Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(487)
- Faculty Publications (125)
- October 2019 (Revised February 2023)
- Case
Gupta Media: Performance Marketing in the Digital Age
By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Courtney Han
Gupta Media is a Digital Marketing firm started in 2005 that places advertisements and marketing promotions for its clients in digital media, mainly social media such as Facebook and Google. Over the years it had built its expertise in promoting music labels, artists... View Details
- October 2019
- Case
Street Symphony: Making Human Connections Through Music
By: Rohit Deshpandé
To Vijay Gupta, music was sacred. A highly accomplished and renowned violinist with The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gupta believed the act of making and performing music was a deeply spiritual practice — one that had the power to heal audiences and musicians... View Details
- October 2019 (Revised December 2019)
- Case
Swizz Beatz
By: Boris Groysberg, Annelena Lobb and Sarah Mehta
This case explores the life and career of rapper and music producer Swizz Beatz. Set in 2019, it covers the evolution of Swizz’s musical career and his new venture into the commercial art market. View Details
- October 2019 (Revised December 2019)
- Case
Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys: A Power Couple
By: Boris Groysberg, Annelena Lobb and Sarah Mehta
Set in 2018, this case follows married couple and music industry titans Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys as they consider how best to use their platforms to achieve their goals. Since achieving professional success in the music industry early in their lives, Swizz and Keys... View Details
- September 2019
- Case
Alicia Keys
By: Boris Groysberg, Annelena Lobb and Sarah Mehta
This case explores the life and career of Alicia Keys, the 15-time Grammy winning singer-songwriter and producer. Set in 2019, it covers the evolution of Keys’s 18-year musical career and additional passions, including acting, entrepreneurship, social justice activism,... View Details
- January 2019 (Revised March 2021)
- Case
SoundCloud: Subscription Streaming?
Established in 2007, SoundCloud already boasted the second largest number of active music listeners among all streaming services and was recognized as the go-to platform for new artists by early 2014. Yet, its founders were questioning the robustness of the firm’s... View Details
Keywords: Audio; Recording; Artist; Music; Music Downloads; Streaming; Radio; Subscription; Subscription Model; Mainstream; Growth; Lawsuit; Licensing; Customers; Platform; Pivot; Music Entertainment; Strategy; Leadership; Business Model; Decision Making; Advertising; Digital Platforms; Music Industry; Europe; Germany; Sweden; United States
- June 2017
- Case
AKB48: Going Global? (A)
By: Juan Alcácer, Kotaro Sasamoto, Tee Chayakul and Mayuka Yamazaki
After a remarkable success in Japan, the producer of the Japanese female singing group AKB48 evaluates market opportunities overseas for his artistic creation. This case introduces the business model behind the AKB48 concept and allows students to identify what... View Details
Keywords: Brand Building; Brand Extension; Culture-based Products; Global Products; Differentiation; Intellectual Property; International Business; Local Products; Strategy; Value Capture; Market Entry and Exit; Music Entertainment; Business Model; Global Strategy; Global Range; Brands and Branding; Value Creation; Expansion; Music Industry; Japan; China; Indonesia; Taiwan; Philippines; Thailand; South Korea
- June 2017 (Revised December 2017)
- Case
CJ E&M: KCON Goes Global
By: Elie Ofek and Michael Norris
In January of 2017, CJ Entertainment & Media (E&M) proudly announced that it will be holding its first ever KCON in Mexico City just two months later. CJ Group Chairman Jay Lee and Vice Chairwoman Miky Lee are pleased at the progress that KCON, a Korean-oriented music... View Details
- December 2016
- Article
The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales, Revisited
By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Koleman Strumpf
Even as we approach the twentieth anniversary of widespread file sharing, its impact on the sale of copyrighted material remains in dispute. We contributed to this debate with an early study, “The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales: An Empirical Analysis,” that was... View Details
- October 2016 (Revised July 2017)
- Case
The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra: Cultural Entrepreneurship
By: Rohit Deshpande and Annelena Lobb
The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (LA Phil), under the leadership of Deborah Borda, had enjoyed great successes in the 2000s and 2010s, even as other U.S. orchestras faltered. The architecturally acclaimed Walt Disney Concert Hall had opened its doors. The... View Details
- July 2016 (Revised June 2019)
- Case
Hamilton: An American Musical
By: Anita Elberse and Jennifer Schoppe
In July 2013, composer, writer, actor and rapper Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Tommy Kail, and producer Jeffrey Seller met to discuss how to launch Hamilton, a new musical based on the life of the first Treasury Secretary of the United States, Alexander Hamilton.... View Details
Keywords: Entertainment; Creative Industries; Performing Arts; (General) Management; Blockbusters; Non-profit; Theater Entertainment; Strategy; Risk Management; Nonprofit Organizations; Arts; Creativity; Product Launch; Product Development; Marketing; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States
- July 2016
- Case
Spotify
By: Anita Elberse and Alexandre de Pfyffer
In November 2014, Spotify's chief content officer Ken Parks learns that record label Big Machine Records has requested the immediate removal of superstar artist Taylor Swift's entire catalogue from Spotify's music streaming service. Is it time for Spotify to reconsider... View Details
Keywords: Entertainment; Marketing; Superstar; Music; Entertainment Marketing; Media; Digital Technology; Creative Industries; Product Portfolio Management; General Management; Management; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Open Source Distribution; Creativity; Music Entertainment; Product Marketing; Music Industry
- June 17, 2016
- Comment
Companies Need to Start Marketing Security to Customers
By: John A. Quelch
Recent events in Orlando underscore an important marketing truth: consumer safety and security are mission critical. A popular nightclub, Pulse, known as a safe place for the LGBT community, is put out of business at least temporarily by a terrorist act. Not far away... View Details
Keywords: Consumer Safety; Public Safety; Brand Attraction; Risk Management; Safe Environment Benefit; Marketing Safety; Global Brands; Advertising; Change Management; Disruption; Volatility; Crime and Corruption; Customers; Music Entertainment; Animation Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Problems and Challenges; Safety; Corporate Strategy; Business Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States
- February 2016 (Revised March 2017)
- Case
Regulating Radio in the Age of Broadcasting
By: David Moss, Marc Campasano and Colin Donovan
When the Titanic tragically sank on April 15, 1912, potentially life-saving help was delayed as a result of failures in radio communication. In part as a result, Congress moved swiftly to regulate radio, passing the Radio Act of 1912 four months later. Although at... View Details
- November 2015
- Case
Wynton Marsalis & Jazz at Lincoln Center
By: Rohit Deshpandé
Under the leadership of artistic director Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) hosts performances and education events year-round for audiences in New York and across the United States. Despite the popularity of JALC's events, however, the U.S. audience for... View Details
- October 2015
- Case
BandPage (A)
By: Karim R. Lakhani, Colin Maclay and Greta Friar
BandPage CEO James "J" Sider is about to receive results from BandPage's targeted advertising campaign on music streaming service Rhapsody and learn whether BandPage's strategy to improve ad click through rates and generate revenue has succeeded. BandPage, which began... View Details
- July 2015 (Revised January 2020)
- Case
Horst Dassler, Adidas, and the Commercialization of Sport
By: Geoffrey Jones, Michael Norris and Sophi Kim
The case focuses on the career of Horst Dassler, the son of the founder of the German-based sports shoe manufacturer Adidas. The origins of the firm were in the interwar years, and it rose to public prominence after it provided spikes for Jesse Owens, the famous... View Details
Keywords: Corruption; Economic History; Business History; Entertainment; Business; Strategy; Media; Digital Technology; Blockbuster; Superstar; Film; Television; Music; Publishing; Performing Arts; Nightlife; Crime and Corruption; Entrepreneurship; Globalization; History; Sports; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Germany; South America; Europe; Asia; North and Central America
- February 2015
- Case
TouchTunes and the Connected Digital Jukebox Platform
By: Alan MacCormack and Noah Fisher
The case describes innovation and new product development at TouchTunes, the leader in the Digital Jukebox market. In March 2013, after releasing its innovative "Virtuo" jukebox developed in collaboration with frog design, TouchTunes was at a crossroads. Having... View Details
- January 2015 (Revised April 2018)
- Case
CJ E&M: Creating a K-Culture in the U.S.
By: Elie Ofek, Sang-Hoon Kim and Michael Norris
Buoyed by the success of K-pop music and K-drama television shows in Asian countries, Chairman Jay Lee, of the South Korean conglomerate CJ Group, believed that the time was ripe for taking Korean cultural content to the West. One initiative, carried out by the Group's... View Details
Keywords: Cultural Consumption; Media Businesses; International Marketing; Event Marketing; Creative Industries; Cross-cultural Adaptation; Ethnic Marketing; South Korea; Marketing Strategy; Entertainment; Global Strategy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States; South Korea