Jess and Sarah: Music Industry Institutional Research

Although it encompasses the activity of many music-related businesses and organizations, it is currently dominated by the "big four" record groups, also known as "the major labels"/"the majors" — Sony Music Entertainment,[1] EMI, Universal and Warner — each of which consists of many smaller companies and labels serving different regions and markets.
it refers only to the businesses and organizations that record, produce, publish, distribute, and market recorded music (e.g., music publishers, recording industry, record production companies). until the 1700s, the process of composition and printing of music was mostly supported by patronage from the aristocracy and church. In the mid-to-late 1700s, performers and composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart began to seek commercial opportunities to market their music and performances to the general public. After Mozart's death, his wife (Constanze Weber) continued the process of commercialization of his music through an unprecedented series of memorial concerts, selling his manuscripts, and collaborating with her second husband, Georg Nissen, on a biography of Mozart. In the 1800s, the music industry was dominated by sheet music publishers. In the United States, the music industry arose in tandem with the rise of blackface minstrelsy. The group of music publishers and songwriters which dominated popular music in the United States was known as Tin Pan Alley.

In the early 20th century, the phonograph industry grew greatly in importance, and the record industry eventually replaced the sheet music publishers as the industry's largest force. A multitude of record labels came and went, but a handful of label corporations prospered for decades. By the end of the 1980s, the "Big 6" — EMI, Sony, BMG, PolyGram, WEA and MCA — dominated the industry. In mid-1998, PolyGram merged into Universal Music Group (formerly MCA), dropping the leaders down to a "Big 5". They became the "Big 4" in 2004 when Sony combined with BMG.

The advent of file sharing technologies has changed the balance between record companies, song writers, and performing artists. Bands such as Metallica have fought back against peer-to-peer programs such as the infamous Napster, and the arguments for and against technology to circumvent them - digital rights management systems - remain controversial. With the advent of Apple Inc.'s iTunes online music store in 2003, legal music downloads became widely available.
By June 2008, digital music sales generated around $2 billion in revenue, with tracks available through 500 online services located in 40 countries, representing around 10 percent of the total global music market. Revenue from retail CD sales, however, continued to fall. IBISWorld reported in June 2008 that "the industry's financial future looks bleak," but noted that, although revenues have decreased, artists have suffered less than record companies, since they can "make most of their money on merchandise sales and touring."

The music industry is made up of various players, including individuals, companies, unions, not-for-profit associations, and rights collectives, and other bodies. Professional musicians, musical ensembles, singers, conductors, and arrangers, and sound engineers create sound or video recordings of music or do live performances onstage. Professional musicians negotiate their wages, contractual conditions, and other conditions of work through Musicians' Unions or other guilds. Composers and songwriters write the music and lyrics to songs, which are sold in print form, as sheet music by music publishers. Composers and performers get part of their income from writers' copyright collectives and performance rights organization such as the ASCAP and BMI (or MCPS and PRS respectively for the UK); these societies and collectives ensure that composers and performers are compensated when their works are used on the radio or TV or in films. When musicians and singers make a CD or DVD, the creative process is coordinated by a record producer, whose role in the recording may range from suggesting songs and backing musicians to having a direct hands-on role in the studio, coaching singers, giving advice to session musicians on playing styles, and working with the senior sound engineer to shape the recorded sound through effects and mixing.
Most professional musicians, bands, and singers are signed with record labels, which are companies which finance the recording process in return for part or full share of the rights in the recording. A record company is an entity that manages sound recording-related brands and trademarks which consist of their owned labels; their owned and licensed master recordings; and various related ancillary businesses such as home video and DVDs. Labels may comprise a record group which is, in turn, controlled by a music group. As such, a larger umbrella label may have a number of sub-labels releasing music. Music publishers exist separately (even if sharing the same ultimate holding company or brand name), and they represent the rights in the compositions - i.e. the music as written rather than as recorded.
Record companies and record labels that are not under the control of the Big Four music groups and music publishers that are not one of the Big Four are generally considered to be independent, even if they are part of large corporations with complex structures. Some prefer to use the term indie label to refer to only those independent labels that adhere to criteria of corporate structure and size, and some consider an indie label to be almost any label that releases non-mainstream music, regardless of its corporate structure. According to US Market Research Firm NPD Group, iTunes recently surpassed Wal-Mart as America's largest music distributor. A record distributor is a company (often a record label)[citation needed] that works with record labels to promote and distribute their records, either in their home market or overseas.
Once the CD is recorded record distributor companies organize the shipping of the CDs to music stores and department stores. Record labels have use an "A&R" (Artists and Repertoire) manager to help develop the performing style of bands and singers signed the label. A&R managers may organize shared tours with similar bands or find playing opportunities for the label's groups which will broaden their musical experience. For example, an emerging singer-songwriter with little live playing experience may be sent on a major tour with an electric folk rock act from the same label, so that this person will gain more confidence.
When CDs sell in stores, or online, part of the money is returned to the performers in the form of royalties. While most recordings only earn royalties for a short period after they are released, a small number of recordings have become "classics", with longstanding popularity, such as albums by the Beatles or the Rolling Stones; these albums have continued to earn royalties for the surviving band members decades after their original release date.
Successful artists will hire a number of professionals to assist them with their career. The band manager oversees all aspects of an artist's career in exchange for a percentage of the artist's income. An entertainment lawyer assists them with the details of their contracts with record companies and other deals. A business manager handles financial transactions, taxes and bookkeeping. A booking agency represents the artist to promoters, makes deals and books performances. A travel agent makes travel arrangements. A road crew is a semi-permanent touring organization that travels with the artist. This is headed by a tour manager and includes experts in lighting, sound and musical instruments.

(From Wikipedia)