66261 - Laboratory of Management of Music and New Media

Academic Year 2022/2023

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Innovation and Organization of Culture and the Arts (cod. 0902)

Learning outcomes

The student is expected to understanding the functions and processes of transformations within the recording industry and the innovations connected to new ditigal technologies applied to creative industries.

Course contents

Session 1: Tuesday 20 September (9-12) – Aula P Belmeloro

Changes in the Media Arena

  • What drives change in the Media Arena?
  • Introduction to the Attention Economy
  • The Evolution of the media value chain
  • Blockbusters Strategies vs Long-tail
  • 2022: the return of the Blockbusters?

Discussion

Reading Material

“Tarzan Economics” (chapter 2-3), Will Page, Simon & Schuster, 2021

“Blockbusters” (chapter 1), Anita Elberse, Faber & Faber, 2013

“Should you invest in the long tail?”, Anita Elberse, Harvard Business Review, July-August 2008

 

Session 2: Thursday 22 September (9-12) – Aula P Belmeloro

Spotify: Disrupting the music industry

  • Recorded Music Industry: introduction
    • Industry timeline
    • Market size
    • The Value Chain of Music Industry: Key Actors
  • Case Study Introduction. Spotify: disrupting the music industry
    • Streaming: key concepts
    • Streaming: misconceptions

  • Spotify’s success and competition
  • Spotify’s Business Model

Group Discussion

Teaching material:

Case Study: “Spotify: Face the Music (Update 2021)” (Govert Vroom, Isaac Sastre Boquet, IESE Business School, 2021)

 

 Session 3: Tuesday 27 September (9-12) – Aula P Belmeloro

Record Companies: re-inventing themselves in the new

  • Intro: Music Labels. What they are, their role, their future
  • Guest: Daniele Demartini (CFO and HR Director – Universal Music Group Italy)
    • The evolution of the music market in Italy
    • The evolution of the role of record companies

 

 Session 4: Thursday 29 September (9-12) – Aula P Belmeloro

Music Streaming: The road to profitability

  • The increase in competition
  • The reasons and the risks of diversifications
  • Which future for Spotify?

    Teaching material:

    Case Study: “Spotify: Face the Music (Update 2021)” (Govert Vroom, Isaac Sastre Boquet, IESE Business School, 2019).

    Group Discussion

  • New trends in the audio industry

 

Session 5: Thursday 6 October (13-16) – Aula VIII Berti Pichat

Netflix: Disrupting the video industry

  • Introduction: from television to total video
  • OTT: definition and different typologies
  • Evolution of a business model: Netflix, disrupting digital streaming

Group Discussion

Teaching material:

Case Study: “Netflix: Disrupting Digital Streaming” (Siddarth Rawat, Essec Business School, 2017).

 

Session 6: Monday 10 October (9-12) – Aula P Belmeloro

From Growth to Profitability: Focus on Monetization Models

  • Beyond SVOD: emerging monetization models
  • Introduction to FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television)
  • Guest: Cristiano Girola (Content Director Southern Europe Pluto – Paramount)
    • Peculiarities of FASTs and Pluto business and programming model

 

Session 7: Thursday 13 October (9-12) – Aula P Belmeloro

OTT: succeeding in a more and more competitive market

  • Media companies entering the streaming market: the Disney+ case study
  • Competition Overview: the main players

Group Discussion

Teaching material:

Case Study “Disney enters streaming space: can it disrupt the disruptor?” (Syeda Maseeha Oumer and Dwebapratim Purkayastha, IBS Center for Management Research, 2019).


Session 8: Monday 17 October (9-12) – Aula P Belmeloro

The quest for people’s attention

  • Evolution of a business model: Netflix
  • Can Netflix maintain its strategic advantage?

    Group Discussion

  • Why do tech companies invest in content?
  • How are the business models of tech companies changing?
  • A more and more bundled world

    Group Discussion
  • Wrap up and Conclusions: takeaways from this course

Teaching material:

Case Study: “Netflix: Disrupting Digital Streaming” (Siddarth Rawat, Essec Business School, 2017).

Case Study: “Netflix: Will Content Be Enough?” (Mary Kelly, Christopher Swann, Ivey Business School, 2020)

Case Study “Apple’s Services Extravaganza” (Garima Ratna, Amity Research Centers, 2018)

Readings/Bibliography

Books

  • Alan B. Krueger, “Rockonomics: What the Music Industry Can Teach Us About Economics (and Our Future)” (John Murray Hachette)
  • Patrik Wikström, “The Music Industry” (Polity)
  • Will Page, “Tarzan Economics: Eight Principles for Pivoting Through Disruption” (Simon & Schuster)
  • Anita Elberse, “Blockbusters. Why big hits – and big risks – are the future of the entertainment business” (Faber & Faber)
  • Donald S. Passman, “All you need to know about the music industry” (Simon & Schuster)
  • Maria Eriksson, Rasmus Fleischer, Anna Johansson, Pelle Snickars, Patrick Vonderau, “Spotify Teardown” (The MIT Press)
  • Ramon Lobato, “Netflix Nations: The Geography of Digital Distribution” (NYU Press)
  • Reed Hastings, Erin Meyer, “No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention” (Penguin)
  • John B. Thompson [https://www.amazon.com/John-B-Thompson/e/B001IU0QSC/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1], “Book Wars: The Digital Revolution in Publishing” (Editore: Polity Press)
  • Mattias Frey, “MUBI and the Curation Model of Video On Demand” (Palgrave MacMillan)
  • Michael D. Smith and Rahul Telang, “Streaming, Sharing, Stealing” (The MIT Press)
  • Ed Catmull, “Creativity, Inc” (Bantam Press)
  • Robert Iger, “The Ride of a Lifetime” (Random House)
  • Lelio Simi, “Mediastorm – Il nuovo ordine mondiale dei media” (Hoepli) – (Italian)

Documentaries

  • The Defiant Ones (Netflix)
  • Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99 (Netflix)
  • Quincy (Netflix)
  • FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (Netflix)
  • The Social Dilemma (Netflix)
  • The Great Hack (Netflix)
  • The Pixar Story (Disney+)

 Podcasts

  • Business Wars: Netflix vs Blockbuster
  • Business Wars: Taylor Swift vs. Scooter Braun
  • The Town with Matthew Belloni
  • Bubble Trouble (Will Page and Richard Kramer)
  • The Music Industry Podcast
  • Biz (Italian Music Industry Podcast)

 

Assessment methods

2 Papers (1 for Music Industry, 1 for Video Industry) of at least 1000 words each

Office hours

See the website of Luca Bersaglia