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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

The Music Industry In 2011

By Mike Taylor


Music Industry means Music Biz! Anything behind compositions, recording and performances of music. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, the music industry was dominated by the publishers of sheet music. By mid-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.

This is an important period. If you can't have access to a recording studio, you can't be a musician, and a studio with all the keyboards, sounds and effects was very very expensive.

Since 2000, sales of recorded music have dropped off substantially, while live music has increased in importance. Four major corporate labels dominate recorded music, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI - each of which consists of many smaller companies and labels serving different regions and markets.

What's happening now? Thanks to technology, a studio can be much less expensive than in the past and be effective at the same time. While keyboards can be expensive like in the eighties, computer synths sound wonderful and their cost is much less.

Music Biz is much more than this, of course. The music industry itself comprises various players, including individuals, companies, trade unions, not-for-profit associations, rights collectives, and other bodies. Professional musicians, including band leaders, rhythm section members, musical ensembles, vocalists, conductors, composers/arrangers, and sound engineers create sound recordings of music or perform live in venues ranging from small clubs to stadia. Occasionally 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 and other musical works, which are sold in print form as sheet music or scores by music publishers.

Music Biz is expanding. It's time to listen to music online right away and check yourself. In 2011 there will be even more music that in the last years. Technology helps talents to show their skills to anyone thanks to the Internet. This can bring important contracts from labels, or just good audience from anywhere in the world, which is anyway not bad at all.




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