Music and aural elements: how and why can they be used for internal corporate communication? I looked into this question last year while writing my diploma thesis entitled “Music in internal corporate communication”. The task of incorporating music and aural elements into an internal corporate culture has proven to be much more difficult than it seemed to be at first. If music is to be used in a corporate setting, there are numerous aspects which need to be kept in mind to make sure that both employee and employer are satisfied.

As it was, it took me all of a year to arrive at that conclusion. It all started when I was looking for a suitable research topic for my diploma thesis. At the time, I hadn’t yet found a subject area which truly piqued my interest. Then, while searching the ‘Net, I came across a research position on a topic that immediately caught my attention, namely “Music in internal corporate communication”.

Eureka, I thought. I’d found a topic that I was interested in, and which also happened to be one that had not yet received a lot of attention by students in my discipline.  I submitted an application for the position, and was accepted immediately. I started my research right away, working with the support of an agency which helped me with research and in suggestions for drafting an outline.
As my research progressed, my attempt at examining the topic from the perspective of communication management proved to be an extremely difficult task. Not only did I have to examine the aspects of functional music, it was even more essential that I focus on determining which roles music and other aural elements can play in corporate social networks and communication processes.

It turned out that by focusing my thesis as I did, I was treading radically new paths for my course of studies and my own skills. The practical result of being a pioneer was that I had to delve into completely new academic disciplines, and continually work at convincing my professor of the validity of my approach and hypotheses.

Unsurprisingly, the research and writing process was fraught with a plethora of irritations, not to mention stress. Despite the difficulties, however—ranging from a lack of professional literature on the topic (the greatest obstacle) to differences of opinion with my readers (the second most serious) to a lack of time—in the end I was able to write a thesis that while not earth shaking, is one I’m proud to show others, and which may well help shed some light on the use of music and aural elements in internal corporate communication.

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