Suppose that the major music recording company Sony BMG MusicEntertainment
(Sony BMG) has announced that it plans to hire several collegestudents to form a team that will invest in the “next big things inmusic.” The selected students will be paid $50,000 per year forworking part-time. Sony BMG will also allocate up to $10 millionfor hiring artists, producing records, and so on based on theteam’s recommendations.
The new team has been dubbed the Top Wave Team (TWT). If TWT’srecommendations are fruitful, the company will sign each member ofthe team to $150,000 full-time contracts. The company also plans tokeep the team together and to give its members bonuses andpromotions based on their group performance. The class has beenchosen as the representative college class. The music company isnow asking the class to form affinity groups by musical preferences(e.g., a country music group, an urban/hip-hop group). Each groupwill nominate one of its members to receive the first $50,000internship as a TWT team member at Sony BMG. The new TWT group willmeet and discuss initial plans and investment recommendations, andthen the class will discuss the process and outcomes.
- Choose your musical affinity.
Identify yourself with one of the following musical genres basedon (a) preference/affinity (i.e., “I prefer this music”) and (b)knowledge/understanding (i.e., “Of all types of music, I know themost about ____ music/musicians”):
___ 1. Rock | __a_ 6. Jazz/R&B |
___ 2. Country | ___ 7. Pop/Mainstream |
___ 3. Religious/Spiritual | ___ 8. Classical |
___ 4. Urban/Hip-Hop | ___ 9. Folk/Bluegrass |
___ 5. Electronic | |
Other: ____________ (please identify)
2.Discuss what is important about your type of music and whatinvestments should be made by the TWT team. Keep in mind that theinvestments made by the TWT team could have a big impact on thefuture of your favorite music. Recommend a dollar amount orpercentage of the $10 million that a representative of your genrein the team ought to secure for investment in it.
3.Now imagine you are nominated to be part of the TWT group asthat representative of your favorite genre. Your teammates havestrong backgrounds/interests in other genre groups. How might youand your teammates from the rest of the TWT group allocateinvestment by genre given your differences?
4.Is there a connection between musical interests and culturalaffinity? Might you sense some cultural affinity with others whoshare your musical tastes? Why, or why not?
