The digital era has brought enormous changes to traditional industries, among which the music industry has been particularly hard hit. Unauthorized downloading and file-sharing on the internet has significantly threatened the viability of the music industry. Reduced sales, as much as one-tenth of previous sales, have caused closure of many companies. The market territory has also shifted constantly. The future of the music industry relies on how it can address these changes. In addition, the rise of wholesale retailers that emphasize lower costs and quantity price discounts has also worsened the prospect of the music industry. Traditional music retailers have little profit margins to compete with these chained wholesale retailers. Losing market access, the sales and profits for pop music continue to decline, let alone "non pop" music, such as Buddhist music. The author has been a producer of Buddhist music for years and runs the Buddha Cloud Music Production House. Facing these changes, in this thesis he presents a new marketing strategy, deviated from traditional business sequence of production, recording, marketing, and retails. This strategy includes: (1) directly promoting his works to Buddhist temples; (2) marketing through mass media, such as newspapers and Buddhist TV channels; and (3) a total access marketing approach using online e-business programs. The author details how he used this strategy to successfully promote his works of Buddhist music produced in his studio. It is expected that the proposed strategy can shed some light on the marketing of other industries that face similar challenges.

Imports of fresh fruits and vegetables to the United States have grown by more than 350 percent since 1989. Factors such as rising consumer incomes, the desire for greater variety and availability of fresh produce throughout the year, and a reduction in trade barriers through multi-lateral and bi-lateral trade agreements have contributed to this growth in imports. In addition, since the implementation of the Agreement on Agriculture and the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures from the Uruguay Round of the World Trade Organization negotiations, there have been numerous requests to export fresh fruits and vegetables to the United States. From 1996 to 2008, the United States has granted new market access to 204 exporter/commodity combinations. Given this large increase in new market access, this thesis assesses the success of the new entrants in terms of contributing to the increase in fresh fruit and vegetable imports and whether they exported on a continual basis after gaining import eligibility. In addition, this thesis estimates a gravity model to assess the differences in fresh fruit and vegetable exports from new entrants subject to phytosanitary measures relative to those with no such restrictions in place and to determine whether these effects vary by commodity sector and exporter's size. The major finding of this thesis is that in general, new entrants have contributed little to the growth in U.S. fresh fruit and vegetable imports. For most commodities, new entrants do not provide a significant proportion of imports potentially because new entrants are not able to compete with existing suppliers. This study finds differences in fresh fruit and vegetable exports from new entrants subject to specific phytosanitary treatments relative to entrants with no such restrictions in place. / Master of Science

U.S. imports of fresh fruits and vegetables have increased sharply since the late 1980's. With increased imports come increased concerns that pests and diseases may infest shipments of fresh agricultural products. To address this concern, USDA's APHIS implements phytosanitary measures that mitigate pest and disease risks. These regulations vary from documentation requirements, inspection, or requiring that shipments receive a phytosanitary treatment. A growing body of literature attempts to assess the generic trade flow effects of SPS measures. Still, little evidence is available to shed light on the nature, size, and scope of SPS standards and their role as "trade barriers" versus "trade catalysts." This thesis fills the void in the literature in two respects. First, a novel database on phytosanitary measures pertaining to U.S. imports of 47 fresh fruit and vegetable products from 95 countries is developed for the period 1996-2007. This disaggregated approach allows for the effects of specific phytosanitary treatments to be identified. Second, following recent literature, the issue of "zeros" is addressed while estimating a gravity model of international trade. The findings suggest that phytosanitary treatments initially inhibit fresh fruit and vegetable imports. However, their trade reducing effects are uneven across product sectors, development status categories and treatment types. Finally, globally large exporters facing a treatment requirement ship more fresh fruits and vegetable relative to small exporters facing the same regulation, suggesting the role of SPS measures as "trade barriers" versus "trade catalysts" depends on the relative size of the exporter in the global market. / Master of Science