The Music Industry

The music industry, also known as the music business is known for selling compositions, recordings and performances of music.

Within the industry the many organizations and individuals that operate are usually;

-          the musicians who compose and perform the music

-          the companies and professionals who create and sell recorded music, eg music publishers, producers, studios, retail and online music stores.

-          Those that present live music performances. Eg booking agents, performances right organizations.

-          Those that present live music performances. Eg booking agents, promoters, music venues, road crew.

-          Professionals who assist musicians with their careers. Eg talent managers, business managers, entertainment lawyers.

-          Those who broadcast music. Eg satellite and broadcast radio.

It is known that in the late 19^th centrury and early 20^th century, the music industry was dominated by the publishers of sheet music.

By the middle of the century records had replaced sheet music as the largest player in the music business.

 Since 2000, sales of recorded music have dropped off substantially, while live music has increased in importance.

Five "major corporate labels" dominate recorded music —

1)      Universal Music Group

2)      Sony Music Entertainment,

3)      Warner Music Group

4)       EMI

5)      BMG

Oligopoly is a selection of companies that own and/or control a an area of the market. in this context it would be the five named companies above.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligopoly

These five companies, own 76% of the music industry, and the remaining 24% are subsidiaries (smaller labels of a larger label), usually independent labels.

 Each of these labels consists of many smaller companies and labels serving different regions and markets.

We have learnt that the live music industry is dominated by Live Nation, the largest promoter and music venue owner. Live Nation is a former subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications, which is the largest owner of radio stations in the United States.

Other important music industry companies include Creative Artists Agency- this company is a management and booking company.

Also Apple Inc, which runs the worlds largest music industry- the iTunes store. The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple.


There are many famous quotes that caught my eye and interest me within the music industry and what is a music video.
Firstly- "Music videois not primarily a commodity form but a promotional one"- Andrew Goodwin 1992, This quote means that you dont buy you just watch.

We learnt that a music promo video means a short, moving image product, shot for the express purpose of accompanying a pre-exisint music track and usually in order to encouage sales of the music in another format (generally Cd). This is a form of Synergy.

Important quotes and key points that i learnt were-
- ‘Music video is a promotional tool.’ (much like an extended advertisement) – Negus.
-Joe Saltzman said: ‘They now provide pictures for the songs in our heads . Goodbye, imagination…All kids have to o is to watch and listen, stare straight ahead. No need to think, to embellish, to create, to imagine. The electric fix is in.’