| Course | BMB 670 Music Business Leadership and Ethics |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 4 |
| Paper type | graduate discussion post on fairness in festival booking and artist pay |
| Length | About 380 words, 3 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Southern New Hampshire University |
| Program | MBA in Music Business |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for BMB 670 Module 4
Module Four Discussion
Nine of Thirty-Eight
Our festival's 2024 lineup had thirty-eight acts across three days. Nine were led by women or nonbinary artists, about 24 percent, and only one of nine headline or sub-headline slots went to such an act. On pay, the headliner on Saturday received a guarantee of $85,000, and the six local openers across the weekend received a flat $250 each, $1,500 in total, with two drink tickets per member. The headliner's catering rider cost about $2,100.
Colquitt (2001) showed that people judge fairness in three distinct ways: whether outcomes are fair, whether the process that produced them is fair and whether they are treated with respect. Each applies differently here. On outcomes, headliners will always earn far more than openers, because they sell the tickets. But a $250 fee for a local band that loses a weekend of work, pays for gas and rehearsal and helps fill the early hours of the day is hard to defend when the company can afford more. On process, the lineup was assembled by one talent buyer and the founder without any written criteria, so artists have no way to know how acts are chosen. On treatment, openers told our staff they felt invisible, loading in through the back while headliners had golf carts.
The lineup question is harder because part of it is outside the company's control. Raine and Strong (2018) describe gender imbalance across the music industry, from who is signed and supported to who is offered tours, so a booker choosing from agents' rosters starts with an uneven pool. That is a reason to make an effort, not an excuse to make none. Organizations shape ethical outcomes through their policies and not only through individual choices (Treviño & Nelson, 2021).
I propose a written booking policy with three elements: a target of at least 40 percent of acts led by women or nonbinary artists across the lineup, not slot by slot; a published fee floor of $750 for local acts, plus parking and the same hospitality as other artists; and a short statement of booking criteria on the festival's website. For classmates: is a lineup target fair to a talent buyer who must also sell 22,000 tickets a day, or does it simply change which risks the buyer takes?
References
Colquitt, J. A. (2001). On the dimensionality of organizational justice: A construct validation of a measure. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 386-400. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.86.3.386
Raine, S., & Strong, C. (2018). Gender politics in the music industry. IASPM Journal, 8(1), 2-8. https://doi.org/10.5429/2079-3871(2018)v8i1.2en
Treviño, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2021). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right (8th ed.). Wiley.
What the BMB 670 Module 4 instructions ask for
The Module Four discussion in BMB 670 usually asks you to analyze an ethical issue in the music industry, such as representation, artist compensation, contracts or treatment of workers. A strong post chooses a specific situation, presents the facts with numbers, applies an ethical framework or research on fairness and proposes what a leader should do, with a way to check the result. It distinguishes between outcomes a company controls and those shaped by the wider industry, and it considers the interests of more than one group. Replies can challenge a classmate's proposal by asking who bears its costs or how its results would be checked, which keeps the discussion practical.
How this BMB 670 Module 4 discussion example is built
The post presents two facts from the festival's 2024 booking: nine of thirty-eight acts were led by women or nonbinary artists, and local openers received a flat $250 while the headliner received $85,000 plus a catering rider worth more than all local fees combined. It uses organizational justice research to separate fairness of outcomes, fairness of process and respectful treatment, and research on gender in the music industry to show that lineups reflect the pipeline of acts agents represent as well as bookers' choices. It proposes a written booking policy with a lineup target, a fee floor of $750 for local acts and published criteria, and asks classmates whether a target is fair to the talent buyer.
Where the BMB 670 Module 4 rubric puts the points
Instructors marking this thread look for accurate facts, a framework applied with care, attention to several stakeholders, a realistic proposal and replies that add something. High-scoring posts split the problem into what management can change and what the wider industry sets, explain which kind of fairness is at stake in each part and propose steps that could be measured. Posts that condemn or defend the status quo without evidence, or that propose remedies the company could not carry out, earn less, as do posts that consider only one group's interests. A reply that tests a proposal's cost or unintended effects usually earns the most credit, especially if it suggests a fix.
BMB 670 Module 4 help: the mistakes that cost points
Posts about fairness often stay at the level of principle. Present the numbers first: who was booked, who was paid what and how decisions were made. Then use a framework to separate questions; whether outcomes are fair, whether the process is fair and whether people are treated with respect are different questions with different remedies. Acknowledge the wider industry, since lineups depend on who agents represent and who tours, but do not let that excuse choices the promoter makes itself. Finish with a proposal that someone could carry out next season and a way to check whether it worked, and name who would be responsible for it.
Get BMB 670 Module 4 written to your instructions
Send the BMB 670 Module 4 prompt. The post will examine an industry fairness issue through real figures and justice research, separate what a company controls from what it does not and propose concrete steps. Usually two days; a first post is free. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Southern New Hampshire University document.
More BMB 670 papers and related MBA in Music Business samples
- BMB 670 Module 1 Discussion: What Makes a Music Business Leader Effective
- BMB 670 Module 2 Leadership Approaches Assignment: Three Ways to Lead the Same Company
- BMB 670 Module 3 Milestone One: A Founder Hands Over the Keys
- ACC 550 Module 5 Milestone Two: An Activity-Based Model for Retail and Bulk Channels
- BMB 655 Module 3 Milestone One: A Financial Analysis of the Publisher
- ACC 620 Module 3 Milestone One: Deferred Taxes, a Valuation Allowance and an Uncertain Position
- ACC 691 Module 4 Discussion: Cookie Jars and a Big Bath
BMB 670 Module 4 questions, answered
Where can I find a free BMB 670 Module 4 Discussion sample?
This page includes the full BMB 670 Module 4 post on lineup balance and local artist pay at a Columbus festival.
What is organizational justice?
A framework describing fairness in organizations as distributive fairness of outcomes, procedural fairness of how decisions are made and interactional fairness in how people are treated.
Why do festival lineups often lack women artists?
Partly because of choices by bookers and partly because of imbalances earlier in the industry pipeline, such as which artists are signed, represented by agents and supported on tour.
Should festivals set targets for lineup balance?
Many have adopted targets, arguing that deliberate goals change booking habits; critics worry about rigid quotas, so targets are often set for the lineup as a whole rather than for individual slots.
How should local opening acts be paid?
Fairly relative to the value they bring and the costs they bear, which many promoters address with a published minimum fee, clear terms and reasonable hospitality.