The Entrepreneurial Orientation and Performance of Music Bands

The music industry plays a crucial role in the cultural life of societies and is varied, complex and has experienced many changes over time (Towse, 2010). In addition, the music industry has a turbulent labour environment. It is therefore argued that entrepreneurship is needed within this industry. Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) refers to the activities, strategies, and general thoughts that an organization undertakes in order to be and act entrepreneurial and previous literature suggests that EO has a positive effect on a firm’s performance (Lumpkin & Dess, 1996; Hughes & Morgan 2007). However, the construct of EO in relation to performance has not been applied to the music industry yet. For that reason, this study examines to what extent EO influences a music band’s performance as well as to what extent characteristics at the music culture and structure/strategy level affect the hypothesized relationship between EO and firm performance in the case of music bands, with a distinction between objective and subjective performance. This study aims to answer the research question by adopting a quantitative approach by means of a self-completion online questionnaire, in which it samples 116 (mainly) Dutch music bands. A factor analysis was run with the five dimensions of EO (autonomy, innovativeness, proactiveness, risk-taking, competitive aggressiveness) to test the multidimensionality and to indicate construct validity. Followed by a second factor analysis with the band performance indicators, as a first measure to check the difference in objective and subjective performance. After the factor analyses, multiple regression analyses were run to identify potential correlations between EO and band performance. After the regression analyses, additional moderation regression analyses are performed with the PROCESS macro software by Andrew F. Hayes in SPSS (Hayes, 2020), to discover which variables moderate, and to what extent, the EO-performance relationship. This study has found that EO has a positive relationship to music band’s performance, performance being here ‘own perception of success’, ‘level of satisfaction’ and ‘loyal fanbase’. However, the five dimensions of EO do not all have the same impact on performance. This study suggests that the notion of EO for music bands is mainly related to innovativeness and proactiveness. Considering band performance, this study found that there is a difference between objective and subjective performance. Another finding is that the relationship between EO and band performance is moderated by the music culture the band operates in, performance here being ‘national reputation’ and ‘loyal fanbase’. For a popular culture band, EO has a greater effect on performance compared to a subculture band. Lastly, the relationship between EO and music band performance is moderated by the structure/strategy of the band, performance here being ‘loyal fanbase’ and ‘own perception of success’. When a band is not active on social media and streaming services, EO has a greater effect on performance compared to when a band is active on social media and streaming services.