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Since the arrival of mass production, commodification has been plaguing markets – none more so than that for music. By separating production and consumption in space and time, commodification challenges the very conditions underlying economic exchange. This chapter explores authenticity as the institutional response to the commodification of music, rekindling the relationship between isolated market participants in the increasingly digitized world of music. Building upon the “Production of Culture” perspective, we unpack the commodification of music across five different institutional realms – (1) production, (2) consumption, (3) selection, (4) appropriation, and (5) classification – and provide a thoroughly relational account of authenticity as an institutional practice.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate new entry as a process of organizational change against the background of the digital revolution in the music industry.

The study analyzes questionnaire data gathered from 131 companies active in the Dutch music industry that collectively engaged in 215 new entries in the wake of the introduction of new information and communication technologies.

The most salient finding concerns a strong positive relationship between financial performance and having access to the dominant set of institutional gatekeepers, i.e. radio DJs.

This investigation prompts rethinking the concept of new entry, highlighting the importance of the institutional context in which it takes place. Beyond entry modes and new entry motivations, special consideration is given to specific resources that grant new entrants access to institutional gatekeepers because they are key predictors of performance upon new entry.