Transcript Y12_into_Y13x

Y12 into Y13
SUMMER TERM PROJECT
The Music Industry: Facing New
Challenges?
Your Task
Produce a presentation on the current state
of the music industry; analyse the changes in
the market and how the industry as a whole
is facing up to that challenge.
Use the following link to help you:
http://www.bized.co.uk/current/research/2003
_04/011203.htm
The Background
• What type of market structure is the music
industry? (A look at
http://www.oligopolywatch.com/2003/06/28.
html will be useful here).
• Assess the type of cost structure that is likely
to exist in the music industry.
• Describe the production of a CD from
commission by a record company to eventual
release and subsequent sales.
TO BE COMPLETED BY END OF WEEK 1
• Explain the likely product life cycles of the
following five aspects of the music industry:
– The Beatles
– Kylie Minogue
– Classical Music
– Jazz
– Rap music
TO BE COMPLETED BY END OF WEEK ONE
• Explain what type of market structure that the music
industry appears to be and what sort of behaviour you
might expect from firms within such an industry given
that market structure.
• Look at the following Web sites - note the range of
activities that the major companies are involved with
and the way in which the companies are structured.
http://www.bmg.com/ - Bertelsmann Music Group site
http://new.umusic.com/overview.aspx - Universal
Music Group
http://www.emigroup.com/About/Overview/Default.h
tm - EMI music
http://www.timewarner.com/corp/index.html corporate information from the Warner Group
TO BE COMPLETED BY END OF WEEK TWO
Analysis:
• From these sites, build up a picture of the pattern
of sales of music CDs over the past 3 years (the
number of years here is not crucial but should be
enough to enable you to identify the key trends
along with the changing nature of the types of
music being sold and the consumers who make
up the market).
• Suggest possible reasons for the trends you have
identified.
TO BE COMPLETED BY END OF WEEK TWO
Property Rights
This task will get you to look at some basic information
regarding some critical matters in the relationship
between the artist and those they work with managers, record companies and so on. One of these is
property rights. Who owns music when it is produced?
• An individual writes a song that includes lyrics. A
publisher sells the song to a record company who
subsequently pay for the recording, manufacture and
promotion of the CD. Who do you think 'owns' the
song and why?
TO BE COMPLETED BY END OF WEEK TWO
Balancing the argument:
• What are the reasons put forward for the trends
that you have identified according to Zieman and
others?
• Use business and economic theory related to
market structures to explain how their views may
have some validity. (Hint - your earlier
investigation into the nature of the music
industry might help here!)
• What evidence is there that the availability of
new technology has helped to increase sales of
CDs?
TO BE COMPLETED BY END OF WEEK THREE
The solution
TO BE COMPLETED BY END OF WEEK THREE
WEEK FOUR
You should be ready to present your work to
the group by the end of the four week period.
You should also be able to provide supporting
documentation to support your findings. This
could be in the form of a written report or
simple notes supporting each slide.