Publications

August 2009 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Pandora: Royalties Kill the Web Radio Star? (A)

By: Robert C. Pozen and Alex Curtis Rosenfeld

Joe Kennedy, president and CEO of Pandora, one of the largest and most popular web (Internet) radio broadcasters, had just received bad news. The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) had announced its decision to increase the royalties required to be paid by the web radio... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Copyright; Laws and Statutes; Rights; Internet and the Web; Media and Broadcasting Industry

February 2014
Case

Interview with Joe Kennedy, Pandora Media

By: Willy C. Shih

Joe Kennedy is the emeritus president of Pandora Media. In this interview, he discusses some of the challenges he faced in leading the company. View Details

Keywords: Pandora; Internet Radio; Pandora Media; Streaming; Music Industry; Music Entertainment; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Internet and the Web; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States; California

June 2007 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Opening Pandora's Box

By: Willy C. Shih, Stephen P. Kaufman, Melissa Marie Blakeley and Marissa Wairy Dent

Pandora.com provided a highly customizable online radio service tailored to listeners' musical preferences and had registered explosive growth since its September 2005 launch. But proposed changes in royalty rates threatened to kill off many Internet radio sites,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Intellectual Property; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; Internet; Media and Broadcasting Industry

01 Dec 2017
News

2017 in Media: Courting the Cord-Cutters

networks and radio stations. Linear programming won’t disappear—people will always want to watch sports content, for instance, in real time—but as most other content moves to an on-demand model, it will be difficult for advertisers to... View Details

Keywords: Laura Martin (MBA 1983) , entertainment and internet analyst, Needham & Company

March 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Pandora Radio: Fire Unprofitable Customers?

By: Willy C. Shih and Halle Alicia Tecco

Pandora Radio is at a crossroads. Founder Tim Westergren has just been told by a well known VC to get rid of his unprofitable customers in order to get his costs down, but Westergren is not sure that such actions are consistent with his company's business model.... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Satisfaction; Music Entertainment; Venture Capital; Profit; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Internet; Media and Broadcasting Industry

01 Nov 2012
HBS Seminar

Joel Waldfogel, University of Minnesota

12 Feb 2020
News

Michael Norton Explains 'Boaty McBoatface,’ And The Risks Of Consumer Voting

2021
Article

Aggregate Advertising Expenditure in the U.S. Economy: Measurement and Growth Issues in the Digital Era

By: Alvin J. Silk and Ernst R. Berndt

The two components of the advertising industry—the creative sector that develops and produces messages, and the communications sector that transmits messages via various media—have each been greatly affected by advances in creative design and communications... View Details

Keywords: Industry Evolution; Advertising; Spending; Measurement and Metrics; Mathematical Methods; Media; Advertising Industry; United States

October 2021
Article

Can Self-Regulation Save Digital Platforms?

By: Michael A. Cusumano, Annabelle Gawer and David B. Yoffie

This article explores some of the critical challenges facing self-regulation and the regulatory environment for digital platforms. We examine several historical examples of firms and industries that attempted self-regulation before the Internet. All dealt with similar... View Details

Keywords: Self-regulation; Government Regulation; Digital Platforms; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

2020
Working Paper

Aggregate Advertising Expenditure in the U.S. Economy: What's Up? Is It Real?

By: Alvin J. Silk and Ernst R. Berndt

The two components of the advertising industry—the creative sector that develops and produces messages, and the communications sector that transmits messages via various media—have each been greatly affected by advances in creative design and communications... View Details

Keywords: Economy; Advertising; Spending; Media

Read Now

July 2017 (Revised November 2017)
Case

'Clarín Lies!': Bias, Post-Truth, and Populism in Argentina's Media War

By: Rafael Di Tella, Jose Liberti and Sarah McAra

In 2012, Argentine media conglomerate Grupo Clarín and President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner were embroiled in what some called “the mother of all battles.” Grupo Clarín was one of the preeminent media companies in Argentina, with leading newspapers, cable... View Details

Keywords: Media Regulation; Media; Government and Politics; Policy; Newspapers; Government Legislation; Business and Government Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Monopoly; Journalism and News Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Argentina

16 Aug 2006
Research & Ideas

Is MySpace.com Your Space?

Magazine about the role of the MySpace site, they claimed that the site had originally been created by their fans. "We were on the news and radio about how MySpace has helped us. But that's just the perfect example of someone who... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Advertising; Information; Publishing

August 1999 (Revised October 1999)
Case

RCA Records: The Digital Revolution

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

In 1995, Bertelsmann-owned RCA Records was considered a "tired and old" record label. By 1999, the company represented a number of the "hottest" acts in the music industry. Nevertheless, the company's position (as well as that of the entire music industry) was under... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Business Model; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Internet and the Web; Change Management; Marketing Strategy; Music Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

November 2008 (Revised August 2011)
Case

UnME Jeans: Branding in Web 2.0

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Jill Avery

This case introduces emerging Web 2.0 social media in virtual worlds, social networking sites, and video-sharing sites and encourages students to explore the opportunities and risks they present for brands. The case allows students to grapple with the strategic and... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Risk and Uncertainty; Social and Collaborative Networks; Internet and the Web; Apparel and Accessories Industry

October 2007
Article

The Art of Designing Markets

By: Alvin E. Roth

Traditionally, markets have been viewed as simply the confluence of supply and demand. But to function properly, they must be able to attract a sufficient number of buyers and sellers, induce participants to make their preferences clear, and overcome congestion by... View Details

Keywords: Market Design; Market Participation; Market Transactions; Information Technology; Internet and the Web