Music Industry

Music Industry

In addition to moving around capital worth billions of dollars yearly, the music industry is the livelihood of millions of people. At the border of millennia, before i-tunes and ringtones took over the world, there were big problems with sites such as Napster and Kazaa. Artists’ music careers are greatly hurt by piracy; record companies also end up footing the bills.

Florida & Jackson (2010) inform their readers that consistent with industry clustering and related business theories, economies of scope and of scale, there were unswerving trends in musical agglomerations throughout the US between the years 1970 and 2004. The main centres were New York, Los Angeles and Nashville.

Fascination with all kind of dancing performances can be seen on shows like Dancing With the Stars (DWTS), So You Think You Can Dance? and American Idol. Countless movies such as Dirty Dancing and Flashdance and Black Swan have as their focus the ancient art.

Russian ballet has a worldwide reputation, as evidenced by the Bolshoi Theatre. The Grands Ballets Canadiens also have scenic presentation. Ballet ensembles tour, so short of travelling the world, there is always the possibility to wait for your favourite troupe or band to come by your location, even very small cities sometimes get a visit.

Town musicians from Bremen, Toronto. Photo by Elena

There are countless music genres rock, hard rock, metal (heavy, death, punk), country, pop, R & B, hip hop, jazz, folkloric, dj (techno, house, trans, electronica, drum ‘n’ base)… Musical instruments… the piano, violoncello, violin, bass, tambourine, flute, saxophone, trumpet, triangle, drums, steelpan, guitar, balalaika, bagpipes… Dance styles: South American (tango, salsa, merengue, bachata, cumbia, rumba, bolero, calypso, reggae, regaeton, cha cha cha, lambada), waltz, ballroom, ballet, etc. Did you know that on top of international contests, there is a Universidad de la Salsa?

First boy band were the Beatles (Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison). Elvis Presley’s nickname the King says it all. Subsequent boy bands include N’ Sync (Justin Timberlake), Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block. The Jonas Brothers could be conceived of as a boys’ duo.

Popular rock bands such as the Rolling Stones with Mick Jagger (who came to Quebec in their 50s and literally rocked the place!) continue to make money with concerts. Another derivative is reality TV shows. Ozzy (initially Black Sabbath), Sharon, Kelly and Jack Osbourne are the main characters on The Osbournes. Gene Simmons from famous rock formation Kiss also has his own show with Gene Simmons Family Jewels.

Still, Williamson & Cloonan (2007) ascertain that the concept of ‘music industry’ is too broad, and that one should utilize the plural version, musical industries. The authors dislike the singular form because it is used synonymously with the recording industry (the present essay is indeed using ‘music industry’ as an umbrella term to encompass recording, producing, selling, actually making the music and singing, and so on), and because it misrepresents the real situation that is heterogeneity of directions. Still, without ignoring the variety, it seems that it takes the sum of the parts to make a whole. For a discussion of the Mobile Media and China (移动媒体和中国), a research project concerning the music industry in China (中国的音乐产业), see Montgomery (2007). The undertaking looks at the role played by social networks in moving music commercialization along.

References:

    Alleyne, M. (2009). Globalisation and commercialisation of Caribbean music. World Music: Roots and Routes. Studies across Disciplines in the Humanities and Social Sciences 6. Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, 76-101.

    Florida, R. & Jackson, S. (2010). Sonic city: The evolving economic geography of the music industry. Journal of planning Education and Research, 29 (3); 310-321.

    Montgomery, L. (2007). Music, mobile, media and China: New technologies and social networks as drivers of innovation and growth in China’s music industry. In Proceedings of the Harmonious Society, Civil Society and the Media, Beijing.

    Williamson, J. & Cloonan, M. (2007). Rethinking the music industry. Popular Music, 26 (2): 305-322.