Independent Thinking » Business Week

Spotify’s Business Disruptive Factor (And Why Vinyl May Finally Be Obsolete)

Daria Steigman — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 10:05:52 +0000

Spotify has landed in America.

The music-streaming service with 15 million songs in its catalogue is likely to be disruptive to the music industry in a way that Apple only dreamt of. Here are three reasons:

1. My vinyl is finally obsolete. I have a large collection of albums and cassettes that I’ve been reluctant to jettison–even if I listen to them only rarely. Enter Spotify, and I’m listening to The Go-Betweens, The Mekons, and Gang of Four again.

2. I don’t need a bigger iPod. It drove me crazy that I only had access to a small portion of my music library on the go (not to mention all the CDs that I’ve yet to burn). Until Spotify came around, I was thinking of investing in a mega-gigabyte iPod just to have everything at hand. Now I can stream what I want or download a playlist to listen to offline.

3. I can hear what my friends are listening to. Once our school days are over, most of us don’t talk music that much. Heck, if it weren’t for my brother (who totally turned me on to hip hop by suggesting artists to explore), my music collection would be stuck in the 20th century. Spotify lets me subscribe to my friends’ playlists. It’s digital curation, the music edition.

BusinessWeek has a terrific article about Spotify. One snippet that really stands out:

“Americans own their music; Swedes rent it… If Spotify gets what it wants, your records will no longer define you. Your playlists will.”

It’s an interesting piece about a changing marketplace, and worth reading.

Have you tried Spotify? Agree or disagree that this model will change the business landscape?

Update: A link to the BusinessWeek article has now been added thanks to alert reader Bill Farrell, who was able to find it online.

Disclosure: I received a beta invite to Spotify via a Klout Perk. Within two days I had upgraded to a Premium (paid) subscription.

Photo by Pink Sherbert Photography (Flickr).

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

What You Can Learn from Otis Elevator’s CEO

Daria Steigman — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 10:05:01 +0000

Didier Michaud-Daniel is one savvy CEO. The president of Otis Elevator sprang into action the moment he heard about the earthquake in Japan. According to an article in Business Week, he called the head of his Japanese division and told him to “keep me informed, second by second.” And then he stayed on top of the situation.

Read the complete article here. It’s short, but it’s packed with great takeaways about (1) knowing your business really well; (2) crisis planning; (3) understanding your role; and (4) mobilizing your workforce.

And there’s a great quote from Michaud-Daniel on being present: “When you have to manage a crisis situation, you need to have your nose on the window.”

Photo by Kat Mereand (Flickr).

Can Money Buy Workplace Happiness?

Daria Steigman — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 13:49:31 +0000

I had a professor in graduate school who insisted that money could buy happiness. He was teaching a personnel course, and he was going through a silly exercise of putting plus signs before job “satisfiers” (i.e., good boss, challenging tasks, room to grow) and “dissatisfiers” (i.e., tyrannical boss, boredom, no opportunity for advancement). People were nodding their heads in agreement–except me.

I questioned the assumption that a good salary would make someone happy. Rather, despite a chorus of “I’ll be happy if I’m paid well” from many of my classmates, I insisted that this belonged in the other column in his little chart. (Golden handcuffs anyone?)

Business Week has a great piece on this topic. Author Scott Shane looks at what he calls

“a paradox in the data: On average, the self-employed make less money, work more hours, and experience more work-related stress than the wage employed. Self-employed people have higher job satisfaction, however, than those who work for others.”

The reason? Flexibility and freedom. It’s a short article, and worth reading. The data comes from the Pew Research Center, which looked at differences in how “self-employed” and “not self-employed” ranked their job satisfaction and answered the question “Why Do You Work?”

Today’s (April 6) Sally Forth comic strip is also on point.

Photo by Smile My Day (Flickr).

Second Look: Innovation and Cloud Computing

Daria Steigman — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:44:47 +0000

Each week I’m highlighting 3 or 4 posts, surveys, and other news that I have read and/or tweeted about that you may not have seen. As the name implies, I think they deserve a second look.

Here’s your second look for this week:

Embracing Small Innovations: A cautionary tale from Fast Company about innovation and the folly of rejecting ideas while waiting for that one big innovation.
Cloud Computing’s Dark Side: Sure, Google Docs has its advantages, but did you know you legally have less privacy protection when it comes to information stored on a third-party server?
Outsourcing Wisely: Terrific piece from Business Week Small Business about assessing your strengths, knowing your limits, and bringing in people to help you achieve business success.

3 Ways Accenture is Reinventing its Business Model

Daria Steigman — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:51:27 +0000

Interesting article from Business Week on Accenture‘s new partnership with tech startup Bug Labs. The deal allows Accenture to customize technology solutions.

I can’t speak to the tech side, but here are three takeaways from a business perspective:

1. Smart companies proactively anticipate their clients needs. Accenture is doing just that. The article notes: “Before, the $25.3 billion company typically waited for clients to come to its consultants with problems. Now it’s pitching products and services to any and all who might need them.”

2. In tough times, you have to reinvent yourself. In forging this partnership, Accenture is opening the door to new types of business opportunities.

3. You have to be open to change. Accenture’s reputation isn’t exactly that of a disruptor, and yet the organization was open to partnering with someone who is. Contrast Bug Labs’ Web site and blog (and the language they use) to Accenture’s site, and you’ll know we’re talking about very different cultures.

Now it’s your turn. What’s your takeaway?

Is Leadership About Nature or Nurture?

Daria Steigman — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:02:00 +0000

Do you have what it takes to be a leader? And is this even the right question to ask?

John Ryan, president of the Center for Creative Leadership and a former superintentent of the U.S. Naval Academy, has a great column in Business Week that posits that leadership has as much to do with environment as it does with innate abilities. He writes:

If you live in a culture where your colleagues believe you can be a leader and help you develop the skills you need, you will enthusiastically embrace the mantle of leadership… [R]egardless of your occupation, you will view yourself as a leader at home, at work, and in your community. But if you live in a culture that assumes leadership is not for everyone, is dependent on whether you have innate leadership skills, and that leadership is defined by your job title rather than your actions, you will have an entirely different view.

With this concept in mind, Ryan then suggests that organizations need to look at how they manage employees and whether their corporate culture permits risktaking.

This is interesting stuff, not least because of its implications for entrepreneurship. If we applied Ryan’s model to the typical entrepreneur, would we find a similar mindset?

Crowdfunding

Daria Steigman — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:12:49 +0000

Interesting observation by John Tozzi in Business Week’s New Entrepreneur blog about how start-up companies are engaging their fans to raise money.

We’ve seen a number of companies set up online forums to tap into their customer base for product or marketing ideas (i.e., Starbucks, General Mills, Procter & Gamble). Now comes crowdfunding.