B5674 - MANAGEMENT OF DIGITAL MEDIA

Learning outcomes

The student is expected to understand the functions and processes of transformations within the media industries and the innovations connected to new digital technologies applied to creative industries.

Course contents

The digital revolution has fundamentally reshaped our world, transforming how we create, distribute, and consume everything from news and entertainment to social connections.

This course, Management of Digital Media, is an in-depth exploration of the economic principles and models that govern this new landscape.

The course will be focused on two of the most important media industries, music and video. For each of them, it will be introduced and analyzed the value chain, all the relevant typologies of players and how the technological evolution and the changes in consumer habits are influencing the markets’ dynamics and their structure.

Readings/Bibliography

Case Studies

“Spotify: Face the Music (Update 2024)” (Govert Vroom, Isaac Sastre Boquet, IESE Business School, 2024)

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

“The Netflix Pivot” (Angus Finney, Allegre L Hadida - Cambridge Judge Business School, 2025)

Teaching methods

Frontal classes

Role Playing and case studies

Direct experience of managers from some of the most important media companies

Assessment methods

Individual Oral Examination: 3-4 questions, ca 15 minutes

Materials to Study

• Course Presentation
• Your notes
• Case studies
• Articles shared during the course

Teaching tools

Other Suggested Materials

Resources in case you want to know a little more about the digital media industry

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)
• Gillian Doyle, “Understanding Media Economics”, (SAGE Pubblications)
• Donald S. Passman, “All you need to know about the music industry” (Simon & Schuster)
• Martin Spinelli, Lance Dann, “Podcasting – The Audio Media Revolution” (Bloomsbury)
• 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)
• Liz Pelly, “Mood Machine – The rise of Spotify and the cost of the perfect playlist” (Hodder & Stoughton)
• Robert Iger, “The Ride of a Lifetime” (Random House)
• Lelio Simi, “Mediastorm – Il nuovo ordine mondiale dei media” (Hoepli – Italian)
• Mu$icBiz – L’industria musicale ai tempi dello streaming (Hoepli – Italian)

Documentaries/Series

• The Defiant Ones (Netflix)
• Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99 (Netflix)
• Quincy (Netflix)
• The Story of Content: Rise of the New Marketing (Youtube)
• FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (Netflix)
• The Social Dilemma (Netflix)
• The Great Hack (Netflix)
• The Pixar Story (Disney+)
• The Playlist (Netflix)

  Podcasts

• Business Wars: Netflix vs Blockbuster
• Business Wars: Taylor Swift vs. Scooter Braun
• The Town with Matthew Belloni
• Acquired (Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal)
• Bubble Trouble (Will Page and Richard Kramer)
• The Music Industry Podcast
• The New Music Business (Ari Herstand)
• Your Morning Coffee (Jay Gilbert & Mike Etchart)
• The MBW Podcast: Talking Trends (Music Business Worldwide)
• The New Music Business (Ari Herstand)
• Crew Call with Anthony D’Alessandro (Deadline)
• The Ankler Podcast
• The Business (Kim Masters)
• Variety’s “Strictly Business”
• The Rest is Entertainment
• The Media Odissey (Marion Ranchet and Evan Shapiro)

  Newsletters

• Soundbite by Ashley Carman (Bloomberg)
• The Medium from Parqoor by Andrew Rosen (The Information)
• Evan Shapiro: Media War & Peace
• Fearless Media with Peter Csathy
• Benedict’s Newsletter (Benedict Evans)
• Screentime by Lucas Shaw (Bloomberg)
• Entertainment Strategy Guy
• What I’m Hearing - Matthew Belloni (Puck)
• Variety
• Deadline
• The Hollywood Reporter
• Streaming Made Easy

Office hours

See the website of Luca Bersaglia