Record Industry

posted by the MusicMan, June 8th 2008

The record industry is the part of the music industry that sells sound recordings of music. The record industry includes songwriters, recording artists, record producers, sound engineers, talent managers, and those who work in artists and repertoire (A&R), manufacturing, distribution, art, marketing, promotion and entertainment law. Several of these (especially A&R, marketing and promotion) are usually direct employees of a record company, others are typically clients or contractors of a record company, although in recent years some of these relationships have begun to change.

In the early years of the phonograph in the late 19th century, the music industry was dominated by the publishers of sheet music. With the start of the 20th century the importance of recorded sound grew in the business, and at about the end of the first World War, records supplanted sheet music as the largest player in the music business. Since 2001, record sales have dropped off while live music has continued to grow, decreasing the importance of the record industry.

List of record industry organizations

  • Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA)
  • British Phonographic Industry (BPI)
  • Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)
  • Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte (GEMA) in Germany
  • International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI)
  • Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA)
  • National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS)
  • National Association of Record Merchandisers (NARM)
  • Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
  • Recording Industry Association Of New Zealand (RIANZ)