We are in an era where developments in both technology and musical style have coalesced to
produce the greatest period of change in the music industry since the invention of recorded
sound. Globalization the Internet and digital technology are now opening up possibilities for
more artists to be innovative and financially successful. But new music requires new ways of
doing business. For more artists to be better off requires new business models to replace those
that dominated the 20th century. Integrating insights from economics management and
intellectual property law the author explores the dynamics of entrepreneurship and innovation
in the music industry and offers such provocative assessments as these: · The Beatles might
never have broken up if they had the kind of two-tier contracts - as band members and as solo
artists - that are common in the music industry today. · Buddy Holly would likely have avoided
his tragic death in a plane crash at age 22 if his 1959 tour had been sponsored by a company
like Coca Cola because today's corporatized tours are vastly better financed and organized than
the haphazard efforts of the 1950s. · The economic value of albums by the likes of Elvis and
Michael Jackson has risen significantly since their deaths - the ironic byproduct of the way
their behavior tarnished their own brands while they were alive. · Diana Ross might never have
quit The Supremes if she had known that one-third of the artists in the 1960s who quit the
group had charting careers ofonly one year. · Thomas Edison's invention of the phonograph led
to the modern record industry but he is really the godfather of computer programs like
Garageband which have created home recording studios. The collapse of the Soviet Union
threatened the sound of rock and roll but an American entrepreneur saved the day.
