This time, the October issue of the International Journal of Music Business Research (IJMBR) features two research articles and two book reviews.
The first article is by Adrian Remus Chețan, an independent music industry researcher based in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. In “Testing ChatGPT in Music Promotion: Assessing AI Efficiency Compared to Industry Standards”, he examines whether ChatGPT can be used to create a music PR strategy for artists’ websites, social media and video content that is also sustainable. The article concludes that ChatGPT only partially meets the requirements of the music industry and, at best, can serve as a starting point for developing viable PR strategies. Ultimately, it is still up to the management to develop such strategies.
In the second article, “The Role of Artist Management in Ghana’s Music Industry: Challenges, Practices, and Pathways to Professionalisation”, Benjamin Oduro Arhin Jnr from the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana, examines the challenges faced by musicians’ managers in Ghana. Using a qualitative research design, artist managers who represent musicians at various stages of their careers using different management methods were specifically selected. In addition, representatives from record labels and entertainment lawyers were also interviewed. The sample comprised a total of 43 individuals. The author also gathered additional data through participant observation in recording studios, concert venues and music industry meetings, as well as through a detailed document analysis. On this methodological basis, Benjamin Oduro Arhin Jnr concludes that musician managers in Ghana are still not sufficiently professionalised and have significant gaps in their knowledge regarding financial, legal and contractual matters, which would need to be addressed through appropriate training in order to be internationally competitive.
This October issue of the journal is rounded off with two book reviews. Juan González-Castelao Martínez-Peñuela from the Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (UNIR) in Spain has reviewed “The Rise of the Platform Music Industries” by A. Leyshon and A. Watson, published by Agenda Publishing in 2025. In addition, Guy Morrow from the University of Melbourne devotes his book review to the study “Unsilenced: Women Musicians, Gender-Based Violence, and the Popular Music Industry” by D. R. L. Hill, D. B. Fileborn and C. D. Strong, which was also published in 2025 by Bloomsbury Academic.
The IJMBR is aimed at all academicians around the world, from students to professors, from all disciplines and with an interest in music business research. Interdisciplinary papers will be especially welcome if they address economic- and business-related topics in the field of music. We look forward to receiving as many interesting papers as possible. Please submit your articles at the journal’s webpage: https://www.editorialmanager.com/ijmbr/default1.aspx.