...RADIOHEAD’S “IN RAINBOWS” RELEASE STRATEGY Radiohead is releasing their new album “In Rainbows” in an unusual way: The band manufactured, distributed and promoted their music without a record label; they allowed the customer to “price” the digital album by themselves and sold a deluxe CD set version at $80. In order to evaluate the extent to which this strategy may influence on record companies and on the entire record industry, we need to estimate its impacts on the artists and the music audiences. While Radiohead’s release plan may have some certain influences on record labels, those impacts are not big enough to be considered a threat to the record industry. Impacts on artists: Some record companies may worry that Radiohead’s strategy would encourage more artists to self-publish and self-promote their album as it may help artists earn more profit margins, which would render record labels obsolete. However, this claim is not necessarily true and it might be a risk for artists to follow Radiohead’s strategy. As Radiohead let people decide on their album’s price, there are risks that many people will not pay anything for the digital downloads. The estimated ratio of 20 illegal downloads for very track sold suggests that majority of people are unwilling to pay for music downloads. Thus it is unlikely that Radiohead’s earnings from digital downloads would offset the band’s costs. Radiohead also tried to make profit by offering a deluxe box set at a costly price. Though the...
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...E-Business Technologies The affects of the iPod on music industry Table of Contents Section 1: Introduction Page 4 Section 2: Technology Adoption Page 4 Section 3: Value Chain Page 5 Section 4: Relationships Page 6 Section 5: Conclusion Page 7 Section 6: References Page 7 Introduction The purpose of this report is to discuss the functions and features of Apple’s innovative MP3 player. I will be relating to the Schumpeterian model, as to how the iPod led to rapid mainstream adoption, whilst similar products failed. I will also consider the opportunities which promoted this device and the challenges that the Apple iPod currently face, highlighting the effects on the traditional music industry value chain, compared to the current value chain. In addition, I will discuss how the iPod developed working relationships which has assisted in Apple’s e-business success. I will then finish by concluding my findings. Technology Adoption The Schumpeterian model looks at the relationship between technological innovation and business activity. According to Perez (2002) there are five typical stages of each wave, which I will briefly describe. Irruption The Apple iPod was launched in 2001, a sleek and stylish MP3 player with an easy user interface, compressing digital audio files the iPod holds up to 1,000 songs...
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...Revolution In Digital Music Distribution Introduction Thesis Statement: Technological advancement has made the music industry got transformed overnight with the invention of the MP3 format compression technology and the introduction of the Internet file sharing services like Napster, Gnutella, and Scour thus seeing the major music labels taking almost anyone that is into digital music to court. The potential fear that led to the court actions center on how the music labels can possibly make any money if music becomes available in digital format for free. The question therefore is that if music is available free of cost, why would anyone pay for it? Could Napster conveniently say that it is indeed the first technology development to provide access to music content for free? Purpose of Study: This paper establishes the following: the industry conditions that led to the revolution in audio distribution while identifying which stakeholders are benefiting most or least; the reasons that made the music stores to attract many subscribers and what if any the record labels should have done differently; determine, if Apple allows its iPods to play non-iTunes songs, how long the success of iPods and iTunes endures; why musicians should sign away their copyright privileges to their songs through creative commons; and how podcasting would likely impact the appropriability of recorded music, radio broadcasting or other types of audio transmission. Overview of the Paper In 1991,...
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...Garrett 1 Instructor Barb Gerber WRA 150 5 October 2011 The IPods Impact on Society “Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works.” (Issacson). This is a famous quote by Steve Jobs. The project was a secret. Other then Steve Jobs and a few other apple executives nobody knew what it was. The code name was P-68 (Knopper). The IPod was introduced to the public in 2001. At first, it was only compatible with Mac computers, but two years later, the iPod could be used with any type of computer. This caused sales to skyrocket! Steve Jobs worked with apple inc. to come up with the IPod. Although Apple was not the first to come up with the idea of an mp3 player, no other mp3 player has ever been as big of a hit. Sony and a few other companies had come up with digital music players a few years prior, but their versions were more expensive and could not hold nearly the amount of songs as the IPod could. The IPod was the first mp3 player to really succeed because people loved the idea. Not only was the IPod a convenient way to store music, It was a social and fashion statement. The IPod changed everything about society. Think about how technology, fashion, and the Internet have changed since the IPod. The ads were genius, making the Garrett 2 IPod an irresistible necessity. Marketing caused the IPod to be “cool” and every one wanted one. The IPod has changed society in more ways then anyone could have imagined, but not all of the changes are positive...
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...rivalry among competitors in the industry 6 Structure of industry 6 Conclusion 7 List of References 9 Bibliography 10 Appendix 1 11 Introduction For this assignment I will be investigating the structure and analysing the environment of the music retailing industry. To analysis the industry I will be using three main techniques. These techniques will be a macro and micro environment analysis, porter’s five forces and a PESTEL analysis. Microenvironment The microenvironment is the environment which has a direct effect on the business or industry, such as customers, staff, rivals and etc. The microenvironment is also not confined to one country either because in today’s market suppliers for example often come from all over the world. The effect of the microenvironment is often what leads a business to be a success or failure. The main players in the music retailing industry are Apple, Amazon and HMV (Datamonitor, 2007). The biggest and most recently change in the music industry has been its distribution channels. The only way music could once be purchased was through buying a CD from a music retailer. Now music can be downloaded via a computer, mobile phone etc. The online distribution of music has been such a strong factor it has forced the industry to reconsider and change its distribution channels (Meisel & Sullivan, 2002). 30% of all music purchases are now done through an online retailer such as apple, amazon etc (IFPI, 2011). ITunes which is owned by Apple who...
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...The Impact of the Internet on the Music Industry: Downloadable Music VS. Records Table of Contents * Introduction 3 * Music Label Industry Analysis 5 * EMI Group Unlimited Business Description 7 * Record Label Business Model 8 * Record Label History 10 * Record Label SWOT Analysis 11 * Downloadable Music Business Description 14 * Downloadable Music Business Model 14 * Downloadable Music History 15 * Competing Online Services 15 * Financial Analysis 16 * The Future of The Music Industry 19 * Conclusion 21 * References 21 The Impact of the Internet on the Music Industry: The Record Label VS. Downloadable Music It was only a short time ago that record stores like Specs and FYE were littered across the country, stocked from wall to wall with all the latest albums from your favorite bands and all sorts of music paraphernalia. People like me would have stacks of compact discs or binders full of the music they owned ready to go wherever they went. Before them there were cassette tapes, and before that vinyl records. If you were lucky enough to be a signed musician, you were a star destined for fame and fortune with thousands if not millions of loyal supporters buying your album and following you on tour. Most importantly for the purpose of this paper, the record labels were some of the wealthiest companies in the entertainment...
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... The media industry has changed in the past twenty years in so many ways, most for the better but, in some cases, for negative reasons. Since the late 1990’s, society has witnessed the blow up of the internet allowing people from all over the world to access and research many different things, the influx of mobile phones and the advantage it has had on the people, the many different game consoles around and other things such as the transition between VHS to DVD’s and the introduction of BluRay and Bluetooth. Two major impacts on the media industry for both positive and negative effects, have been the iPod and the music sensation, Spotify. Both have created a large hype within the media industry for several different reasons, and are both appreciated and cursed by the audience of today. Spotify is a downloadable window, where if you have internet connection, you are able to stream music for free. There are many positive effects that come with Spotify. You are able to listen to music anywhere, due to a new app that can be downloaded to any Android phone. On Spotify, there are two different subscriptions that are available. One can either pay for “The Ultimate” or “The Premium” or, alternatively, one can opt out of subscription, pay nothing, and have ten hours of free streaming per month. These options are appreciated by today’s music listeners as they are able to decide which one best suits them and caters best...
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...demonstrating high level of user-friendliness, industrial design and technical elegance. Constantly innovating and differentiating its products from its competitors, Apple enjoys a reputation of being a revolutionary and versatile company in the industry. Apple also controlled its products software licensing and peripherals where they directly produce their own computers, their own operating system, and own suite of software, ports and even mouse. This allowed seamless and non-disruptive design concepts making Apple a choice for users demanding unique and beautifully designed machines. While the strict controls of Apple software and peripherals allowed Apple to create a preferred user experience, it is also arguably a weakness that has greatly restricted the rate of penetration of Macintosh in the personal computer industry during the Apple’s OS war with Microsoft. Apple placed great emphasis in marketing, research and development- perhaps the most important factors that allow Apple to create and sustain its loyal following. In marketing, John Sculley, the man behind the Pepsi’s challenge campaign was invited to the board and subsequently replaced Steve jobs, demonstrating Apple’s early emphasis in marketing. A higher than industry level of revenue was also channeled to research and development, allowing Apple to create its own suite of software and hardware that offers greater functionality with user friendly interface to out-pit arch rival Microsoft who has a wider availability...
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...by a small device that is portable and one can carry it around everywhere. The users have internet on their pockets (Reed, 2010). The Smartphone is more than a phone and more than a computer. In America, today, 42% of phone users have Smart phones. Smartphone became a revolutionary innovation when Apple released its first generation of Iphone (Reed, 2010). This became a benchmark for Smartphone makers to adhere to in order to gain the market share in the Smartphone market. Today each company is trying to come up with the best smart phones so as to be able to compete with others. IPhone reinvented a Smartphone in 2007. Nowadays, most Smart phones support a number of applications that users can download. For example, Apple’s App Store on iTunes enables program users and developers to download and upload over 300, applications to use (Job, 2010). They have applications of different purposes such as education, games, medication and finance. These applications attract different kinds of users since they are straightforward and frequently used. Effects to the society The smart phone makes lives to be easier for its users. They are advanced such that someone can do...
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...Throughout the times music has advanced in many different forms, evolved into unique styles and altered societal behaviors for both the good and the bad. Developments from the phonograph to the radio and now the IPod have made it extremely easy for listeners to become more engaged in their music. Each new development has led society to listen to music in a different way, thus changing the way we perceive music and the role that it plays in our lives. The advent of the technological era in the 1990’s has created a global marketplace where individuals have access to all different kinds of audio files at any time. With the world becoming more and more commercialized, countless numbers of corporations are now involved in the music and recording industries. The largest of them all is Apple. Known as an innovative corporation, Apple has been controlling the way most people listen and interact with the audio world since its creation of the iPod. After the release date of the IPod, November 10, 2001, listening to your favorite music became easier than ever before. The main goal Apple was shooting for when creating the personal digital device was to create an extremely simple user interface and sleek design many users would appreciate. Many people who were walking around with a Walkman, or seemed uninterested in owning a digital MP3 device now own an IPod. The product line has grown so large that businesses and educational institutions accept it as a useful tool. For example, a college...
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...The advent of the internet has had a profound effect on countless aspects of our lives. Since the internet’s commercialization and availability to the general public in 1995, its impact and influence on our culture and commerce has been immeasurable. Nearly every industry has been affected to some extent or another by the widespread use of the internet. The entertainment industry has received seemingly endless media coverage pertaining to the industry’s adaptation, or lack of adaptation, to the new age of the internet. The entertainment industry (also informally known as show business or show biz) is a broad term for the industry of providing entertainment, which includes the sub-industries of radio, television, film, music, and theatre. This industry has gone through an enormous transformation since the internet’s inception in 1995. The internet continues to pose many challenges and opportunities to the industry. This paper will examine the impact, both positive and negative, that the internet has on the entertainment industry. Media coverage indicates that, among the entertainment industry, the film and music industries have been most affected by the World Wide Web. However, the other forms of the entertainment world have, albeit to a lesser extent, been affected as well. The least affected area of show business is theatre. The very nature of theatre is to view a performance live and in-person. There are websites, such as Arte Live Web, that do broadcast live theatre...
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...the most remarkable businessmen in recent history, has had the most significant impact on American society because of his company’s contributions to the tech world: Apple revolutionized music, computing and the cell phone industry. Listening to music before the twentieth century was complicated, exasperating, and dull until the creation of digital music. If a person was interested in new music, he/she would have to “go to a local music store, buy a CD of the whole album, take it home, and play it on the stereo system [...] if he wanted to listen to the album away from home, he would take the CD with him and play it on a portable CD player” (“iTunes changes the model for music distribution”). The stereo system was...
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...Case study 2: The death of the iPod Module 2 - External environment Identify the industry, product segment and value chain Apple is a company based in the United States. Apple designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers and portable digital music players, and sells a variety of related software. mobile communication and media devices What is the current life cycle of the industry? Currently in the decline or renewal stage if its life cycle. What have been the key issues affecting historical industry growth? What was their impact? Key issues influencing historical industry growth using TEMPLES model |Factor |Issue |Nature of impact (+/=/-) | |Technology |Internet has enabled downloading and files sharing of music across the world. |+ | | | | | | | | | |Economy |Dotcom bubble |- | | | |...
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...identify the positives and negatives inside and outside of your organization. Program directors, policy groups and management teams can use this resource to help with both strategic planning and decision-making. A SWOT analysis will provide perspective, and reveal connections and areas for action. (Strategic Management, 1993). Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat. A SWOT analysis guides you to identify the positives and negatives inside your organization (S-W) and outside of it, in the external environment (O-T). Developing a full awareness of your situation can help with both strategic planning and decision-making. (Strategic Management, 1993). The SWOT method (which is sometimes called TOWS) was originally developed for business and industry, but it is equally useful in the work of community health and development, education, and even personal growth. (Strategic Management, 1993). SWOT is not the only assessment technique you can use, but is one with a long track record of effectiveness. Compare it with other tools found in the Community Tool Box (especially Chapter 3) to determine if this is the right approach for your situation. The strengths of this method are its simplicity and application to a variety of levels of operation. (Strategic Management, 1993). SWOT analysis is a method for analyzing a business, its resources, and its environment.(Strategic Thinking,2000) SWOT is commonly used as part of strategic planning and looks at: * Internal strengths * Internal...
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...buying Beats is best summed up by Tim Cook - “Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple, that’s why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world.” iTunes moved music purchases from CDs to the online platform in 2000. For the first time in 2013, iTunes music sales declined, this downward trend has continued. The fall has been largely attributable to the rising popularity of online streaming music platforms such as Pandora and Spotify. A similar amount of money to buy one track on iTunes can purchase a one month subscription to millions of tracks on Spotify. Beats has a music streaming platform similar to Pandora and Spotify. By merging with Beats, Apple will be able to tap into the music streaming business. However, some analysts doubt whether Apple needs Beats to achieve this, questioning why Apple doesn’t attempt to develop a similar or better streaming platform internally. Speculation has it that Apple is buying the talent of Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre to help them grow their entertainment sector as a whole. Regardless of whether Apple is interested in Beat’s streaming business or their talented leaders, Apple has faith that Beats will bring new innovation, creativity and value to the company. How can Apple create value from Beats With music one of the key foundations of Apple’s business...
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