Industrial Context - Distribution and Ownership

The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, represent and supply music creators.

With the evolution of the industry, from national concerts to digital distribution, 3 main conglomerates have risen to dominate the industry;

- The French-owned Universal Music Group

- The Japanese-owned Sony Music Entertainment 

- The US-owned Warner Music Group.

Any other record label that does not fall under these three brands are known as "Independant" or "Indie" record labels. The largest portion of the live music market for concerts and tours is controlled by Live Nation. 

Artists in the late 20th and 21st century have a new found reach and freedom with the rise of the internet, allowing distribution online. American alternative indie band "They Might Be Giants" released their album "Long Tall Weekend" exclusively online, making it the first commercial album to ever be an online exclusive

Distribution

In our current time, the main distribution of music is digitally, through downloads and on demand streaming. Consumers still like to have physical forms of media and enjoy CD's and Vinyl, but prefer the ease of an on demand piece of music. Music is distributed on platforms like Spotify and iTunes, allowing it to reach a broader audience. This allows for more money to be made for artists and the sites hosting their music. Some platforms allow streaming for free, with adverts to make revenue, some platforms take a percentage of royalties from artists and some platforms allow music to be digitally brought, and provide a set amount of money to an artist for a digital download.