Disruption as Worldview Change: A Kuhnian Analysis of the Digital Music Revolution

Bibliographic Information and Source Metadata

  • Article Title: Disruption as worldview change: A Kuhnian analysis of the digital music revolution

  • Authors: Kai Riemer and Robert B Johnston

  • Journal: Journal of Information Technology

  • Publication Date: 2019

  • Volume and Issue: Vol. 34(4)

  • Page Range: 350 – 370

  • Presented By: Ellen Lachmann

  • Course Context: Managing Digital Transformation

  • Presentation Date: 04.05.2026

Theoretical Framework: A Kuhnian Analysis

  • The research utilizes a Kuhnian analysis to evaluate industry-wide changes, specifically focusing on the digital music revolution.

  • This approach treats disruption not merely as a technological upgrade but as a "worldview change."

  • Thomas Kuhn's framework (typically applied to scientific revolutions) is adapted here to explain how the underlying assumptions, practices, and paradigms of an industry shift during digital transformation.

Core Research Questions and Industry Disruptions

  • The analysis centers on the phenomenon of "interpretive discontinuity."

  • Critical Inquiry: The paper seeks to answer what the phenomenon of interpretive discontinuity reveals about the nature of industry disruptions.

  • The study examines how industry actors perceive and interpret digital shifts and how these interpretations can become fundamentally disconnected from previous industry logics.

The Phenomenon of Interpretive Discontinuity

  • A central theme of the presentation is the definition and exploration of "interpretive discontinuity."

  • Inquiry: What is interpretive discontinuity?

  • The concept implies a rupture in the standard ways of making sense of an industry's environment.

  • Under a Kuhnian lens, this suggests that during a disruption, the "old" way of seeing the world (e.g., music as a physical product like a CD) is no longer compatible with the "new" way of seeing the world (e.g., music as a digital service or stream).

  • This discontinuity represents the gap between two different, often incommensurable, regimes of industry practice and understanding.