Shaping Forces

Abstract

As an ‘industry’, the music business can be analysed in terms of its micro-economic structure, conduct and performance (Anand and Peterson, 2000; Power and Hallencreutz, 2007; Asai, 2008), infrastructure (Burkart and McCourt, 2004) and restructuring process (Hardy, 1999). This kind of approach tends to lead us to focus fairly narrowly on the dominant players in the production side of the industry, such as the ‘big three’ record labels in the commercial music market (Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group). However, it does not deal so clearly with non-mainstream and publicly funded music (Hesmondhalgh, 1997; Fonarow, 2006), and therefore blinkers our view of the many and various actors and actions that comprise the music market. In addition to the record labels and the management they provide, other actors include regulators, copyright owners, publishers, policy makers, sponsors, promoters, musicians, media, critics, audiences, social activists and researchers. A multitude of different and important relationships exist between these actors, most of which are not yet well understood in the marketing literature. The purpose of this chapter is to briefly introduce the key shaping forces behind the contemporary music industry. It first outlines the economic system of music activities, and then explores the role of cultural policy in the music business. It concludes with a review of technology as a significant driving force behind the change in the music industry.