Publications

April 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Music Industry and the Internet, The

By: Bharat N. Anand and Estelle S. Cantillon

Discusses the impact of the Internet on the music industry from 1990 through 2003. Discusses the technology, new business models, and record companies' moves. Provides the necessary background to discuss such matters as well as to assess the strategies of the five... View Details

Keywords: Internet; Music Industry

Fast Answer

Music industry statistics

Where can I find data on the music/recording industry? Recording Industry Association of America: Key Statistics Statistical summaries on U.S. and worldwide record sales, and consumers of recorded music, marketing reports, and consumer... View Details

2002
Technical Note

The Recorded Music Industry

By: Marco Bertini, Victoria Carrión and Jose Luis Nueno

October 2009 (Revised March 2012)
Case

Nettwerk: Digital Marketing in the Music Industry

By: John A. Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

How is music marketed in the digital era? Nettwerk Music Group built on its foundation as a social, grassroots marketer of music and artists and emerged as a leader in the Internet-enabled social media environment. For most of the past decade Nettwerk CEO Terry McBride... View Details

Keywords: Music Entertainment; Product Marketing; Network Effects; Sales; Social and Collaborative Networks; Online Technology; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

April 2001
Case

Music Industry Update: April, 2001

By: Jan W. Rivkin

Updates BMG Entertainment. View Details

Keywords: Music Entertainment; Music Industry

16 May 2015
Blog Post

Using an MBA to Reimagine the Music Industry

through the case method? Our HBS Takeaways series is an effort to help prospective students understand life at HBS through the experiences of students who are about to graduate. Kiran Gandhi studied mathematics at Georgetown before pursuing a career in the View Details

27 Jan 2016
Blog Post

A Summer Internship in the Music Industry

From the time I arrived at HBS, I knew that my path to finding a summer internship wouldn’t be very traditional. Although I’ve managed to find others that share my career interests, working in the music View Details

October 2006 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Warner Music Group

TH Lee, a leading private equity firm, needs to decide whether to commit to the acquisition of AOL Time Warner's music group, and whether to commit the entire amount needed, $1.4 billion. The music industry has suffered greatly in recent years, largely as a result of... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Music Entertainment; Private Equity; Investment; Music Industry

May 2004 (Revised March 2005)
Case

Music Downloads

By: David B. Yoffie and Deborah Freier

Examines the competition between competing music formats. In the '90s, the MP3 format challenged the traditional means of music distribution by allowing for storage of near CD-quality recordings at 1/10th of their previous size. The threat to traditional distribution... View Details

Keywords: Disruption; Music Entertainment; Legal Liability; Distribution; Competition; Internet and the Web; Technology Adoption; Information Infrastructure; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

Find at Harvard

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

November 2024 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Cheerful Music

By: Shunyuan Zhang, Feng Zhu and Nancy Hua Dai

Established by Snow Jiang in 2019 in Shenzhen, China, Cheerful Music was a record label company that had created many hit songs in China. “Yi Xiao Jiang Hu,” its most famous hit song, gained billions of views on social media platforms in China and overseas as the... View Details

Keywords: Generative Ai; Music Entertainment; Global Strategy; Business Model; AI and Machine Learning; Market Entry and Exit; Music Industry; China; United Kingdom; London

September 2003
Teaching Note

Music Industry and the Internet, The (TN)

By: Bharat N. Anand and Estelle S. Cantillon

Teaching Note to (5-703-513). View Details

Keywords: Music Industry

17 Oct 2014
News

Addressing unmet needs in the music industry

Kiran Gandhi (MBA 2015) is thinking about ways to bring new leadership and innovation to the music industry. (Published October 2014) View Details

21 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

Music Downloads: Pirates—or Customers?

Carolina at Chapel Hill. Their paper, "The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales," caused a ruckus in the music industry not seen since the British invasion of the Beatles. Many recording... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Music; Music

October 2010
Teaching Note

Nettwerk: Digital Marketing in the Music Industry (TN)

By: John A. Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

Teaching Note for 510055. View Details

Keywords: Music Entertainment; Internet and the Web; Contracts; Arts; Projects; Venture Capital; Music Industry

March 2000 (Revised May 2000)
Case

Spec's Music (A)

By: John A. Davis and Susan Harmeling

Presents the story of a music retailer in Miami which started in the late 1940s, grew throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and went public in 1985 before experiencing a deep industry crisis in the mid-1990s. At issue in 1996 is whether the company should attempt to sell... View Details

Keywords: History; Family Business; Business Exit or Shutdown; Decision Choices and Conditions; Management Succession; Entrepreneurship; Crisis Management; Performance Improvement; Music Industry; Miami

January 2009 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Live Nation Faces the Music

By: Stephen P. Bradley, Frank Cespedes and Kerry Herman

In 2008, concert producer and promoter Live Nation faces a decision about its strategy in light of the tumultuous changes in the music industry and the increasing power of the major artists. As the music business once again recreates itself in response to new... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Music Entertainment; Five Forces Framework; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

January 2009
Supplement

Live Nation Faces the Music (B)

By: Stephen P. Bradley, Frank V. Cespedes and Kerry Herman

In 2008, concert producer and promoter Live Nation, faces a decision about its strategy in light of the tumultuous changes in the music industry and the increasing power of the major artists. As the music business once again recreates itself in response to new... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Transformation; Revenue; Framework; Five Forces Framework; Demand and Consumers; Industry Structures; Relationships; Opportunities; Power and Influence; Business Strategy; Music Industry