Media innovations in digital music distribution: The case of Beeptunes.com

Abstract

Distribution is the center of music industry in new media context. The main scoping of this chapter is to shed some light on the overall innovative activities of a new Iranian digital music distributor (i.e., Beeptunes.com). Further, it seeks to add to our understanding of how different types of media innovations in digital music distribution can successfully make an efficient media market in Iran. Based upon the analysis of an Iranian case, here, we show that an online music business should consider digital platform as a new way for engaging the audience to its business, instead of considering it as a space to merely selling musical digital products. Eventually, our studies indicate that digital platforms are not the only technical objects, but rather they create complex social networks that are heavily dependent on the user’s innovative activities. Taken all, it can be concluded that media innovations should not be limited solely to technological innovations, and online businesses should take a more humanistic consideration. Conclusively, the theoretical and practical implications of this present study will be discussed for media scholars and entrepreneurs, specifically in emerging media markets.