Will Page, Spotify’s former chief economist, shares the lessons he’s learned on how to recognise and adapt to disruption through the application of ‘Tarzan Economics’.

The near destruction of the music industry at the hands of online piracy and its subsequent recovery on the backs of digital streaming platforms is more than just the biggest story of disruption and reinvention of the digital age. It is also a trove of insights on how to confront the metamorphosis we are all facing in dealing with the COVID-19 era, as accelerating tech and economic changes reshape our work, our play and our very minds.

Page extrapolates music’s journey into eight guiding principles for pivoting through the ubiquitous disruption in nearly all industries. The notion of ‘Tarzan Economics’ ties these principles together: a framework for recognising and acting on disruption, by letting go of the old vine and grabbing onto the new. He assesses the new dynamics of the ‘long tail’, identifies friends and foes in the battle for scarce attention and provides a practical tool for discovering the right role for each of us to succeed in this new modern world.

As we emerge from the unprecedented disruption of a global pandemic, ‘Tarzan Economics’ shows all of us – individuals, organisations and institutions – that if the vine we are holding onto is withering, we can have confidence to reach out for a new one.

In conversation with Alieda Moore