Will Page
Encyclopedia
Will Page is the Chief Economist at the PRS for Music, a non-profit collection society representing writers, composers and music publishers in the UK.
Page graduated with an MSc in Economics
at the University of Edinburgh
in 2002. His Masters thesis ‘Germany's Mezzogiorno
Revisited’ looked at the problems facing East Germany ten years after German Reunification
. The paper was published by Deutsche Bank in 2003, and cited in 2005 by Martin Wolf
in the Financial Times
.
He previously worked for the UK Government Economic Service
at the Scottish Executive
working for the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser and Department of Finance. He contributed to the Scottish Executive Economic Discussion Paper Series with a publication on ‘Infrastructure Investment & Economic Growth’.
During this period, he established a moonlighting career in music, writing for the award winning music publication Straight No Chaser (magazine)
, interviewing the BBC Awards for world music 2004 winner Rokia Traore
, and working with the Brazilian composer Eumir Deodato
on the North Sea Jazz Festival
performances in 2003 and 2008.
His most notable contribution to the music industry is an annual report titled ‘Adding up the UK Music Industry’. Now in its second year, the report shows how much the UK music industry is worth and, more importantly, how it all hangs together. The paper has received extensive press coverage in The Guardian
, The Times
and Financial Times
.
Page contributed to the campaign to save the new music radio station BBC 6 Music
in May 2010. He presented two facts to the debate: (i) 6 Music is playing more unique songs and (ii) paying royalties to more unique songwriters than any other radio station.
His most cited collaboration was with Eric Garland of BigChampagne
titled ‘In Rainbows
, On Torrents’ asked whether the Radiohead
legal free offering could compete with illegal free downloads. He also challenged the popular Long Tail
theory, showing that the demand for digital music instead followed a log normal distribution.
Page graduated with an MSc in Economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
in 2002. His Masters thesis ‘Germany's Mezzogiorno
Mezzogiorno
The Midday is a wide definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the southern half of the Italian state, encompassing the southern section of the continental Italian Peninsula and the two major islands of Sicily and Sardinia, in addition to a large number of minor islands...
Revisited’ looked at the problems facing East Germany ten years after German Reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
. The paper was published by Deutsche Bank in 2003, and cited in 2005 by Martin Wolf
Martin Wolf
Martin Wolf, CBE is a British journalist, widely considered to be one of the world's most influential writers on economics. He is associate editor and chief economics commentator at the Financial Times.-Early life:...
in the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
.
He previously worked for the UK Government Economic Service
Government Economic Service
The Government Economic Service was founded in 1964 by Sir Alec Cairncross. It is a professional grouping of public sector economists who work across some 40 government departments and agencies, the Bank of England is also a Corporate Member of the GES. The GES recruits economists on behalf of the...
at the Scottish Executive
Scottish Executive
The Scottish Government is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was established in 1999 as the Scottish Executive, from the extant Scottish Office, and the term Scottish Executive remains its legal name under the Scotland Act 1998...
working for the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser and Department of Finance. He contributed to the Scottish Executive Economic Discussion Paper Series with a publication on ‘Infrastructure Investment & Economic Growth’.
During this period, he established a moonlighting career in music, writing for the award winning music publication Straight No Chaser (magazine)
Straight No Chaser (magazine)
Straight No Chaser was an influential British music magazine, based in London, which covered various forms of black music and electronic music....
, interviewing the BBC Awards for world music 2004 winner Rokia Traore
Rokia Traoré
Rokia Traoré is a Victoires de la Musique award-winning Malian singer, songwriter and guitarist. Born in Mali as a member of the Bambara ethnic group, her father was a diplomat and she travelled widely in her youth. She visited such countries as Algeria, Saudi Arabia, France and Belgium and was...
, and working with the Brazilian composer Eumir Deodato
Eumir Deodato
Eumir Deodato is a Brazilian pianist, composer, record producer and arranger, primarily based in the jazz realm but who historically has been known for eclectic melding of big band and combo jazz with varied elements of rock/pop, R&B/funk, Brazilian/Latin, and symphonic or orchestral music.Mainly,...
on the North Sea Jazz Festival
North Sea Jazz Festival
The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam...
performances in 2003 and 2008.
His most notable contribution to the music industry is an annual report titled ‘Adding up the UK Music Industry’. Now in its second year, the report shows how much the UK music industry is worth and, more importantly, how it all hangs together. The paper has received extensive press coverage in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
and Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
.
Page contributed to the campaign to save the new music radio station BBC 6 Music
BBC 6 Music
BBC 6 Music is one of the BBC's digital radio stations, was launched on 11 March 2002 and originally codenamed Network Y. It was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years....
in May 2010. He presented two facts to the debate: (i) 6 Music is playing more unique songs and (ii) paying royalties to more unique songwriters than any other radio station.
His most cited collaboration was with Eric Garland of BigChampagne
BigChampagne
BigChampagne Media Measurement is a technology-driven media measurement company. The company produces popular music, film and television charts which have been syndicated by Nielsen, Billboard, Rolling Stone, and Entertainment Weekly, among others....
titled ‘In Rainbows
In Rainbows
In Rainbows is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was first released on 10 October 2007 as a digital download self-released, that customers could order for whatever price they saw fit, followed by a standard CD release in most countries during the last week of 2007. The...
, On Torrents’ asked whether the Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
legal free offering could compete with illegal free downloads. He also challenged the popular Long Tail
Long tail
Long tail may refer to:*The Long Tail, a consumer demographic in business*Power law's long tail, a statistics term describing certain kinds of distribution*Long-tail boat, a type of watercraft native to Southeast Asia...
theory, showing that the demand for digital music instead followed a log normal distribution.