TARZAN ECONOMICS
Eight Principles for Pivoting through Disruption
After a twenty-year head start of studying the rise, fall, and resurgence of the music business, Spotify’s chief economist shares the lessons he’s learned on how to recognise and adapt to the pace of disruption we all face today.
PIVOT
Eight Principles for Transforming your Business
Pivot, the retitled paperback edition, gets a refresh and comes with an exciting afterword that swings into the new vines of 2023; tackling the metaverse, fast fashion, and how we made big mistakes with big pandemic data sets.
“Economics – the ‘dismal science’ – is brought to life. Rapid changes in technology and mindset can turn a problem into a massive opportunity.”
— Alistair Darling (1953-2023), former Chancellor of the Exchequer and MP Edinburgh Central
“As the chief economist at Spotify, Will Page didn’t just react to disruption—he anticipated it and helped to fuel it. His experience in the music industry is full of takeaways for riding waves of change instead of being bowled over by them.”
— Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of THINK AGAIN and host of the TED podcast WorkLife
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Will Page is the former chief economist of Spotify and PRS for Music, where he pioneered Rockonomics. Will was taught how to teach economics before he reached his teens (circa the time of the Tudors). His philosophy is to reach those people who (a) don't think they'll understand it, (b) don't want to understand it but (c) have to.
“This book carries lessons on two essential concepts in today’s world: the attention economy and the difference between builders and farmers. The takeaways are as relevant to running a large corporation as they are to starting your own business. A compelling and generous read.”
— Scott Galloway, Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern, Bestselling Author of The Four and Post Corona, Cohost Pivot Podcast
GLOCALISATION OF MUSIC STREAMING WITHIN AND ACROSS EUROPE
Our analysis of ten European markets uncovers a phenomenon that we’ve termed ‘glocalisation’, where the majority of countries studied saw an absolute and relative increase in the domestic share of their top ten songs and artists in 2022. Contrary to the perverse effects of globalisation where large markets often dominate small, we uncover evidence of local markets growing in their domestic identity.
“Quite a few business books are about digital disruption. Others are insider’s guides filled with juicy stories. A precious few are actually fun to read. Tarzan Economics is all three of these, and more. It will make you smarter about what‘s been happening. And what's about to.”
— Andrew McAfee, co-founder of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy; co-author of The Second Machine Age and author of More from Less
TRAPITAL PODCAST
with Dan Runcie
Trapital founder Dan Runcie interviews hip-hop heavy hitters to explore the trends that shape the rest of the business world.
Check out this great interview with Will, as they discuss the future of the music business and much much more.
“Will puts the world of entertainment positioning in a thought provoking, disruptor perspective that helps shake the cobwebs out of business complacency, driving home profound analytical concepts in a challenging, impish style. And when it comes to spotting new prey in the jungle of Rockonomics, he reminds us that ‘it ain’t worth a thing if you don't have that swing’. ”
— Chris Deering, Former President: Sony PlayStation Europe, Middle East and Australia
SOUNDTRACK TO THE BOOK
Brazilian music is everywhere, whether you're on a dancefloor or in a hotel lobby. So, it was unsurprising when the country’s top music lawyer Luciana Soares de Souza came up with a novel suggestion: ‘why don’t you make a Spotify soundtrack for the book to capture all the songs mentioned?’ We did just that and you got just that: click here to capture all thirty songs mentioned across the three hundred pages of text.
“A fascinating excursion through the intersections of joy and economics.”
— Benedict Evans, renowned technology analyst and author of the widely acclaimed Benedict's Newsletter
“Will is one of the brightest minds in entertainment. He has a unique ability to translate complex data into cultural tidbits. My time with Will at Spotify was a MasterClass in Pop Economics.”
LISTEN