Case Study 1

Case Study

“Look at them!” he said, his eyes dancing. “That’s what it’s all about, the way the people feel. It’s not about the sellout performances and the caliber of the bands who appear here. It’s about the people who buy tickets, having a good time.”Avis Thomas-Lester, “A Club Owner’s Mojo,” Washington Post, December 28, 2009, accessed May 11, 2011, http://views.washingtonpost.com/on-success/ what-it-takes/2009/12/seth_hurwitz.html.

That’s Seth Hurwitz quoted in the Washington Post, talking about his 9:30 Club, a small venue playing over-the-hill bands on the way down, and fresh acts scratching their way up. The story’s curious detail is that even though Hurwitz calls his company I.M.P. (It’s My Party), he doesn’t spend much time at his club. In fact, he’s almost never there. Part of the reason is that his workday begins at 6 a.m., so he’s actually back in bed preparing for the next day before his enterprise gets going in earnest each night. His job is straightforward: sitting in the second floor office of his suburban DC home, he scrutinizes the music publications and statistics, probing for bands that people want to see and that won’t charge too much to appear. He told the Post that he won’t book an act as a favor, and he won’t flatter a group into playing his club to keep them away from the competition by overpaying them. “I don’t subscribe,” he says, “to doing shows that will lose money.”

Hurwitz has been connected with music in one way or another for almost as long as he can remember. The Post relates some of his early memories: He rigged a system to broadcast radio from his basement to his parents and brothers in the living room. “I used to bring my singles into class and play them,” Hurwitz said. When he was 16, he decided he wanted to be a deejay and got his chance when alternative rock station WHFS gave him a spot. “It was from 7:45 to 8—fifteen minutes,” he said, laughing. “But that was okay because I wanted to be on the radio, and I had my own show, as a high school student.” He said he was fired “for being too progressive.”Avis Thomas-Lester, “A Club Owner’s Mojo,” Washington Post, December 28, 2009, accessed May 11, 2011, http://views.washingtonpost.com/on-success/what-it-takes/2009/12/ seth_hurwitz.html. It’s a long way from getting fired for playing music too obscure for alternative radio to where Hurwitz is now: putting on concerts by bands selected because they’ll make money.

Q U E S T I O N S

1. Hurwitz is brutally honest about the fact that he’ll only contract bands capable of turning a profit. When he was younger and a deejay, he insisted on playing the music he judged best no matter how many people turned off the radio when his show came on (an attitude that cost him the job). ◦What, if anything, is Hurwitz the older concert promoter compromising to get ahead? Is there an ethical objection that could be raised here? If so, what? If not, why not? ◦When Hurwitz was a deejay, he played records that led people to change the station. Then the station changed him. Is this an example of business regulating itself? Is there an ethical side to this, or is it just the way money works? Explain. ◦From the information given, would you judge that Hurwitz is successful in business? Why or why not? ◦Are all these questions part of institutional business ethics or personal business ethics? Explain. 2. Hurwitz says that he doesn’t book bands as favors. Presumably at least some of the favors he’s talking about would be to friends. ◦Do people who run their own company have an ethical responsibility to separate friends from business? 3. One nice thing about Hurwitz working upstairs in his own house is that he can show up for work in the morning in his pajamas. Should all places of business be like that—with people free to wear whatever they want for work? Explain your answer from an ethical perspective. 4. Most of Hurwitz’s shows are on weeknights. Some concertgoers may have such a good time that they can’t make it in to work the next day. ◦If you go to a concert on a Wednesday and are too hung over to make it to work on Thursday, what should you tell your boss on Friday? That you were hung over? That your car broke down? Something else? Justify. ◦Should Hurwitz accept some responsibility and blame for absent employees? Explain.