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oai:mountainscholar.org:10217/459712025-12-30T03:41:30Zcom_10217_100532com_10217_100000com_10217_100399com_10217_100303col_10217_100538col_10217_100400

Strachan, Ian Clark, author Phillips, Ronnie J., 1951-, advisor Graff, Gregory D., committee member Jianakoplos, Nancy A., 1951-, committee member Mushinski, David W., committee member 2007-01-03T04:55:07Z 2007-01-03T04:55:07Z 2010 Strachan_colostate_0053A_10206.pdf ETDF201010002ECON http://hdl.handle.net/10217/45971 https://doi.org/10.25675/3.018988 Technological change has always impacted the music industry, which is now absorbing the destructive effects of the digital revolution. The Internet and MP3s have allowed for illegal downloading and file sharing. For producers, revenue streams have run dry because consumers can get their music for free. The old property rights regime has been eroded for incumbents and a market failure is imminent. But the digital revolution also has the potential to create opportunity for entrepreneurial artists and firms who are able to utilize new technology for disseminating their content. This dissertation utilizes a random sample of recorded music unit sales for 2,051 artists from 2004 to 2008. The data is used to test if the digital revolution has created a 'long tail effect' where less popular and nascent artists enjoy more sales, or a 'superstar effect' where a small number of top artists take the lion's share of sales. I find that the market is characterized by an extremely skewed sales distribution profile which reaches a peak in both sales and inequality in 2006 while sales and inequality decline thereafter. I also find a superstar effect in digital formats and a long tail effect in non-digital formats across all five years. The 'middle class' of artists also declines steadily. For property rights, these changes in the sales distribution profile highlight the importance of retaining excludability through bundling content together. Bundling can still be facilitated by copyright collectives and intermediaries. born digital doctoral dissertations English eng Colorado State University. Libraries 2000-2019 Copyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright. winner take all music industry long tail digital revolution cultural economics creative destruction Music trade -- Economic aspects Music and the Internet Market segmentation Intellectual property -- Management Intellectual property -- Access control The creative destruction of the "winner-take-all" society? Property rights and the economics of the long tail in the music industry Text Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Doctoral Economics Colorado State University This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). open.access