Are service-based business models of the video game industry blueprints for the music industry?
Florian Waldner, Martin Zsifkovits, Kurt Heidenberger · International Journal of Services Economics and Management · 2013
The internet, peer-to-peer technology and mobile devices are radically changing markets for digital media such as recorded music. Incumbent companies in these industries have severe difficulties in reacting to these changes and finding effective business models. The fundamental challenge is how to capture value from delivering digital music files which users expect to download for free. It is the consumer’s capability to handle digital content that opens up possibilities for new business models where consumers are active partners helping to co-create value along with companies. Compared to the music industry, the video game industry was more successful in adapting its business models. By conducting an exploratory study among recently founded video game startups and two case studies of music-technology startups, whether and how the video game industry is a vital source from which to draw analogies for the music industry will be analysed in this paper.