An exploration on community-based innovation: Indaba Music as a case in point

This paper focuses on how virtual communities have become a new locus of innovation and have been instrumental in defining a new type of company, the user-centric company, in which members of these communities not only use the services of the company to communicate with one another but also drive many of the key aspects of innovation occurring in the company. Formed to service communities, user-centric companies represent a significant change from traditional companies in terms of how they innovate, interact with their customers, develop products and organize themselves. They have a minimalist organizational structure, and a rich technological environment. In order to determine the salient characteristics of such user-centric companies, field research was conducted on Indaba music, a New York City based company which has developed a global technological platform which enables musicians to collaborate and create musical compositions as well as socially network with one another. Based on this case study, conclusions are drawn about what constitutes successful value creation in this user-centric business environment and the possible implications of this kind of innovation for managers of technology.