How Can We Recognise and Adapt to Disruption? Will Page with Alieda Moore
Will Page, Spotify’s former chief economist, shares the lessons he’s learned on how to recognise and adapt to disruption through the application of ‘Tarzan Economics’.
The near destruction of the music industry at the hands of online piracy and its subsequent recovery on the backs of digital streaming platforms is more than just the biggest story of disruption and reinvention of the digital age. It is also a trove of insights on how to confront the metamorphosis we are all facing in dealing with the COVID-19 era, as accelerating tech and economic changes reshape our work, our play and our very minds.
Page extrapolates music’s journey into eight guiding principles for pivoting through the ubiquitous disruption in nearly all industries. The notion of ‘Tarzan Economics’ ties these principles together: a framework for recognising and acting on disruption, by letting go of the old vine and grabbing onto the new. He assesses the new dynamics of the ‘long tail’, identifies friends and foes in the battle for scarce attention and provides a practical tool for discovering the right role for each of us to succeed in this new modern world.
As we emerge from the unprecedented disruption of a global pandemic, ‘Tarzan Economics’ shows all of us – individuals, organisations and institutions – that if the vine we are holding onto is withering, we can have confidence to reach out for a new one.
In conversation with Alieda Moore.
Will Page’s Tarzan Economics: Eight Principles for Pivoting through Disruption is published by Simon & Schuster. Buy a copy from our partners Waterstones online or at the event.
Supported by
Our tenth Festival of Economics run Wednesday 17 – Friday 19 November 2021. It is co-programmed by Diane Coyle (University of Cambridge and Enlightenment Economics) and Richard Davies (professor of Public Understanding of Economics, Bristol University and author of Extreme Economies). You can see the full programme here.
Alieda Moore currently manages aspects of the transition from LIBOR to sterling risk-free-rates at the Bank of England. Prior to that, she held the role of the Bank’s Deputy Agent for Greater London, acting as the Bank’s ‘eyes’ and ‘ears’ to connect policymakers with London businesses and communities, and gathering economic intelligence to inform monetary policy decisions such as the setting of UK Bank Rate. She has held a number of other roles at BoE, including Private Secretary (Chief of Staff) to the Executive Director for Resolution. Prior to joining the Bank, she held roles at Deloitte and Goldman Sachs. She is actively involved in diversity and inclusion initiatives, and co-chaired the Bank of England Ethnic Minority Network from 2018-2020. She has been recognised as a Top 50 EMpower Future Leader and shortlisted for the WeAreTheCity Rising Star award.
Will Page is the former chief economist of Spotify and PRS for Music, where he pioneered Rockonomics. At PRS he published work on Radiohead’s In Rainbows and on saving BBC 6 Music. At Spotify he helped redefine the catalogue and articulated the global value of music copyright. A passionate communicator, Page has regular features in Billboard, The Economist, and the Financial Times. He is a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics and a fellow at the Royal Society of the Arts.
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