In Episode 5, I talk to Jozefien Vanherpe (KU Leuven), who just finished writing her PhD on the (un)fairness of contracts in the music streaming industry. We discuss how streaming revenues are split between different parties, the importance of the "30-second rule" and playlists, the low bargaining power of musicians relative to major record labels, and whether the blockchain will transform royalty payments.
In Episode 6, I talk to Stoyan Sgourev (ESSEC) about his recent research. Stoyan argues that musicians, just like many other individuals and organizations, use color as a "positioning device"—to build an identity. He tests his hypothesis by measuring time trends in the colorfulness and contrast of the images on Norwegian black metal bands' album covers. ...
In this episode, I talk to Noah Askin, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at INSEAD, about creativity in pop music. We discuss how to construct machine-based measures of sonic novelty, whether (teams with) female artists are more creative, and what is the optimal level of novelty for a pop song. ...
In Episode 3, I talk to Joshua Fairfield, Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University, about digital property and NFTs. We discuss the problems with (the lack of) property rights in the context of virtual worlds, e-books and digital music; how the blockchain can support people's urge to collect; and what are some of the issues with NFTs. ...
