he actors involved are as follows:

  • The artists: songwriters, composers and performers
  • The record companies
  • Distributors and retailers
  • Performance rights societies (PROs).

ARTISTS

The initial loop sees the creation phase of music (songs, lyrics, arrangements, etc.) and its performance by authors, composers and performers.

EDITORS

Publishers, similar to what happens between record companies and musicians/artists, sign contracts with the authors of lyrics and provide them with financial support, promote and license their creations, and take care of the subsequent distribution of the proceeds.

RECORD COMPANIES

Record companies, which, as previously mentioned, before the advent of digital played a dominant role and brought great value by providing artists with financial support, as well as taking care of recording activities, production of physical media (vinyl, cassette, stereo8, CD, etc.), marketing and access to distribution channels.

DISTRIBUTORS

Distributors, who receive the physical media from the record companies, store them and ship them to retailers or, alternatively, directly to the end consumer.

Society for Enforcement Rights

Performing Rights Organizations (PROs), which are responsible for the collective management of royalties and revenues from the exploitation of rights related to musical works and are the link that connects the supply chain of the recording industry with that of the music licensing industry.

MAJOR

The record industry is an oligopoly that has always been characterized by a high level of concentration, since a few large record companies, the so-called “majors,” control most of the market, leaving the remainder to the fragmented universe of small independent record companies, known as “indies.”

until the early 2000s, sharing the largest share of the market were five major record companies, which, since 2004, became four following the joint venture created by Sony with BMG, which led to the creation of the Sony BMG Music Entertainment empire. The latter, after Universal, is the entity that controls the largest share of the world record market.