Introduction

Summary

Music industry, music economy, music business

If you google the term “music industry” the following Wikipedia entry tops the search list:

The music industry consists of the companies and independent artists that earn money by creating new songs and pieces and organizing live concerts and shows, audio and video recordings, compositions and sheet music, and the organizations and associations that aid and represent music creators. Among the many individuals and organizations that operate in the industry are: the songwriters and composers who create new songs and musical pieces; the singers, musicians, conductors and bandleaders who perform the music; the companies and professionals who create and sell recorded music and/or sheet music (e.g., music publishers, music producers, recording studios, engineers, record labels, retail and online music stores, performance rights organizations); and those that help organize and present live music performances (sound engineers, booking agents, promoters, music venues, road crew).

This definition is a list of music industry actors. However, this listing does not tell us anything about the processes and structures of the music industry. The Oxford Music Online entry provides a more general and process-oriented definition of the music industry: “The music industry consists of a network involving the production, distribution, dissemination and consumption of music in a variety of forms, as well as the promotion of live music performances” (Tschmuck 2014).

In combining both definitions we can identify three closely linked sectors of the music industry: (1) the phonographic/recording industry, (2) music publishing, and (3) the live music sector. Some definitions, however, speak about music industries instead of a single music industry, since music recording, music publishing and organizing live music follows different production, distribution and consumption logics. Yet, recording, publishing and the concert business are closely linked. A recorded music company usually unites a recording and music publishing branch, since the former relies on the copyrights of the latter. The concert business is not just the most important revenue source for musicians, but it also helps to sell recorded music. Economic studies prove that the recorded music and the concert markets are complementary goods.