MIS Research Center Seminar Series
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM
1st Floor Auditorium, Carlson School of Management

Abstract

In 1999 the music world changed. Shawn Fanning, college student and inventor of Napster, created a “disruptive innovation” for the music industry. The big record companies (Sony-BMG, Vivendi Universal, EMI, and Warner – controlling 85% of industry sales) no longer controlled the business of producing, packaging and promoting music. For the first time the business of producing, manufacturing and packaging was directly controlled by the consumer…millions of consumers…and it was FREE! You could sit at home, share files with millions of other PC users, listen to the music of your choice, slip a blank CD into your PC burner and create a compilation of music you chose and produce your own CD. This worldwide proliferation of “peer to peer” file sharing and digital content acquisition, both legal and illegal, along with competition from DVDs and games, significantly impacted the music industry's core business – selling music CDs through retail stores. The industry is exploring multiple options to stem the tide. Retailers of CDs, DVDs and games, like Wal-mart and Best Buy to the smallest independent music store are moving from stocking in-store pre-packaged media to in-store “digital factories” (kiosks) that produce media on demand (MOD). Will their efforts succeed?

Biography

Stephen A. Russell, Chairman & CEO, Mix & Burn

As the founder of Mix & Burn, Russell recently sold the majority control of the company to Transworld Entertainment (TWEC) the largest retail entertainment products chain in the country with over 1200 retail mall stores selling CDs, DVDs, and games under a variety of brand names including FYE, Sam Goody, Sun Coast and Warehouse Reocrds. Prior to starting Mix & Burn, Russell founded ZIBEX (1993) and subsequently raised over $14MM in venture funding for development of video over IP desktop and retail point of sale kiosk applications for the financial services industry (www.zibex.com). Prior to starting ZIBEX Russell owned and operated ITA, upper Midwest's largest independent travel wholesaler, and vacation travel reservations call center ($39MM annual sales) serving as national vacations package wholesaler for several major airlines including Frontier Airlines and People Express Airlines.