Musictoday, a music merchandising company based in Charlottesville, Virginia, began as a much smaller outfit working for the Dave Matthews Band. It grew to manage a significant, complex value proposition for a wide variety of performers, including the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Katy Perry, Depeche Mode, and the estates of Michael Jackson and Jimi Hendrix. Due to the many changes in the music industry, including streaming services and online purchases of branded merchandise, Musictoday managed complete websites, branding, and merchandising services for its clients. One of its smaller acts, Night Train, ran out of posters during the previous holiday season, and Musictoday's VP of Operations was reconsidering the inventory planning process for Night Train's next season, including the optimal order quantity. The updated case is an excellent way to introduce economic order quantity (EOQ) calculations in a core first-year MBA course. The case is also supported by supplemental videos that may be accessed in the instructor's Teaching Note.
