kill-zones-music-streaming-venture-capital.html

---
layout: default
title: Daniel Bower – In Search of Kill Zones - Music Streaming and the VC View
permalink: /music-streaming-venture-capital-kill-zones/
---

<div>
    <h2>In Search of Kill Zones: Music Streaming and the VC View</h2>

    <h3>A Note to Readers</h3>

    <p>
        This research was submitted as part of a master's programme at the
        Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London during the
        2020/21 academic year.
    </p>

    <p>
        While it scored highly (80/100), and both my supervisor and the second
        marker suggested it was worthy of journal submission, it is important to
        note that it has not been peer reviewed. Rather than go through the
        often laborious journal review process, and in the spirit of open data,
        I decided to publish my work here.
    </p>

    <p>
        I am keen to hear from others who are interested in the kill zone
        phenomenon and would encourage readers to get in touch with any feedback
        they might have on my work. You can contact me via email. Hint: my name
        at gmail dot com.
    </p>

    <h3>Serialisation</h3>

    <p>
        I have begun to serialise my research into shorter, less academic, blog
        posts. The first is:
    </p>

    <ul>
        <li>
            <a href="{%- post_url 2023-01-06-what-are-big-tech-kill-zones -%}"
                >What Are Big Tech Kill Zones?</a
            >
        </li>
    </ul>

    <h3>Abstract</h3>

    <p>
        This dissertation contributes to the existing literature on kill zones
        through the examination of venture investing into music and audio
        startups in North America and Europe following the entry of Amazon,
        Apple and Google into the market. In addition, it provides the only
        example of in-depth interviews (n=4) conducted with venture capitalists
        on the topic of the kill zone. Through analysis of Crunchbase the data
        reveals a 32.5% decrease in the number of early stage venture financing
        rounds into music and audio startups in North America and Europe despite
        sustained increases in investment in the wider venture financing sector.
        Through semi-structured interviewing it is also revealled how a venture
        capitalist’s attitude towards the acquisition of one of their portfolio
        companies will impact their view of the kill zone. This important
        distinction goes someway to explaining the otherwise inconclusive nature
        of the existing empirical research into kill zones.
    </p>

    <h3>Downloads</h3>
    <p>
        PDF •
        <a href="/assets/pdf/daniel-bower-music-streaming-kill-zones.pdf"
            >In Search of Kill Zones - Music Streaming and the VC View</a
        >
    </p>
    <p>
        Data •
        <a href="/assets/data/music-streaming-kill-zones.xlsx">Excel</a> /
        <a
            href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bh_tgRgsKPg75tLW1HArCmkC_3l9mzvLsM3366AZzNE/edit?usp=sharing"
            >Google Sheets</a
        >
    </p>

    <!-- ORIGINAL THEME LAYOUT

  <section class="archive_list">
    {% for category in site.categories %}

    <div class="category-name">
      <h2>{{ category | first }}</h2>
    </div>
    {% for post in category.last %}

    <div class="post_title">
      <a href="{{ post.url | prepend: site.baseurl }}">{{ post.title}}</a>
      <span class="date">{{ post.date | date: "%-d %b, %Y" }}</span>
    </div>

    {% endfor %}

    {% endfor %}

  </section>

  -->
</div>