Online Music Case (C): The “Napsterization” of Movies - Take-home Lessons from the Music Industry

The set of three cases Online Music (A), (B) and (C) trace the tumultuous developments in the online media sector since the commercialization of the Internet. Heralded by Napster, Internet-based sharing programs revolutionized the consumption and sharing of music in the late 1990s. Music majors struggled to respond to the technology-driven changes around them. The case series traces the responses of players such as Apple, who introduced a new model in the music business, and ends with a discussion in Case (C) on the lessons for the movie sector from the experience of the music industry.

The case series provides an introduction to the radical innovations brought upon certain sectors by technological changes and the challenges that incumbents face in responding effectively to these changes. The case series provides for a discussion of how sometimes the best new players emerge from outside the industry and also how developments in one industry (in this case, the music business) have a follow-on impact on other related sectors (the movie sector in this case series).