One of our many favourite pastimes is to listen to our favourite music.
The industry started out with records or LPs using gramophones, transistioned through 8 track and cassette tapes, moved on to CDs before the digital music revolution took hold.
Waves of change can be seen from the 1980 to 2010.
Music Industry Market Share
Observe how each new innovation made the last one redundant. Observe how the shapes of the curves are quite similar. Observe how the cassette tape was an interim solution for portable music as the CD was emerging just a couple of years after the cassette had been commercialised. (Source digitalmusicnews.com)
The lesson for all of us is to not rest on our laurels. Shift happens all the time, innovation is ever evolving and a status quo strategy will not provide superior returns over longer periods of time.
What shifts are coming in your industry?
Derek Lark 