Selection models in the music industry: How a prior independent experience may affect chart success

The is article analyses the two main approaches for artists’ selection in the recording industry: the direct model in which large major companies directly choose new artists from the supply market, and the agency model in which small independent labels realise the first choice and, subsequently, large organisations pick their new artists among those pre-selected by independents.An empirical analysis of chart sales reveals that artists selected through the agency model exhibit a longer presence on the chart due to repeated successes, while they are slower to reach heavy success once they have entered the chart. Conversely, the direct model leads to artists with a faster path to a strong success, but the same artists have a shorter presence on the chart due to the sporadic nature of their success. The profile of artists selected through these two models is also found to be different: big international soloist stars are more frequently selected through the direct model, while national bands are more frequently selected through the agency model.The insights suggest important implications for management in the cultural industries and especially in the recording industry. Jel Codes: L82; O32     

Making IT work for municipalities: Building municipal wireless networks

The lack of widely available, affordable broadband Internet access has spurred a movement in which municipalities are rolling out wireless broadband networks. This movement has raised a number of questions including: Why are municipalities acting as the early adopters of wireless broadband technology? How does increased state regulation of municipal broadband networks affect this trend and how can cities respond? As cities use wireless broadband technology to enhance services to citizens, the growth of municipal wireless deployments has transitioned from linear to exponential. In response, many states have passed laws to regulate and restrict cities' ability to own, operate, deploy, or profit from either telecommunications or information services. Current and pending laws will be examined to understand how cities can deploy a wireless broadband network under these regulations. An analysis of municipal facilities and technology expertise illustrates the opportunity for public–private cooperation in wireless deployments. This paper will show that cooperation is beneficial in many cases. Finally, current business models will be examined for their ability to foster cooperation between the public and private sectors, bridge the digital divide, and create competition among private sector providers.     

A comparison of two approaches for measuring interdisciplinary research output: The disciplinary diversity of authors vs the disciplinary diversity of the reference list

This study investigates the convergence of two bibliometric approaches to the measurement of interdisciplinary research: one based on analyzing disciplinary diversity in the reference list of publications, the other based on the disciplinary diversity of authors of publications. In particular we measure the variety, balance, disparity and integrated diversity index of, respectively, single-author, multi-author single-field, and multi-author multi-field publications. We find that, in general, the diversity of the reference list grows with the number of fields reflected in a paper’s authors’ list and, to a lesser extent, with the number of authors being equal the number of fields. Further, we find that when fields belonging to different disciplines are reflected in the authors’ list, the disparity in the reference list is higher than in the case of fields belonging to the same discipline. However, this general tendency varies across disciplines, and noticeable exceptions are found at individual paper level.