Part 1: Setting The Stage
Chapter 1
Start Thinking. . .
Is the music industry primarily about business, or
about art?
2. How is the music industry different today than it was
100 years ago? What do you believe brought this
change?
1.
Chapter Goals
 Discover that the music business is large, growing,
diverse, and ever changing.
 Become familiar with the historical development of
music as a profession.
 Learn that music today is but one component of the
arts, entertainment and communications industry.
Music and Society
 Some 1.4 billion legal digital music downloads were sold in
the United States in 2011 – compared with 19 million in
2003. Globally, legal music downloads totaled 3.6 billion in
2011.
 The number of paid subscribers to streaming music
services increased by 65% in 2011 to 13.4 million worldwide.
 From the format’s introduction in 1982 to 2007, 200 billion
music CDs had been sold worldwide, though this format is
now in decline
 One in five Americans plays a musical instrument. These
musicians spend more than $6.4 billion a year on
instruments, accessories, and sheet music.
Art Versus Commerce
 Previously
 consumer appetite for music = fat, happy music industry
 Now
 P2P file sharing + nontraditional and online retail +
single track downloads = uncertainty for the music
industry
Art Versus Commerce
 Musicians and merchants can be both allies and
natural enemies.
 Artists often want to:
 break creative boundaries
 be heard and appreciated as much as possible
 connect with their audience
 Music merchants often want to:
 fit the mainstream sales taste
 make as much money as possible
 connect with audience’s wallets
Art Versus Commerce
 New technology brings many changes:
 new business models
 new contracts
 new licensing opportunities
 new definitions of




artist
label
merchant/retailer
music product
Historical Development
Finding a Paying Audience
 Early music was simply for artists’ pleasure.
 First western professional musicians were
singers/actors in Greek and Roman theaters.
 Middle Ages religious musicians received no pay.
 15th and 16th century German guilds improved
conditions for musicians.
 European artists employed as house musicians.
Historical Development
Finding a Paying Audience
 Professional status came through the paying audience,
especially in Italian and English musical theater and
opera.
 By 1800s paying to hear a professional was generally
accepted.
Historical Development
Finding a Paying Audience
 Professional musicians resulted in managers or agents.
 Mozart’s father
 P.T. Barnum
 Show-biz atmosphere for popular music developed
 minstrel shows
 growing size and affluence of middle class
 Music publishing houses emerged
 spotted popular hits
 employed in-house composers
Historical Development
Mass Media
 1920s: Radio
 expanded elite audience
 developed new audience for folk music, country and
western songs, blues, and jazz
 publishers fought broadcasting


said it hurt sales of sheet music
initially no income from broadcast performances
Historical Development
Mass Media
 Sound films usher further development
 synchronization rights
 musical films
 The Great Depression of 1930s saw:
 end of million-selling records
 sale of sheet music collapse
 vaudeville theater attendance drop
 radio broadcasting grow
Historical Development
Mass Media
 Growth of radio
 music publishers focused on radio stars
 song plugging grew to national enterprise
 regional publishing offices closed
 big bands became brand names
 band singers became popular singers
Historical Development
Mass Media
 Effects of World War II:
 Armed Forces Radio network
 by 1940s American style = world style
 returning G.I.s bought records
 music product factories reopened
 music industry reaching a mass market
 record companies moving millions of singles
Historical Development
Mass Media
 Columbia’s long-playing record
 12 songs = 600% increase in income
 classic records = 10% of market
 Low cost tape-recorders
 High-fidelity sound
Historical Development
Mass Media
 The new music business attracted:
 new capital
 new merchants
 new distribution and merchandising methods

rack jobbers
 large investments in record production
Historical Development
Mass Media
 The “money-tree” music industry
 the “Big 6”
 record labels’ catalogs released on CDs
 Music TV takes root
 MP3 format arrives
 Digital file sharing = mass media controlled by the
masses
 The future?
Tools of the Trade
 In times of rapid change, you need to stay informed.
 read the trades
 attend professional meetings
 read online music blogs
 study at accredited institutions
 learn from the professionals
For Further Thought. . .
Musical artists and music merchants are often
considered natural enemies, holding different views
on what music should be and do, but today they have
to get along. What has forced this accommodation,
this working relationship?
2. What influence has technology and communications
had on the music industry? Give specific examples.
3. How is the life of an artist different today than it was
in the Middle Ages? What has changed, and what
remains the same?
1.