Systems in Copyright Industries : Music in the Knowledge - Based Service Economy , QVLGH 7 KH % ODFN 0 XVLF % R [

The music industry features a complex and changing system of structures, procedures, functions and relationships. It is a major industry whose products are part of our everyday lives, and which has major economic, social and cultural influence. But probably because its end product is supposedly more frivolous than cars, guns or medicines the industry has received little attention from innovation researchers and economists. Yet the industry proves extremely interesting as a case study of developments in the knowledge-driven economy, and this article illustrates this and outlines the contours of a research project we are developing in this field. Our general interest is in understanding the variety of knowledge resources and variety of innovation systems, in contemporary economies. In this case study, the structures developed for appropriating value from the intellectual property regime assume considerable prominence. They take forms very different from those encountered in most innovation studies. An important element surrounds the intangible nature of music (a feature possessed in common by most though not all services) and the various means that have been employed to exploit such forms of expression. ↓ Draft Not to be quoted Comments welcome! ↓ ↓ ↓ 2