The History Of The Music Industry

The History Of The Music Industry 

The music industry started in the 18th century. The process of how music was made and printing of music took place for the part with the support of financial support from people of higher social class in society. In the 19th century, sheet music publishers dominated the music industry.  At the beginning of the 20th century, the recording of sound began to function through new technology in music which in turn created a new market.

The phonograph is a device introduced in 1877 invented by Thomas Edison that has been used for playing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds.

The start of radio communications, changed the way in which music was heard. Opera houses, concert halls and clubs continued to produce music and perform live, but the power of radio allowed bands and artists to become popular on a nationwide and sometimes worldwide scale.

The record industry eventually replaced the sheet music publishers as the industry’s largest force. The 1920's was a time of massive development and expansion as BBC radio was licensed by the British Government.

BBC radio started off by playing classical music. In the late 1920's the first music videos were played on a jukebox. Around the 1930's/40's there was a decline in the music industry. In the early 1940's soundies were an early version of the music video.

By the end of the 1980's the ‘Big 6’ were formed. Electric & Musical Industries Ltd , Columbia Broadcasting System, Bertelsmann Music Group, PolyGram, Warner Bros, Elektra Atlantic and Music Corporation of America dominated the industry.

Sony bought CBS Records in 1987 and changed its name to Sony Music in 1991. In 1998 PolyGram merged into Universal Music Group, now making it the ‘Big 5’.

In the 21st century the ‘Big 5’ major record companies became the ‘Big 4’ in 2004 when Sony bought BMG. The four major corporate labels that dominated recorded music were Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI Group. Each of these four companies had many other smaller companies within the market.

In 2011 the ‘Big 4’ became the ‘Big 3’ when EMI was bought by Universal.