The focus of this research paper at hand has been on the strategies of today’s record labels from a resource-based view. In order to ensure the displayed results and allow for greater generalization, a wider and more in depth analysis of the resource bases of specific major and independent labels could present a possibility for further research since this study is rather broad in design.
During the course of writing this paper, it was observed that record companies nurture certain resources and capabilities that have potential to lead to competitive advantage. Further research on the internal organizational processes that facilitate and support the fostering of such strategic assets could lead to deeper insight about a more effective formulation of strategy on behalf of record companies. Since such an analysis was beyond the scope of this paper, I did not incorporate this interesting area of research.
Additionally, I believe it would be interesting to investigate the possibilities for artists to be
successful without the traditional support of record labels and pursue the question if they too can accumulate the resources necessary to be competitive by themselves as a “one artist label”
and what consequences this might entail for traditional record companies.
Literature
- Alkhafaji, A. (2003) Strategic Management: Formulation, Implementation, and Control in a Dynamic Environment (Promotional Management). Binghamton, NY: The Haworrth Press.
- Alvarez S. & Barney J. (2000) ‘Entrepreneurial Capabilities: a Resource-Based View’, pp.63-81 in Mayer, G. & Heppard, K. (eds.) Entrepreneurship as Strategy: Competing on the Entrepreneurial Edge, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
- Amit R. & Schoemaker P. (1993) ‘Strategic Assets and Organizational Rent’, Strategic Management Journal 14 (1): 33 – 46.
- Anand N. & Peterson R. (2000) ‘When Market Information Constitutes Fields:
Sensemaking of Markets in the Commercial Music Industry’, Organization Science 11(3): 270-284.
- Andersen B., Kozul-Wright R. & Kozul-Wright Z. (2007) ‘Rents, Rights N’Rhythm:
Cooperation, Conflict and Capabilities in the Music Industry’, Industry and Innovation 14(5): 513–540.
- Andrews, K. (1987) The Concept of Corporate Strategy. USA: Irwin.
- Balakrishnan, S. & Koza, M. (1993) ‘Information Asymmetry, Adverse Selection and Joint Ventures: Theory and Evidence’, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 20: 99–117.
- Bar-Ilan, J. (2005) ‘Information Hub Blogs’, Journal of Information Science 31(4):
297–307.
- Barney, J. (1986) ‘Strategic Factor Markets: Expectations, Luck, and Business Strategy’, Management Science 32: 1231-1241.
- Barney, J. (1991) ‘Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage’, Journal of Management 17: 99-120.
- Barney, J. (1986) ‘Organizational Culture: Can it be a Source of Sustained Competitive Advantage?’, Academy of Management Review 11: 656-665.
- Black J. & Boal K. (1994) ‘Strategic Resources: Traits, Configurations, and Paths to Sustainable Competitive Advantage’, Strategic Management Journal 15: 131 – 148.
- Bloodgood, J. & Morrow, J. (2000) ‘Strategic Organizational Change Within An Institutional Framework’, Journal of Managerial Issues 12(2): 208-226.
- British Phonographic Industry (2008) Statistical Handbook 2007.
- British Phonographic Industry (2004) Educational Directory 2004/2005.
- Burke, A. (1996) ‘The Dynamics of Product Differentiation in the British Recording Industry’, Journal of Cultural Economics 20(2): 145-164.
- Businessdictionary.com, retrieved April 5th, 2009.
- Bylin, K. (2008) Maximize Your Music Experience. Essay on hypebot.com, retrieved March 30th, 2009.
- Carlsson, B. & Eliasson, G. (2001) Industrial Dynamics and Endogenous Growth, paper presented at the DRUID Nelson Winter Conference, Aalborg, 2001.
Carnall, C. (2002) Managing Change in Organizations. Prentice Hall: 4th edition.
- Caves, Richard E. (2000) Creative Industries, Contracts between Art and Commerce.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
- Collis, D. (1994) ‘How Valuable are Organizational Capabilities?’, Strategic Management Journal 15: 143-152.
- Connor, T. (2002) ‘The Resource-Based View of Strategy and its Value to Practising Managers’, Strategic Change 11: 307-316.
- Davis, H. & Scase, R. (2000) Managing Creativity. Milton Keynes: The Open University Press.
- Dierickx I. & Cool K., (1989) ‘Asset Stock Accumulation and Sustainability of Competitive Advantage’, Management Science 35(12): 1504 – 1511.
- Day, G. (1994) ‘The Capability of Market-Driven Organizations’, Journal of Marketing 58: 37-52.
- Dosi, G. (1988) ‘Sources, Procedures, and Microeconomic Effects of Innovation’, Journal of Economic Literature 26: 1120-1171.
- Douglas, M., Isherwood, B. (1978) The World of Goods: Towards an Anthropology of Consumption. London: Allen Lane.
- Diekmann, A. (2001) Empirische Sozialforschung. Grundlagen, Methoden, Anwendungen. 7th Edition: Reinbek.
- DiMaggio, P. (1986) ‘Structural Analysis of Organizational Fields’, pp. 335-370 in Staw, B. &Cummings, L. (eds) Research in Organizational Behavior. Greenwich, CT:
JAI Press.
- DiMaggio, P.J. & Powell, W.W. (1983) ‘The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields’, American Sociological Review 48: 147- 160.
- Eisenhardt K. & Martin J. (2000) ‘Dynamic Capabilities: What are they?’, Strategic Management Journal 21: 1105 – 1121.
- Esterberg, K. G. (2002) ’Making Sense of Data’, pp. 151-180 in Qualitative Methods in Social Research Boston: McGraw-Hill.
- Featherstone, M. (1992) Consumer Culture and Postmodernism. London: Sage.
- Firat, A. F. (1995) ‘Consumer Culture or Culture Consumed?’, pp. 105-125 in Costa, J.A. & Bamossy, G.J. (eds) Marketing in a Multicultural World, London: Sage.
- Fligstein, N. (1991) ‘The Structural Transformation of American Industry: An Institutional Account of the Causes of Diversification in the Largest Firms’, pp. 311-336 in The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis. W.W. Powell & P.J.
DiMaggio (eds) Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
- Fox, M. & Wrenn, B. (2001) ‘A Broadcasting Model for the Music Industry’, Journal of Media Management 3(2): 112-119.
- Gander, J., Rieple A. & Haberberg, A. (2004) ‘Exploring the Management of Resources: How Celluar Biology Helps Redescribe Alliance Management within the Popular Music Industry’, 13th International Conference on Cultural Economics, Chicago, USA.
- Gander, J., Haberberg, A. & Rieple, A. (2007) ‘A pradox of Alliance Management:
Resource Contamination in the Recorded Music Industry’, Journal of Organizational Behavior 28: 607-624.
- Granovetter, M. (1985) ‘Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness’, American Journal of Sociology 91: 481-510.
- Ghemawat, P. & Ricart, J. (1993) ‘The Organizational Tension Between Static and Dynamic Efficiency’, Strategic Management Journal 14(S2): 59 – 73.
- Giddens, A. (1979) Central Problems in Social Theory: Action, Structure, and Contradiction in Social Analysis. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
- Gilley, J. W. & Maycunich, A. (2000) Organizational Learning Performance. Perseus Publishing.
- Gioia, D.A. & K. Chittipeddi (1991) ‘Sensemaking and Sensegiving in Strategic Change Initiation’, Strategic Management Journal 12: 433-448.
- Glaser, B. & Strauss, A. (1967) The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
- Goldman, R.F. (1961) ’Varèse: Ionisation; Density 21.5; Intégrales; Octandre;
Hyperprism; Poème Electronique. Instrumentalists, cond. Robert Craft. Columbia MS 6146 (stereo)”, Musical Quarterly 47(1):133–34.
- Graham, B. (2005) Research Interviewing, the Range of Techniques. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
- Grant, R. M. (1991a) Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Concepts, Techniques, Applications. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell
- Grant, R. M.(1991) ‘The Resource-Based Theory of Competitive Advantage:
Implications for Strategy Formulation’, California Management Review 33(3): 114-146.
- Hall R. (1992) ‘The Strategic Analysis of Intangible Resources’, Strategic Management Journal 13(2): 135 – 144.
- Hamel, G. (1994) ‘The Concept of Core Competence’ pp. 11-33 in Hamel, G. & Heene, A. (eds) Competence-Based Competition. Chichester: John Wiley.
- Hamel, G. & Prahalad, C.K. (1990) ‘The Core Competence of the Corporation’, Harvard Business Review 68(3): 79-91.
- Herring, S.C., Scheidt, L.A., Bonus, S. & Wright, E. (2005) ‘Weblogs as a Bridging Genre’, Information, Technology & People 18(2): 142–71.
- Hesmondhalgh, D. (2007) The Cultural Industries. 2nd edition, London: Sage.
- Hessler, R., Downing, L., Beltz, C., Pelliccio, A., Powell, M. & Vale, W. (2003)
‘Qualitative Research on Adolescent Risk Using E-mail: A Methodological Assessment’, Qualitative Sociology 26(1): 111–24.
- Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D. & Hoskisson, R.E. (2001) Strategic Management:
Competitiveness and Globalization (Concepts). Vol.4., Cincinnati, OH: South-Western Publishing.
- Holbrook, M.B. (1995) Consumer Research: Introspective Essays on the Study of Consumption. London: Sage.
- Hookway, N. (2008) ‘Entering the Blogospehre: some Strategies for Using Blogs in Social Research’, Qualitative Research 8(1): 91-113.
- IEG LLC, (2009) IEG Sponsorship Report 28(9).
- International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, (2009) Digital Music Report 2008.
- International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, (2009) Yearbook Germany 2008.
- Jennings, D.F. & Seaman S. L. (1994) ‘High and Low Levels of Organizational Adaptation: An Empirical Analysis of Strategy, Structure, and Performance’, Strategic Management Journal 15(6): 459 – 475.
- Jones, I.R., Higgs, P. & Ekerdt, D. J. (2009) Consumption and Generational Change:
the Rise of Consumer Lifestyles. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
- Kay, J (2000) ‘Strategy and the Delusion of Grand Designs’, pp. 5-10 in Dickson, T.
(ed) Mastering Strategy. London: Financial Times/Prentice-Hall.
- Klein, B. (2008) ‘`The New Radio': Music Licensing as a Response to Industry Woe’, Media Culture Society 30: 463-478.
- Kostopoulos Κ., Spanos Y. E. & Prastacos G. P. (2002) ‘The Resource-Based View of the Firm and Innovation: Identification of Critical Linkages’, The 2nd European Academy of Management Conference, Stockholm.
- Kozinets, R. (2002) ’The Field behind the Screen: Using Netnography for Marketing Research in Online Communities’, Journal of Marketing Research 29: 61-72.
- Lacher, K.T. (1989) ‘Hedonic Consumption: Music as a Product’, Advances in Consumer Research 16: 367-373.
- Lamnek, S. (1995) Qualitative Sozialforschung. Band 2: Methoden und Techniken. 3rd Edition, Psychologie Verlags Union: München.
- Leyshon, A., Webb, P., French, S., Thrift, N. & Crewe, L. (2005) ‘On the Reproduction of the Musical Economy after the Internet’, Media, Culture & Society 27(2): 177–209.
- Lorenzen, Mark & Frederiksen, Lars (2005) ‘The Management of Projects and Product Experimentation: Examples from the Music Industry’, European Management Review 2 (3): 198-211.
- Lovas, B. & Ghoshal S. (2000) ‘Strategy as Guided Evolution’, Strategic Management Journal 21(9): 875 – 896.
- Mahoney, J.T. (1995) ‘The Management of Resources and the Resources of Management’, Journal of Business Research 33: 363-380.
- Mahoney J.T. & Pandian, J. (1992) ‘The Resource-Based View within the Conversation of Strategic management’, Strategic Management Journal 13(5): 363-380.
- Meisel, J. & Sullivan, T. (2002) ‘The Impact of the Internet on the Law and Economics of the Music Industry’, Info 4(2): 16-22.
- Meyer, J.W. & B. Rowan (1977) ’Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony’, American Journal of Sociology 83: 340-363.
- Mintzberg, H. & Waters, J. (1985) ‘Of Strategies, Deliberate and Emergent’, Strategic Management Journal 6(3): 257-272.
- Nelson, P. (1970) ‘Information and Consumer Behavior", Journal of Political Economy 78(2): 311-329.
- Nielsen Company (2009) NielsenNetView 6/2009. New York, USA.
- Oliver, C. (1997) ‘Sustaining Competitive Advantage: Combining Institutional and Resource-Based Views’, Strategic Management Journal 18(9): 697 – 713.
- Osterwalder, A. (2004) The Business Model Ontology, a Proposition in a Design Science Approach. Thesis from l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales de l’Université de Lausanne.
- Palmer, I., Dunford, R. & Akin, G. (2006) Managing Organizational Change: a Multiperspective Approach. International Edition, Columbus, OH: McGraw-Hill/Irvine.
- Park, D.J. (2008) Conglomerate Rock: the Music Industry’s Quest to Divide Music and Conquer Wallets. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
- Patokos, Tassos (2008) ‘A New Era for the Music Industry: How new Technologies and the Internet Affect the way Music is Valued and have an Impact on Output Quality’, Panoeconomicus 2: 233-248.
- Peitz, M., Waelbroeck, P. (2005) ‘An Economist’s guide to Digital Music’, CESifo Economic Studies 51(2-3): 359–428.
- Penrose, E. (1959) The Theory of the Growth of the Firm. New York: John Wiley.
- Peteraf, M. (1993) ‘The Cornerstones of Competitive Advantage: A Resource-Based View’, Strategic Management Journal 14(3): 179 – 191.
- Pine II, B.J. & Gilmore, J.H. (1999) The Experience Economy – Work is Theatre &
Every Business a Stage. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
- Porter, M. (1998) Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. New York: The Free Press.
- Porter, M. (1985) Competitive Advantage. New York: The Free Press.
- Powell W.W. & DiMaggio, P. (1991) ‘The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis’, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
- Reed, R. & DeFillippi, R. (1990) ‘Causal Ambiguity, Barriers to Imitation, and Sustainable Competitive Advantage’, Academy of Management Review 15(1): 88-102.
- Rumelt, R. (1984) ‘Towards a Strategic Theory of the Firm’, pp. 556-570 in Lamb, R.
(ed) Competitive Strategic Management, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
- Sandulli, F. & Martin-Barbero, S. (2007) ‘99 Cents per Song: A Fair Price for Digital Music? The Effects of Music Industry Strategies to Raise the Willingness to Pay by P2P Users’, Journal of Website Promotion 2(3): 3-15.
- Scott, W.R. (1987) ‘The Adolescence of Institutional Theory’, Administrative Science Quarterly 32: 493-511.
- Schnell, R., Hill, P. B. & Esser, E. (1999) Methoden der empirischen Sozialforschung. 6th Edition, München: R. Oldenbourg Verlag.
- Shankar, A. (2000) ‘Lost in music? Subjective Personal Introspection and Popular Music Consumption’, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal 3(1): 27-37.
- Singh, B.R., (2005) Management Of Organizational Change. New Delhi: Anmol Publications.
- Souder, W. & Jenssen S (1999) ‘Management Practices Influencing New Product Success and Failure in the United States and Scandinavia: a Cross-Cultural Comparative Study’, Journal of Product Innovation Management 16: 183-203.
- Sundbo, J. & Darmer, P. (2008) Creating Experiences in the Experience Economy.
Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Teece D. & Pisano, G. (1994) ‘The Dynamic Capabilities of Firms: An Introduction’, Industrial and Corporate Change 1: 537-556.
- Teece, D., Pisano, G. & Shuen, A. (1997), ‘Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management’, Strategic Management Journal 18(7): 509-533.
- Vaccaro, V. & Cohn, D. (2004) ‘Business Models and Marketing Strategies in the Music Industry’, The International Journal on Media Management 6(1-2): 46–58.
- Watkins, K. & Marsick, V. (1993) Sculpting the Learning Organizations: Lessons in the Art and Science of Systematic Change, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
- Wernerfelt, B. (1984) ‘A Resource-based View of the Firm’ Strategic Management Journal 5: 171-180.
- Wernerfelt, B. (1989) ‘From Critical Resources to Corporate Strategy‘, Journal of General Management 14: 4-12.
- Whittington, R. (1994) What is Strategy-and Does it Matter? London: Routledge.
- Wilson, T. (1994) ‘Business Strategy’, Network Computing 15 (26): 17-19.
- Yin, R. (2002) Case Study Research: Design and Methods. 3rd Edition, London: Sage.
- Zander I. & Zander, U. (2005) ‘The Inside Track: On the Important (But Neglected) Role of Customers in the Resource-Based View of Strategy and Firm Growth’, Journal of Management Studies 42(8):1519-1548.
- Zucker, L. G. (1987) ‘Institutional Theories of Organizations’, Annual Review of Sociology 13: 443-464.
Appendixes
1. Table of analyzed popular music industry websites and blogs
The following nine websites and web-logs were researched from February 20th to May 19th 2009:
Billboard.biz
- popular music industry news source, providing news and analysis of today’s industry developments.
Hypebot.com
- blog about the music business and technology, including feature articles and interviews with industry professionals.
The MusicVoid.com
- blog offering popular music industry related news and interviews with numerous industry professionals.
DigitalMusicNews.com
- popular music industry news source.
Midem.com & Midemnet.com
- website of the largest popular music industry trade fair, offering news, debate and comment on the popular music industry as well as interviews and panel discussions with industry professionals.
Crazedhits.com
- website offering regularly updated interviews with record company executives on various music business topics.
ArtistHouseMusic.org
- non-profit organization offering industry information and resources, including interviews with industry professionals.
Paidcontent.org
- news source providing global coverage on the economics of digital content inter alia the popular music industry.
Techdirt.com
- blog news and analysis on technology, government policy and legal issues affecting companies in the digital businesses.
MusicThinkTank.com
- various popular music industry professionals blog about the industry.
2. Table of interviews from secondary sources
A1
Ted Cohen, former senior vice president of digital development & distribution for EMI Group, now managing partner at TAG Strategic, received from themusicvoid.com and Midemnet.com on April 5th 2009.
A2
Fred Bolza, vice president of strategic development at Sony Music Entertainment, received from themusicvoid.com on April 7th 2009.
A3
Bob Cavallo, Chairman of Disney Music Group (EMI), received from crazedhits.com on March 21st 2009.
A4
Jimmy Iovine, Chairman of Interscope, Geffen and A&M Records (Universal Music Group), received from crazedhits.com on March 23rd 2009.
A5
David Ring, executive vice president digital development at eLaps (Universal), part of the 2009 Econ Music Conference Panel on new business models in the music industry, received from paidcontent.org on April 7th 2009.
A6
Cory Ondrejka, senior vice president of digital strategy at EMI Group, part of the 2009 Econ Music Conference Panel on new business models in the music industry, received from paidcontent.org on April 7th 2009.
A7
Michael Spiegelman, Head of Yahoo Music, part of the 2009 Econ Music Conference Panel on new business models in the music industry, received from paidcontent.org on April 7th 2009.
A8
Terry McBride, CEO of Nettwork Music Group, received from hypebot.com (through rollogrady.com) on March 4th 2009 and crazedhits.com on April 24th, 2009.
A9
Rio Caraeff, executive vice president of the eLabs group of Universal Music Group, keynote at Leadership Music Digital Summit 2009, received from techdirt.com on March 24th 2009.
A10
Tim Dellow, founder of UK independent label Transgressive Records, received from themusicvoid.com on May 1st 2009.
A11
Bruce Lundvall, CEO of Blue Note Records, received from crazedhits.com on May 30th 2009.
A12
Tom Derr, founder of Rock Ridge Music, received from artisthousemusic.org April 24th 2009.
A13
Dylan Hermellijn, label manager of 100% Pure Music, receive from hypebot.com (via beatportal.com) on March 4th 2009.
A14
Dino Paredes, general manager of American Recordings of Sony Music Entertainment, received from artisthousemusic.org on May 3rd.
A15
Michael Bebel, former CEO of Ruckus, received from hypebot.com (via theunsignedguide.com) on March 30th 2009.
A16
Courtney Holt, CEO of MySpace Music, received from midemnet.com on April 14th 2009.
A17
Edgar Bronfman Jr., Warner Music Group CEO, received from digitalmusicnews.com (via clickz.com), received April 21st 2009.
A18
Jeff Fenster, senior vice president of A&R at Jive Records, received from crauedhits.com on May 8th 2009.
A19
Eric Nicoli, former CEO of EMI Group and founder of R+R Music, received from themusicvoid.com on April 7th 2009.
3. Table of conducted interviews
B1 France
Independent label manager / Marketing & Promotion agency manager Interviewed 25.04.2008
B2 USA
Independent label manager/ Marketing & Digital Distribution manager Interviewed 31.04.2008
B3 Spain
Independent label executive manager Interviewed 27.04.2008
B4 Spain
Major label CEO
Interviewed 26.05.2008 B5
Japan
Major label executive manager Interviewed 21.04.2008