We Are All Musicians Now

Ever wonder how legendary linebacker Bobby Wagner applies Jay-Z's entrepreneurial lessons to his football career? Or what studying the music business taught graffiti pioneer Fab 5 Freddy about distributing his art? Any entrepreneur or professional can gain a greater understanding of what's happening in the world -- from trends like NFTs to changes in the broader business climate -- by observing what has happened to (and because of) musicians. Doing so offers a path to wrapping one's brain around what may yet be coming down the pike in any industry. Take the shift from analog to digital, in which vinyl and cassettes were replaced by CDs long before DVDs conquered VHS. Or the move from physical to virtual, where Napster decimated record stores even as bricks-and-mortar retailers like Blockbuster blindly chugged toward their doom. In "We Are All Musicians Now," former Forbes senior editor Zack O'Malley Greenburg educates and enlightens while offering the audience backstage passes to the most fascinating industry transformations of the past fifty years.