In this post I will analyse the unique characteristics of cultural entrepreneurship in relation to the musical instrument inventor Bob Moog and the wider impact of one individual’s creative enterprise since the 1950s.What is an entrepreneur?There are many wide-ranging definitions of an entrepreneur, with connotations of city slickers focused on profit-driven financial deals, or geniuses or hapless inventors being grilled over IP registration and profit projections in the BBC series “Dragon’s Den”.The term entrepreneur was first used by French economist and journalist Jean-Baptiste Say during the French Revolution to describe one who unlocks capital tied up in land and redirects it to change the future. Say was the first economist to recognise change and uncertainty as normal and positive in business¹.The Beermat Entrepreneur’s describe entrepreneurs as confident, charismatic, have bags of energy, obsessed with work, ambitious, in a hurry, arrogant, manipulative, lack focus and are obsessed with the competition².The risk-taker, the go-getter, the manipulator, the charismatic leader, the opportunist and the serialist are all types and characteristics of the typical entrepreneur.Characteristics of cultural entrepreneurshipCultural entrepreneurs may inhibit some or all of these characteristics, however rather than unlocking land capital they work within the knowledge industries to exploit intellectual capital, using creativity to “unlock the wealth that lies within themselves”³. Cultural enterprises often revolve around individual ‘stars’ working within specialised networks⁴.Cultural entrepreneurs may have both social and cultural, in addition to economic, objectives, which may include winning peer recognition and media or celebrity acclaim. These two factors of limited tangible assets and social or cultural aims leads to radically different thinking, new business models and alternative working practices. According to the Demos paper “The Independents” (1999), cultural entrepreneurs have four new ways of working: a blurring of the demarcation line between production and consumption; a blurring between work and non-work; a combination of individualistic values with collaborative working; and being members of a wider community⁵.About Bob Moog“At the start of the 20th century, Lenin said: ‘Communism is Soviet organisation plus electricity’. At the start of the 21st, I suggest, ‘ the new economy is creativity plus electronics.’” - John Howkins, The Creative EconomyHowkins quotation not only illustrates the significance of technology in the economics of 21^st century cultural industries, but the significance of electronics which have enabled the creation of electronic music, which now pervades popular culture. Electronic music was first popularised as part of the Soviet ‘electrification’ manifesto through the politicised, international promotion of Lev Termin’s Terminvox (theremin) invention. A man inspired by Lev Termin, who was at the centrifuge of music technology in the mid 20^th century, was Bob Moog.The post-war years were ‘dreamtime for electronic music machinery”⁶ yet electronic music production was initially only accessible to academic institutes and the very wealthy. Bob Moog’s philosophy was to make electronic music performable and available to mainstream (non-academic) musicians.Unlike the typical ‘working class hero’ entrepreneur, Dr Robert Moog (1934-2005), could be described as an ‘establishment entrepreneur’⁷ who benefited from inheriting education, skills and the ‘gene’ of enterprise. Moog was the son of a middle-class engineer in New York who achieved a PhD in engineering physics and whose father taught him electrical engineering. Aged 20 he established his first business with his father in 1954 selling theremin kits, then unavailable in the market. His instruments became widely known to composers and musicians across the United States, by almost word of mouth alone.With Herb Deutsch, he produced the first modular synthesizer in 1964, designed to be portable and adaptable, reducing the room of equipment needed to produce electronic music to closer to a table. Deutsch recalls, “We were probably more interested in the potential expansion of the musical aural universe than we were of its effect upon the broader musical community.” Moog founded his own company, R.A. Moog. He was a natural entrepreneur - a good businessman and a free spirited intellectual. His theories on ‘democratisation’ through technology helped to pioneer the success of electronic music in pop and avant-garde markets. Although his initial customers were academic composers, Moog’s enterprising background gave him the ‘sensitivity to the marketplace that he might have lacked had he remained only in the service of the university based music community.”⁸Moog soon realised he needed to expand his market to extend the business and make the technology accessible. Chuck Leavell, Moog’s main salesman, undertook a radical sales tactic by touring music stores with the Moog Modular, taking it directly to musicians to listen to these new electronic sounds. This ‘word of mouth’ principle led to the East Coast Moog craze of 1967.Moog realised the importance of using good musicians and personalities to publicise his instrument, artists whose record sales would exceed any specialist ‘electronic’ publication. His posing with Keith Emerson, George Harrison and other Moog disciples established synthesis as cool, fashionable and the future sound in popular music. The company’s high points were the success of the one-million selling moog album “Switched On Bach” by Wendy Carlos (1968) and the invention of MiniMoog (1972), the first all-in-one portable synthesizer.Initially Moog received little subsidy or support, working in a disused, ramshackle gelatine factory producing handmade synthesizers. All business faces uncertainty, but music companies, essentially dealing in luxury commodities, face ‘radical uncertainty’⁹ with increasing volume of willing suppliers and unpredictable buying patterns. Moog’s market soon shifted as competition caused saturation and recession adversely affected music technology. To scale up and survive, Moog sold his controlling share to various bigger companies and investors, briefly working for the Kurzweil corporation (1984-9), before establishing a new independent business.<!–[endif]–>Despite Moog’s unexpected death in 2005, Moog Music Inc continues to trade using the legacy of values and standards Moog established which “represent a genre of their own: Moog Music.” Still a small company of just 14 staff, high standards of personalised customer service prevails. Moog was known to deal personally with some technical enquiries and even pay home visits to customers. His customer-focused business model would not be scaleable to a company working with mass-produced product yet passion for the instruments and integrity are key reasons people continue to buy into the brand. The instruments are expensive and delivered to the highest quality with limited edition features and strong design aesthetics. The Etherwave Pro theremin won the 2005 Excellence in Design Award.Moog did not patent his designs, making his technology and IP replicable. He has not made excessive wealth from his businesses and his companies or divisions have never employed a significant workforce. The subsequent musicians, composers and music technologists who exploited the market for new electronic music gained more wealth from Moog’s ideas than he did directly. Yet in developing and exploiting new technology, pioneering new approaches to making and selling instruments and for being the first in the market, Moog can be seen as an early example of a new, independent cultural entrepreneur. Resonances of this altruistic style of cultural entrepreneurialism, the creation of new cultural work for society’s gain, can be observed in Anthony Wilson (Factory Records), Michael Eavis (Glastonbury Festival) and Rob Mitchell (Warp Records).Bob Moog’s cultural entrepreneurial traits<!–[endif]–>Focusing on the customer experienceDavid Parrish believes ‘successful entrepreneurs are truly customer focused’, making customers ‘active partners’ in developing the business. Moog Music Inc treat their personalised one-to-one contact with their customers as a form of user-testing which is crucial in the development process. Any musician the company interact with become an informal Consultant on new products, which the company believe have “enduring musical worth”Social recognition<!–[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]–>Social recognition, sharing ideas and fame within a niche community are of greater importance than wealth to Moog, who states: “Our instruments are well known because a lot of our customers are well known musicians…And we’re very happy about that, that’s our reward, to see our customers becoming successful and making great music with it.“Working in creative collaborationCharles Leadbetter promotes entrepreneurship as a collective activity. Moog worked closely with musicians, composers, academics, salesmen and customers to refine and bring new products to market. Moog is also humble about the significance of his own role, seeing himself as part of a wider legacy and community of music manufacturers who, “all of us together helped to democratise electronic instruments.” Moog acts as a conduit for bringing together two opposing forces, acting as “a link between musicians and engineers because I understand both languages.”Moog exploited fame and celebrity, with relationships with popular musicians like Keith Emerson and Stevie Wonder, who willingly performed, evangelised and sold the Moog brand on his behalf. Andrew Dubber, in his free e-book New Music Strategies, believes seeking out new opinion leaders and customisation are strategies for growing a digital music business. Moog worked extensively to influence opinion leaders outside of the immediate music manufacture industries and also to present high levels of customisation in product design and features.Creative excellence and continuous innovationMoog sought to achieve the highest technical and creative standards in his instruments, while remaining within a niche. The diversification of the Moog brand and move into budget and polyphonic instruments towards the end of Moog’s direct involvement led to failure. Since 1993, Moog Music Inc (formerly Big Briar), led by Moog, has traded on previously successful models and refined and selectively improving them through a process of continuous innovation rather than trying to move into new markets.Moog Music Inc can be seen as what Davies and Scase refer to as ‘charismatic organisations’ within the cultural industries¹⁰: a small company with less formal control and more freedom to innovate, where recognition and quality are highly-valued.The individual star as a brandUnlike other synthesizer inventors, who used names like ARP and VCS3, Moog traded on his own name, with success or failure linked to him directly. In 2003 Moog picked up his second Grammy award for technical contributions to recording. Today Moog Music Inc sells memorabilia like mugs and 50^th anniversary watches; the Moog logo is a fashionable T-shirt slogan for the ‘geek chic’ generation (no doubt vastly outstripping sales of their £2,000 synthesizers). ‘Moogfest conventions’ were held around the world by fans of both the instruments and their charismatic inventor, the subject of his own documentary feature film. Despite being a quiet man who referred to himself as an ‘electronics geek’, he was bold to present his name, integrity, passion and identity as a core selling feature of the Moog brand.<!–[endif]–>Conclusion Today’s cultural entrepreneurs can learn from Moog’s approach to running a creative brand and business. Moog had a vision to popularise and democratise electronic music. He had a strategic awareness of the legacies of forerunners in his field and the extent to which he could play a part. He knew when to forgo independence to be resourced to grow, when to focus on key strengths and when to innovate and adapt. Despite many set backs and failures, Moog stayed true to his vision and achieved a substantial cultural legacy and modest financial legacy which outlives him.LinksBob Moog: Switched On Radio - an audio interview with Bob Moog featuring old and contemporary music with the moog.Moog Music Inc - the website of the company Bob Moog re-established in 2002.Moog Foundation -established in tribute to Bob Moog to foster innovation and curiosity in electronic music.Bob Moog Personal Site - personal, archive and gallery site for the late Bob Moog.Cultural entrepreneurs:The Independents: Britain’s New Cultural Entrepreneurs - free PDF download of this influential 1999 Demos report.T-Shirts and suits: a guide to the business of creativity - David Parrish’s book available as a free download.Cultural leadership - the 2006-8 UK programme to develop cultural leadership.

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Posted on Friday, February 29th, 2008 at 8:33pm.
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