Question

please respond with at least 150 words.

1.

The digital age has changed the way music is both created and marketed. Long gone are the days hanging out in a record store to purchase vinyl. With Apple Music, my kids can yell "Hey Siri", from the back of the car and ask her to play practically any song available and it will. So, the question becomes:

How do musicians cope with the new market structures in today's digital age? Could a band survive if they gave away all their music to their customers, and if so, how?

2.

There are two main choices economics use when discussing how t control global warming. They are a carbon tax, which is simple a tax producers pay based on the amount of carbon they produce as a byproduct, or a cap-and trade which caps everyone at the same amount, but allows companies to buy and sell excess limits to one another.  

1. Which of the two strategies do you think would have the most political support in general, and why?

2. Which of the two strategies do you think would have the most political support in your home state, and why?

3. Which of the two strategies do you think would have the most impact on producers, and why?

Answer 1

1. The digital age has given way to a new market structure which allows people to access music with a few words. Musicians now have an additional pressure of creating their own brand value and marketing their music in a effective way. They have to advertise their merchandise effectively and should extensively use social media platforms to advertise their music. Music videos tend to go viral nowadays and musicians should invest more in them to reach a larger and a more varied audience. They can also cater to a niche market by producing a particular type of music suited to a kind of audience or diversify their skills by venturing into other musical genres. A band can still survive if it gives away all its music by using its merchandise to make money and by becoming brand ambassadors of certain brands. They can also perform at concerts and a variety of events.

2.

1. Political support would be given to the levying of tax as government will benefit from it as it will receive revenue. A quota which can be bought and sold interchangeably will not generate any government revenue.

3. Producers will gain the most from a cap-and-trade policy as they can buy and sell their limits without having to pay taxes from the revenue they generate. A tax will not benefit the producers as much as the cap-and-trade policy will.