Polyphonic HMI, Company Analysis
DECISION PROBLEMS
Polyphonic HMI is in the process of establishing their Hit Song Science technology in the music industry. Major issue is the choice of a target market that would make most effective use of limited $150,000 marketing budget. Following this decision, Polyphonic HMI also needs to determine its key marketing strategies such are pricing, positioning of the product for the target market in order to maximize the profits.
ANALYSIS OF INDUSTRY (based on Porter’s 5 Forces)
The music industry is highly competitive. The key players in the industry are the artists who write, compose, and perform the music; record companies who publish the music; and producers who help the artist select music
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The release of a single usually involves at least $300,000 in marketing expenditures (page8), and even higher for established artists. Essentially, music single failures can be reduced from 9 out of 10 releases to 2 out of 10 releases. This in turn saves the labels up to $100,000 per album in research and focus group costs (page10) and provides greater ROI. This higher success rate also comes at a lower cost than traditional methods used by record labels. Focus groups are the most common method used for identifying potential ‘hits’ but results are inconsistent. Since HSS highly beneficial to Labels, it has good chance to capture decent size market share. Cons: Risky. Company might not get reasonable market share since record labels may be hesitant to adopt the new not 100% certain technology. The credibility of the software is the main issue that could potentially restrict market penetration.
Alternative 2: Target Unsigned Artists (optimistic potential market size 20,800 demos/ year).
Pros: Unsigned artists are highly motivated and desperate to gain exposure. This technology provides an opportunity for individual artists to assess the ‘hit’ potential of their recordings while offering artists an indication of commercial success. Results from the HSS software allow artists to adjust their music in order to better match consumer tastes and preferences.
Cons: Targeting unsigned artists is restrictive in terms of long term company profitability. This market may have
Many artists and record companies do not think that it is a good thing to have their music available for free because they feel that they will lose a lot of money. The thing that they need to realize is that technology is only going to get better and they need to use it
I propose that all unsigned rising artist should target the business side of the music industry to be successful in the entertainment business because it allows the artist to be taken seriously and make solid connections that can further his/her career. Learning the works of the music industry also enables a new artist to be further successful and profitable. Recent studies show that most new artists without professional representation and a business mindset have a slimmer chance in getting signed to major or independent labels (Lowry, 2011). Overall, the specific change needed is that unsigned artists should be concentrating on their careers as professionals and not amateurs, thus focusing on the ins and outs of the music business and
Product placement in music videos is quite a fruitful source of money for artists who approve it. The content of many commercial pop songs, the imagery displayed in music videos and the conspicuous consumption apparent in the lifestyles of pop stars all reinforce the idea that mass consumption will lead to happiness.
The first problem is the royalty fees made with labels. An artist’s album can cost anything from $15,000 to $200,000 (Recording Connection) and the artist is often left in debt after which is slowly paid back through the sales of their own records which only leaves them a fraction of what the original product was sold for. Another major problem with most major record labels is that their sole reason to get artists is to further their own profit. Most major labels put business before art,
Many people have dreams of being a part of the music industry and becoming successful musicians, but do not seem to do the research necessary to make the dream come true. The music industry is a branch of the entertainment industry and is where music, whether it is recordings or performances, is distributed and sold to the public. One of the problems is that people do not realize the risks that come with being a part of the music industry and being a musician. There are many factors that come into play when deciding to pursue a career in the music industry. Factors would include having noteworthy knowledge of music, originality, publicity, and business entitlement.
Mr. Forondo, FAME (Forndo Artist Management Excellence) needs technology support to track the contracts of artists, a proposal for contracts to new artists, calendars of artist schedules and the performance shows, etc. In any event, music manager today have to be informed about a lot more things than they used to in the past including music
We agree with the way the cost per division is being calculated. However, we propose a different way to allocate indirect cost per product based on the number of hours calculated for each product and an estimate of the number of units needed for special effects, concept/design, and artist relations related to each product. Based on the calculations provided by Mr. King, we used the cost per hour or unit shown on the Resource-Based Cost Report to calculate the costs of each resource by product line. Once we had the cost resource-based, we calculated a percentage for Cassettes, CDs, and Digital Sound Tracks (DST). The percentage was applied to the “indirect costs allocated from central office”, shown on the product-type cost report, for each of the previously mentioned products. When we got the indirect costs, we noticed that DST absorbed most of those costs, which increased from $53,227 to $105,590. DST requires a lot more of recording studio hours, extensive special effects, new concept design, and continued artists relations. When comparing the indirect costs for Cassettes and CDs calculated using the Product Type-Based and the Service-Based systems, we noticed that both products’ indirect costs decreased by using the Service-Based system. Cassettes require less recording studio hours, moderate special effects, none modification to the
The popular music industry in the late 1990s was dominated by a small number of integrated corporations with headquarters in Europe, the United States and Japan. This music market starts simply with an artist and moves along through many steps to the consumer. Everything has its start when a musician presents his music to a music manager, and if he/she finds the music promising, a contract is signed between the two, recordings are made and a marketing plan is drafted for the
No one can deny that technology is actively changing the music industry. Production, distribution and sales of music have been affected dramatically within the last 10 years along with artists, composers, and technicians. Most of the changes have been great for consumers, but vastly negative for professionals in the music industry, however a few artists have found ways to adapt to the changing atmosphere of digitally downloaded music and use it to their advantage. We’ve seen music change form from physical, tangible products like records and CD’s to electronic single tracks stored in an invisible cloud. Two major factors in this sudden revolution are online music stores (specifically iTunes) and file sharing websites that allow music to be downloaded illegally.
“Before the days of YouTube and the Internet, a band 's chances of striking it big depended on record companies. If a band was lucky enough to get a record deal, it gained access to a label 's vast resources and connections. The company paid for the band 's studio time, … and got its music played on the radio, reaching millions of record buying Americans” (Majerol, 1). Now, anyone with talent can post a video of themselves and become an internet sensation, only to then receive a deal with a label to continue growing their career. The issue is, with the Internet came digital downloading, and with the growing popularity of digital downloading came illegal downloading, known as Digital Piracy, which has affected the music industry greatly. This issue affects everyone involved in the Music Industry. From the small CD store owner to the Artist on stage, everyone has and continues to be affected by the growing popularity of digital downloading services. Artists, producers, and songwriters lose an estimated 12.5 Billion USD every year to illegal digital music services. Further, the economic impact from [digital downloading] is an estimated loss of 2+ Billion USD (Storrs, 1). This money affects the “little guys” in the industry and the average worker within the industry.
The music industry is an oligopoly. Since the late 1800’s people like Thomas Edison have been buying up patents in communication technology, forming monopolies, leading to a non-competitive entertainment industry. With only a handful of corporations controlling all aspects of acquisition, distribution and marketing of music, harsh business principles create an exploitative industry that takes the best of what artists have to offer and leaves many of them unable to support themselves. Beginning in the 1950’s with payola and white cover music and ultimately evolving into iTunes and Spotify, the music industry has grown into a billion dollar industry with far-reaching influence and control. Contracts rarely serve the artists’ best interest and many are left out to dry when their usefulness has expired.
Over the past decade, the use of CDs has been replaced with online streaming and retailing. This has eliminated much of the record companies revenues as they were used to making most of their profit off of distribution and promotion of physical copies of artists albums (Niemen). This has caused for a major shift and remodeling of major players in the music industries business models. Companies such Sony, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group have started to completely rethink the way they conduct business (Forbes). In the past record labels were not only responsible for production, distribution and promotion of an artist and his/her music, but they also acted as a bank (Forbes), funding the artists tours and recording sessions. Recently, these music giants have been moving towards becoming more of a modular network organization. What this means is that they are less occupied with the nitty gritty, and more focused on what they do best which is distribution and promotion. This also allows for more freedom of creativity for the artist as well as fairer split of profits (Forbes). This adaption of new business models clearly shows the versatility of the music industry in adapting to new times and technologies.
Introduction: Setting the trend for the future, the distribution and consumption of recorded music transformed dramatically with the launching of Apple’s iTunes in 2001. The proliferation of online music subscription services and other music sharing services exerted a great pressure on the conventional music distribution business model. Combined with this transformation, piracy of digital music had a profound impact on the whole industry. These worsening conditions in the market place for recorded music forced both established and upcoming new artists to experiment with new ways of selling their music.
In addition, the software doesn’t produce enough value for the artist segment. Suppose, HMI promotes specifically to this group and the members show enough enthusiasm resulting in satisfactory initial penetration. Once, the initial curiosity about the quality of her own performance is satisfied the artist won’t find any alternative use of the report. If the report says their song has enough potential to be a great hit, that conclusion does little for them because the record labels are not likely to acknowledge the credibility of the HMI report.
In addition, the software doesn’t produce enough value for the artist segment. Suppose, HMI promotes specifically to this group and the members show enough enthusiasm resulting in satisfactory initial penetration. Once, the initial curiosity about the quality of her own performance is satisfied the artist won’t find any alternative use of the report. If the report says their song has enough potential to be a great hit, that conclusion does little for them because the record labels are not likely to acknowledge the credibility of the HMI report.