Huldunótur / Invisible NotesIntroductionCase Studies Selections
Innovation, Strategy, Design2026-v1RKV / BOS

07


TWO BEATS AHEAD


  • Musicians are masters of innovation, constantly finding new ways to adapt to accelerating change. Two Beats Ahead: What Musical Minds Teach Us About Innovation, combines first-person interviews and case studies from Pharrell, Imogen Heap, Björk, Jimmy Iovine and many, many more to showcase their entrepreneurial mindsets. They are creators that aren’t limited by category or genre, teaching us about unlocking our own creativity in the business world.

  • The book was co-authored with Panos A. Panay when we were both at Berklee College of Music. In our courses, we prepared our students for the professional world by teaching them how to transfer their skills from music making to entrepreneurial behaviors using design thinking.

  • In addition to the course, we walked-the-walk by founding the Open Music Initiative, an open source fair payments model for creators. Our organization united labels, publishers and artists to address the opacity of artist compensation, spurring the creation of the Music Modernization Act and a new muisc licensing platform at Berklee named RAIDAR.

  • The book is published by Public Affairs in the US, Penguin Business in the EU, Toyo Keizai in Japan and Cube Press in Taiwan. It has been featured by BBC, Financial Times, and Harvard Business Review among others.

In 2024, a podcast, Two Beats Ahead Live! launched in Reykjavík. The series features Icelandic artists who have become entrepreneurs.

File Under: Innovation methodology, entrepreneurship