Music is universally known as an expression of emotion, rebellion against the man, a way of life, a random collection of sounds, an annoying thing kids listen to, or even a vacation from everything, but in reality music is free of all definition. The industry involved in buying, selling and recording of music has grown so old, treacherous, and ignorant that it can not figure out the steps it needs to evolve with the rapidly expanding music industry. Musicians and fans alike are screaming about the dire need of some modern day innovation in the market. Sadly the monstrous corporations that dominate the market have put a lid on the competitive edge, stopped the innovative changes any smaller companies can make. There are only three major record labels who dominate the market today and only one other company is trying to make its way into the ring. Yet there are numerous small companies that distribute and sell CDs of bands whose names will never make it to the dinner table, let alone the bar stool, and they themselves will never be recognized beyond those who are part of the company. Furthermore the bands are even bought from the smaller companies before the band gets too big and the small label gets to be known. Its a sad, sad story of big fish eat small fish and nothing has been changed since the beginning of recorded music! Many major points of issues that will be covered are the monopoly major record labels have on the music industry and how hard it is for up and coming labels/artists to make a living because of them. As a member of a band that has tried to make a start I have some experience as to how much work it takes, the kind of people it requires, and some of the long nights a show might entail. Furthermore I am a high... ... middle of paper ... .... 2014. Hatschek, Keith, and Casey Newlin. "Running Your Own Indie Record Label." Disc Makers Echoes Running Your Own Indie Record Label Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014. One, Jeriko. "How The Music Industry Monopoly Really Works." RapRehab. N.p.. 06 Jan. 2012. Web. 02 Apr. 2014. Owsinski, Bobby. "The Lie That Fuels The Music Industry's Paranoia." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 27 Nov. 2013. Web. 05 May 2014 Rapaport, Diane. "How Record Companies Make Money." Music Business: Producers. Web. 04 Apr. 2014. Roosevelt, Quotations From Franklin D. "Quotations from Franklin D Roosevelt." Poemhunter.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2014. Spellman, Peter. "Music Business Solutions: Music Business Education: The Real Reason Major Record Companies Suck." Music Business Solutions: Music Business Education: The Real Reason Major Record Companies Suck. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
The two biggest components are major and independent record labels. Major record labels are the driving force of the industry, “Big Four labels/major record labels represented the majority of the music sold, making up as much as 75% of the music market or more depending on the year.” (About.com) Additionally, “The five major record labels; Sony, Universal, BMG, EMI and Time Warner dominate 85% of the market when it comes to sales of Compact Discs. Leaving only 15% for the hundreds of independent record labels and thousands of artists out there." (Raprehab and Bomhiphop.com) In his essay A Brief Outline of How the International Popular Music Industry Manipulates and Exploits the Audience, Shams Quader discusses this issue."Big Four is responsible for 70% of the worldwide music and 85% of US music sales. ... Seeing that these companies have such a monopolistic hold on the world market..." (Quader) it would be safe to presume that the music monopoly was/ is created as a result of how the three major record labels today are holding more than three forths of the net profit of the industry moreover the question of the monopoly was brought to the table especially when Universal Music Group proposed a merger with EMI and many of its top billboard chart artists, Universal Music Group was also the
copy the discs(148). Marketing and promotion decide the best way to sell the record, while Distribution gets the record in stores. Lastly, and probably most importantly, is the Administration. This handles the bills and keeps track of how well the record is doing in the market(148). Without the help of each of these particular levels, the recording industry would have problems. The only other problem would be to make sure people hear the music and buy the record.
Four companies controlled 90 percent of radio and revenue in the early 2000s. Serious implications for programming occurred due to the level of ownership concentration. According to Garafolo, “In one week, the forty top modern-rock stations ad...
The recording industry is highly competitive with its profits based in its ability to attract and retain artist who sell hit records. Advertising, promotion and publicity for its artist are central elements in a music company's marketing program and they represent a sizeable amount of the company's costs. Universal has more market share because it has more hit artist and a larger music catalog than any other music recording company. Because of these facts, Universal is susceptible to the most losses. Universal made the decision to slash its CD prices in the US by up to 31.5 percent in the US, not to increase market share but to persuade consumers to start buying CD's again (Universal, 2003). Since the advent of new technology allowing consumers to obtain music in non-traditional means, actual CD sales in the US had been on a decline since 2000 (Kerin, 2007). In fact, four of the major five record companies reported losses in the first half of 2003. Universal is considered a heavy hitter US with a market share of 29.4% while EMI ranks in the bottom of the five major record labels with a mere 9.8% of US market share. EMI was the only company that did not report losses the beginning of 2003 due to major reorganization efforts.
Bhattacharjee, Sudip, et al. “Re-Tuning the Music Industry—Can They Re-Attain Business Resonance?” Communications of the ACM 52.6 (2009): 136-140. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 27 Jan. 2011.
The music industry’s history is a convoluted mess. There is no real consensus on what the music industry IS and what paths it has taken. Were the Beatles the greatest band to ever exist? Maybe. Is there a hyper objectification of women throughout the “men’s club” that is the music industry? Probably. It’s this hard to define, frankly confusing business that is worth roughly $130 billion dollars today. With it’s flimsy and opaque edges, can the music industry ever be called into question on its wrongdoings? The racist undertone throughout its history may force it to. With the music industry as an ever growing business that seems to change almost every decade, the one thing that has not changed throughout time is an undercurrent of racism that
Fink, Michael Inside the Music Industry Creativity, Process, and Business. Simin & Schuster Macmillan, New York: 1989.
This abominable trend will not right itself until a desire is expressed by the public for some real music, on a large scale. As with any business, the most effective method is purchasing power. Especially in today's market, music production is expensive, and a panhandling amateur will not survive long without financial backing. By identifying and understanding objective values in music and associating them with one's own subjective values, we may yet find an egress from our musical morass.
“Music Producer: Job Duties, Career Outlook, and Education Prerequisites.” Degree Directory. DegreeDirectory.org. Web. 5 December 2013.
Understanding music without having a proper understanding of the basic principles of business equates to not understanding the music industry. For years, “getting signed” to a record label was the best option for an artist to experience success. However, millions of copies be...
The music industry is an ever-evolving revolutionary entertainment industry for the masses. Music provides entertainment to all different masses due to the variety of genres produced. Music is a very profitable and complex industry. Music has expanded to a worldwide industry for musical artist to express their art through the form of song to the masses. Music not only appeals to the ears but to every aspect of a person. Music allows for individuals to explore and let their imagination expand as they here a song. Throughout the years the industry has undergone dramatic changes. Whether it is genres, forms of how it is distributed, or even the impact the artist have had. The industry is diverse and ever changing as the years continue. In the past 20 years the industry has changed with help of the technological breakthroughs and adoptions.
The three major record labels are Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group; these majors have sub-labels such Atlantic Records (Warner) and Columbia Records (Sony). There are thousands of indie labels (300 Entertainment, Mad Decent, etc.) yet they only represented about a third of the total US album market share in 2015. Majors have substantial amounts of capital at their disposal and key divisions in-house (distribution, publishing), often putting them at an advantage over their smaller competitors. The below graph shows just how large a share of the US recorded music market the major labels controlled in 2015 compared to their many independent
The music industry started in the mid 18th century with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Through the decades there has been a great increase in this industry; however, the revenues for this industry have declined by half in the last 10 years. This has been caused by music piracy, which “is the copying and distributing of copies of a piece of music for which the composer, recording artist, or copyright-holding record company did not give consent” . After 1980’s, when the Internet was released to public, people started to develop programs and websites in which they could share music, videos, and information with...
The music industry is vital and covers many avenues; within each avenue there are many of different aspects from the creative right through to the inventive. For example here are some of the avenues available that the music industry offers.
The music industry of America is one of extraordinary power and influence. The art of music has been around for centuries from Beethoven, to Elvis Presley, to The Rolling Stones, and in more recent times, Metallica. Music has conformed to adapt to the ever-changing societies and interests of its listeners. Today there exists a wide variety of music, whose focus attracts numerous audiences. The industry has continued to expand to ...