THE MUSIC INDUSTRY (OR MUSIC BUSINESS)

The music industry (or music business) sells compositions, recordings and performances of music. Among the many individuals and organisations 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 mid-century records had supplanted sheet music as the largest player in the music business. Since 2000, sales of recorded music have dropped off substantially, while live music has increased in importance.

There are four "major labels" that dominate recorded music — Sony Music Entertainment, EMI, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group — each of which consists of many smaller companies and labels serving different regions and markets. The live music industry is dominated by Live Nation, the largest promoter and music venue owner. Live Nation is a former subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications, which owns a majority of the radio stations in the United States. Other important music industry companies include Creative Artists Agency (a management and booking company) and Apple Inc. (which runs the world's largest online music store, iTunes Music Store, and sells the iPod).

1700s and 1800s : - Until the 1700s, the process of composition and printing of music was for the most part supported by patronage from aristocracies and churches. 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.

1900s : - 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 merged with BMG.

2000s : - 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 (even they are not against file-sharing now), and the arguments for and against technology to circumvent them - digital rights management systems - remain controversial. With the dawn 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."