Questions:
1) Construct a music industry value-chain from the perspective of the major record labels prior to
the launch of digital music, music sharing (Napster) websites and MP3 players (no sentences
required – you can simply list value-chain members in the order they appear – from raw material
through to end customer).
2) Based on your value-chain above and from the perspective of the major Record Labels (the
equivalent of book publishers in the music industry)
a. Conduct a Porters-5-Forces Analysis of the Music Industry prior to the launch of digital
music, music sharing websites (Napster) and MP3 players (HINT: Keep in mind that you
may have to consider that there are different categories of suppliers and buyers to
address in your analysis similar to the Harlequin Enterprise case when we looked at both
Readers and Retailers)
b. For each of the 5-factors above, identify whether the factor has a low, medium or high
impact on the Industry’s attractiveness to the major recording labels.
c. From your analysis above, decide whether you believe this is an attractive industry to be
in if you are one of the five major record labels and why.
Sample Solution
