El Derecho Internacional Humanitario DIH es un sistema de protección, está directamente relacionado con la dignidad humana de las personas y con la posibilidad que ellas tienen de gozar de su vida, integridad y demás derechos, inclusive en situaciones de conflicto armado

This dissertation aims at gaining an understanding about the current conceptualization that the music industry has regarding music artists as brands, in order to bridge the gap between the consumer goods’ branding theory, the arts branding literature and the music business’ reality. Although the body of literature pertaining to arts marketing is vast (O’Reilly, 2011), the one related to arts branding is small. Moreover, when it comes to music artists branding, the academic works are even scarcer. A definition of music artists brands, and related constructs such as music artists brand identity, music artists image, music artists brand loyalty and brand equity have not yet been presented by the literature. Pervaded by Cultural branding principles and by adopting Grounded theory, this research conceptualizes music artists as brands through the perspectives of nine music industry’s professionals. Based on unstructured interviews conducted with these practitioners, the concept of music artists as brands is contextualized within the decline of record sales during the 2000s. Music artists brands are characterized as multidimensional constructs understood as systems of values and experiences that foreground their identity upon the artists’ songs and human essence. Moreover, music artists are brands that are constructed following a Brand-orientation approach (Urde, 1999) and for which, in response to the culture of contemporary society, the image is constituted solely on visual elements. Aligned with Cultural branding, music artists are conceptualized as entities, which are socially constructed and found their value upon their fans. This co-creation of the brand frames the music industry within a service-dominant logic (Vargo and Lusch, 2004) in which the delivery of experiences is fundamental (Iglesias et al, 2011). This research positions brand alliances between artists and commercial brands as an implicit element of the definition of music artists brands, their brand identity and brand equity. Furthermore, as an implied aspect of these constructs, co-branding alliances are placed as enhancers of the music industry’s short and long-term sustainability. Lastly, contrary to common statements found in the literature, a harmonious coexistence between art, brands, artists and commercialization is acknowledged by this dissertation.