The theory of access replacing ownership on the example of spotify

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2010 in the subject Business economics - General, grade: 1,3, University of Popular Music and Music Business (Popakademie Baden-Württemberg), course: Musikbusiness/BWL, language: English, abstract: Although the recording industry finds itself in a challenging economic situation, very little is known about how to build up a business model which fulfils the demands of a new generation. The theory of access replacing ownership provides another perspective concerning the so-called digital natives. The analysis of the demands of this consumer groups shows that the ownership of music seems to be obsolete to them. The music consumers of today and tomorrow do no longer care about owning music. The Swedish model Spotify offers music on an advertisement and subscription base and is depicted as an example in which consumers are offered a model of access. The thesis results provide general information about the notion of property and ownership as a whole as well as it recovers the development of these notions on the digital age and their deep impact on the economic behaviour and the scope of dealing with these changes.

The thesis uses self generated data from a survey as well as literary sources and serves as a road sign indicating the issues of access in several parts of economy, with the focus on Spotify and the recording industry. The findings of the thesis can be generalised to any industry that offers digital (entertainment) content.