued here that a project-based view of entrepreneurship (Lindgren & Packendorff 2003) provides a valuable conceptualization to understand entrepreneurship in high art music performance. This conceptualization is then applied to three case studies of Canadian high art music performers. The case study uses the musicians' narrative accounts to provide illustrations of the project-based nature of entrepreneurship in music performance. It is hoped that the findings from this investigation provides further support for a project-based view of entrepreneurship and a starting ground to develop more effective tools to support and develop entrepreneurship in music through education and policy development.