Transcript The Industrialization of Popular Music

Media Industry Structure: Oligopoly
The “few” selling to the many:
Dominant firm oligopoly: One firm
holds 50-90% of the market
Tight oligopoly: Four firms hold
more than 60% of the market
Effective competition: More than
four firms (but less than
“many”) hold 60% of the
market
2003
Universal/NBC
(United States)
Major Recording
Companies
Major Recording Companies
2003
2006
Universal Music Group
1920
Universal/NBC
Sony Music Entertainment
(United States)
RCA
EMI Group
Warner Brothers Music
Columbia
BMG Entertainment
Decca
The production cycle of popular music
Contracted
Artists
Artistic
Indies
Community
Talent
Scouts
Production
INNOVATION
Recording
Industry
Society/Culture
Managerial
Retail
Copyright
1. The composition
2. The performance
3. The recording
Some Issues
• The notes/lyrics v. sound: the folk tradition of West Africa
• Sampling: Is the sum of (different) parts equal to a whole
Performance Rights (Music Licensing)
A brochure from the American Society of Composers,
Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) states, "Any user who
performs copyrighted musical works in public, and
whose performances are not specifically exempt under
the law, needs a license from ASCAP or from the
members whose works the user wishes to perform."
Music licensing organizations represent songwriters,
composers, and music publishers so that they receive
royalties for the public performance of copyrighted
music in broadcast media and public places. The
organizations do not print, publish, or sell music, but the
databases they maintain can help verify pieces of music
and identify the copyright owner. If the music is not in
print separately or in a collection, the copyright owner
may be the only source.
ASCAP's ACE on the Web
http://www.ascap.com/ace/ACE.html
ACE is a database of song titles licensed by ASCAP in the
United States, searchable by title, writer, performer, or
publisher.
BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.)
http://www.bmi.com/
BMI calls its Internet song title database "Hyperrepertoire."
Searchable by song title or song writer, with writer and
publisher information on songs licensed by BMI.
SESAC
http://www.sesac.com/
SESAC is another music licensing organization like ASCAP
and BMI. Their online index is called SESAC Repertory Online,
http://www.sesac.com/repertory.htm.
Questions About
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act
1. The surrender of balance to control (copyright
owner has all control).
2. The surrender of public interest to private interest
(the matter of the public good from creativity).
3. The surrender of republican deliberation within the
nation-state to unelected multilateral
nongovernmental bodies. (World Intellectual
Property Organization and the World Trade
Association).
4. The surrender of culture to technology (the
“electronic lock” unfettered by public
deliberation).
From Vaidhyanathan (pp.159-160)