To understand the dynamics of the music industry, first of all, it is necessary to know that it is not just one, but several, different, closely related to each other, but based on different logics and structures. The music industry as a whole lives from the creation and exploitation of musical intellectual property. Composers and lyricists create songs, lyrics and arrangements that are performed live on stage, recorded and distributed to consumers, or licensed for any other type of use, for example, as the sale of sheet music or as background music for others. media (advertising, television, etc.).
This basic structure has given rise to three core music industries:
the record label, focused on recording music and distributing it to consumers; that of musical licenses, which above all grants licenses to companies for the exploitation of compositions and arrangements, and live music, focused on producing and promoting live shows, such as concerts, tours, etc. There are other kinds of companies that are sometimes included in the music industry family, such as instrument manufacturers, software , sound equipment, music merchandising , etc. Although these are important industrial sectors, they have not traditionally been considered an integral part of the best lyrics website industrial core.
In the pre-internet music industry, the recording industry was the
of the three and generated the most revenue. Most solo artists and bands who aspired to be something in the traditional music industry dreamed of being able to sign with a record label. A contract meant that the company would finance a studio recording, which would open the gates of the international record distribution system to the performer, something that was beyond the reach of most bands without a contract. The second sector, music licensing, was much smaller and more conventional than the recording industry sector.
Music publishers, operating in this business,
mostly worked with other companies in the industry, without any direct interaction with the public. His primary responsibility was to collect license fees when one of his songs was used in any context, and to ensure that such royalties were distributed fairly between songwriters and lyricists. The third sector, that of live music, generated its own income from the sale of concert tickets. Although live music has a long and rich history, during the 20th century it was always in the shadow of the recording industry. It was clear that the biggest revenue came from record sales, and record labels generally viewed concert tours as a means of promoting studio albums, regardless of whether or not the tour was profitable. Sometimes even the record company helped finance the tour. Thus,