Value creation and appropriation in the live music industry: a population ecology analysis of live music ticket pricing

ABSTRACT The music industry has grown to depend financially on live events, making value creation and appropriation critical. Connecting the resource-based view and organisation population ecology, this study investigates how generalist and specialist live music event producers differ in their ability to create and appropriate value. Evidence based on 631 live music events shows that generalists are able to create and appropriate more value than specialists by setting higher minimum prices and employing more price categories. The generalisability of the findings is discussed by describing which market conditions drive the effect of niche width on value creation and appropriation, identifying high fixed costs paired with a superstar effect and a heavy reliance on status as likely candidates.