The music industry or music business sells compositions, recordings and performances of music. Among the many individuals and organizations that operate within the industry are:
- the musicians who compose and perform the music;
- the companies and professionals who create and sell recorded music (e.g., music publishers, producers, studios, engineers, record labels, retail and online music stores, performance rights organizations)
- those that present live music performances (booking agents, promoters, music venues, road crew);
- professionals who assist musicians with their careers (talent managers, business managers, entertainment lawyers);
- those who broadcast music (satellite and broadcast radio); journalists; educators; musical instrument manufacturers; as well as many others.
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, the music industry was dominated by the publishers of sheet music. By the middle of the century records had supplanted sheet music as the largest player in the music business: in the commercial world people began speaking of "the recording industry" as a loose synonym of "the music industry".
Since 2000, sales of recorded music have dropped off substantially, while live music has increased in importance.
Four "major corporate labels" dominate recorded music each of which consists of many smaller companies and labels serving different regions and markets.
Universal Music Group
- Owns or has joint share in thousands of record labels
- Covers the widest range of genres
Sony Music Entertainment
- 11 subtypes of labels, specialising in different genres
- Wide range of independent labels
- Distributes to 10 different countries.
Warner Music Group
- More than 20,000 record label subtypes under the ‘Warner Music Group’
- Extensive record labels/Large range of genres
- Wide range of independent record labels
EMI
- 6 subtypes of labels, specialising in different genre
- Wide range of international labels
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