Songtradr: Balancing the Mix in the Music Industry

Miikka J. Lehtonen, Kyoko Tanaka, Savu Rovanto

Product #:W45892

Supplier:Ivey

Discipline:Marketing, Strategy

Setting:United Kingdom, 2024

Details:Case (PDF) • 12 pages • 2025-10-17

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The head of talent at Songtradr Inc. (Songtradr), faced a critical decision: How could momentum be sustained for Balance the Mix, an initiative addressing gender inequality in the music industry? Following two successful events, expectations were rising from both internal and external stakeholders. Meanwhile, Songtradr Talent, a new artist search platform she helped create, had the potential to reshape how brands connected with artists. With limited resources and mounting pressure, decisions were required whether to prioritize expanding Balance the Mix globally or to focus efforts on internal transformation, both key to driving systemic change in an industry resistant to disruption.

Learning Objectives

The case can be used in courses focusing on corporate social responsibility, marketing and branding, diversity and inclusion, or managing change at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It is worth noting that although the focus is on the music industry, issues and themes covered in the teaching case are relevant across many other industries. Thus, the teaching case can be used as a starting point for discussing differences between industries or gender disparities across industries more broadly. Engaging with this case study will enable students to do the following:

Critically assess how socially driven initiatives like Balance the Mix and Songtradr Talent could reshape industry norms and how companies can influence and be constrained by the institutions they operate within.
Analyze the role companies like Songtradr can play in establishing shared standards for equity and inclusion in fragmented and competitive industries and evaluate the trade-offs between being a first mover versus waiting for collective momentum.
Evaluate how internal organizational change can be aligned with and leveraged to support broader industry transformation, particularly in the face of reputational risk, stakeholder skepticism, and operational inertia.
Develop and defend a set of strategic recommendations that balance long-term business goals with sustained DEI impact, weighing the risks and opportunities of internal investment, external advocacy, and global scalability.

Songtradr: Balancing the Mix in the Music Industry

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Learning Objectives