project plan for an international music tour Essay Example

an international music tour. The completed plan will be presented to Artic Music Corporation, our client for this project.

Once the project plan is finished, it should contain detailed information that will allow the project to receive approval to proceed.

Project Description

During their first term of school, students were given different options for a project. Our group chose to plan a six-destination international music tour. The goal was to attract a wider audience by selecting music groups that represent multicultural music genres. Music has always been an inspiration and integral part of every culture.

Music is a reflection of our past, present, and future and allows for self-expression across all disciplines. It inspires individuals and society while facilitating cross-cultural and cross-generational communication.

Artic Music Corp has approached our company to represent them as clients and create a music tour throughout Europe. They have requested that the tour include not only "pop" music but also alternative genres such as Hiphop/Rap, Punk, Heavy metal, and rock to attract a diverse range of fans.

The goal of this project by Artic Music is to explore the potential for Scandinavian bands from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Iceland – who are popular in their home countries – to gain popularity in the rest of Europe.

Artic Music Corp, a small but emerging record/marketing company, has the objective of expanding its presence in Europe and implementing a comprehensive marketing strategy to promote bands from Scandinavian countries as well as those signed to Artic Music Corp. The main aim of this plan is to attract fans and provide exposure for the musical talent of different nations on an international scale. Presently, numerous British bands face difficulties in

achieving success in America without any clear reasons. It is important to note that the music industry primarily focuses on American and British music through billboard advertisements. While Sweden has already established itself as a producer of quality music and Finland is beginning to gain recognition, Iceland boasts the renowned artist Bjrk. However, Norway and Denmark have not managed to make an impact across the rest of Europe.

Creating and developing a project and tour like this comes with many risks. However, there are several important factors to consider. Firstly, the careful selection of event locations is crucial. It is necessary to evaluate if the venue is too big or too small and if it meets ticket sales expectations. Additionally, outdoor concerts can be cancelled due to inclement weather. In such cases, suitable compensation should be provided for ticket holders. Ultimately, not reaching the ticket sales target poses a significant risk that may lead to empty venues.

If our marketing efforts fail to reach our target audience, it could impact ticket sales. To address this, we can implement a pre-marketing plan that assesses interest in the tour and finds suitable venues.

Objectives

This program aims to:

1. Expand our national presence and make a widespread impact.
2. Target disadvantaged and marginalized groups.
3. Contribute to the social and economic development of Nordic music.

We also aim to foster cross-cultural cooperation within Scandinavian countries at regional and provincial levels. Additionally, we want to establish connections with countries in the Scandinavia Development Community, promote capacity building through institutional cooperation and cultural exchange programs, and address music education needs for specific target groups.Our main areas of focus include Education Projects, Documentation and Research, and

Exchange.Under Education Projects, we offer adult education on topics such as management, administration, legal matters, and commerce related to the music industry. We also provide training for teachers who teach music to children in primary and secondary schools.In addition to collaborating with the Department of Education and other curriculum development projects and pilot programs, our education services include conducting, composing, voice training, arts administration, and concert management. We also have Documentation and Research projects aimed at recording and safeguarding musical forms that may be in danger of disappearing due to limited exposure and education. Furthermore, we work towards making archival resources more accessible by offering them in various educational formats. Exchange plays a vital role in our programs as it allows us to establish connections and encourage the sharing of expertise among all partners involved in different program areas.

Projects are sought that address the following:

1. Interaction between Scandinavian countries and the rest of Europe and People of the rest of the world.
2. An exchange should directly serve the needs of a project, and should be initiated by the parties in the project.
3. An exchange could be an international show-casing event, which provide opportunities for opening the programmed to international networking and linkages.

Choral Music

Projects are sought that support the following: Various aspects of choral education and performance Festivals Projects are sought that address the following: The creation of forums to promote little-known and under-exposed music forms in the provinces. The further promotion of national music festivals throughout the country.

Risk management

A six destination world concert tour obviously involves six specific days or nights when the concerts are to take place and tickets will have been sold with a date, time

and place on them. The concert must be as close to for filling these as possible. Timings are a major risk to the project and need strict planning to ensure that the project runs to time.

Managing the project effectively involves utilizing time analysis and planning techniques such as Gantt charts and network diagrams. It is important to acknowledge that some tasks may encounter delays or problems that extend their completion time. To mitigate this risk and ensure minimal impact on the overall project, it is advisable to allocate extra time or a 'fudge factor' for each task. However, implementing this approach would result in increased duration and costs for the entire project. Nevertheless, prioritizing the well-being of performers throughout the tour remains crucial. Although there is a possibility of cancellation due to health issues, it is comparatively less likely when compared to other potential risks.

Introducing a tour doctor is an effective way to mitigate the project's risk and minimize the likelihood of it failing. While this may increase costs, it is a worthwhile investment compared to the potential expense of failure. Another option to consider is obtaining insurance that covers both performer health and project failures. However, there will always be some level of risk due to human factors. Nevertheless, as a project manager, implementing these measures guarantees project success. It is crucial to acknowledge that nearly all project tasks entail associated costs like labor, equipment rental, or poster printing.

The costs mentioned in this text may not be entirely predictable and there is a chance that they could surpass the expected amount. For instance, if there is an abrupt economic surge, workers in one of

the countries may demand higher wages. This would result in increased labor costs, which couldn't have been anticipated using financial risk management techniques.
To account for financially sensitive expenses like labor or fuel, it would be recommended to allocate an additional 10% in the budget. This extra amount will accommodate any potential cost escalations, including those mentioned earlier.

Quality management

Considering the nature of this project, certain approaches to quality management and quality assurance may not be as suitable as they would be in a factory setting with a dedicated quality manager.

One possible incorporation, although not fully utilized for this project, especially regarding the quality of the musical performance itself, is benchmarking. This technique could be employed to some extent. By establishing a standard to be maintained throughout the tour, if the performance falls below the benchmark, the project manager should intervene. To ensure the adoption of the benchmark throughout the entire tour, it would be beneficial to research benchmarks that other tour managers have adopted. Using their benchmarks as a starting point could be considered until a suitable benchmark is identified.

Primary research should be conducted after the first concert using questionnaires to identify areas for improvement or standards that need to be maintained. To determine the necessary tasks to complete the project, a work breakdown approach has been implemented to divide the work into smaller, more manageable tasks. According to Dennis Lock (1995) in "Project Management," a successful project work breakdown should be systematic, resulting in a logical and hierarchical structure. Therefore, the project work breakdown has been developed following Lock's guidelines. The project's scope is to plan an international music tour across six different locations without

specific details. Consequently, it was determined that three core tasks must be completed to successfully plan the tour: venue set-up, marketing elements, and travel arrangements. These elements allow the project to be systematically divided, encompassing all major tasks needed for successful completion.

The venue's set-up is considered essential and a core element for the success of the tour. Without venues, the tour cannot take place. The set-up involves various key tasks that must be completed. Travel arrangements are also crucial since the project entails an international music tour across 6 destinations. If not executed with precision, it could lead to project failure. Marketing aspects are recognized as a final integral part of the project. These activities include promotion, advertising, and public relations. The objective is to inform the target audience about the project and encourage them to purchase tickets for the music concerts.

To view the work breakdown structure constructed please refer to appendix (1.1). To view the plan constructed as a gantt chart, please refer to appendix (1.2). To view the plan constructed as a gantt chart alongside the activities, please refer to appendix (1.3). To view

the plan constructed as a pert chart, please refer to appendix (1.4). To view the projects critical tasks, please refer to appendix (1.5).

Costs and Resources

Costing for the proposed project has been established with the help of past data obtained from similar projects and by consulting professionals within the industry who provided estimates. Final figures were derived by applying Lock's (1995) approach of standardizing cost estimates and simply multiplying figures obtained for the cost of each task by 6. For example, research showed that the estimated standard cost of hiring a venue would be $15,000, and as the tour would comprise of six venues, this figure was multiplied by 6 to give the final cost of the task. After determining the cost of each task, the computer software package called Microsoft Project 98 was used to aid in calculating the overall cost of the project.

Furthermore, Microsoft Project 98 was utilized to allocate resources for individual activities and calculate the corresponding cost for each resource.