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The world music market is the global market for the commercial trade of music. As of 2006, this market is dominated by the "Big Four record labels": Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Group, and Warner Music Group. These companies control around 70% of the world music market and around 85% of the United States music market, demonstrating the concept of oligopoly within the music industry. On 13 July the EU annulled the merger of Sony Music and BMG and declared that Sony BMG must demerge Sony Music and BMG into seperate entities once again.
Terminology and business structure
The term "record label" when referring to the Big Four is a misnomer, as they are actually corporate umbrella organizations called business groups. A music group is a business group consisting of music related companies, and is typically owned by an international conglomerate holding company, which often has non-music divisions as well. A music group controls and consists of music publishing companies, record (sound recording) manufacturers, record distributors, and record labels. A record label is a company that manages sound recording-related brands and trademarks (both of which are also called labels); coordinates the production, marketing, licensing, and copyright protection of sound recordings and videos; and maintains contracts with recording artists and their managers. Record companies (manufacturers, distributors, and labels) may also comprise a record group which is, in turn, controlled by a music group.
Record companies and music publishers that are not under the control of the Big Four are generally considered to be independent, even if they are large corporations with complex structures. Some prefer to use the term indie label to refer to only those independent labels that adhere to an arbitrary, ill-defined criteria of corporate structure and size, and some consider an indie label to be almost any label that releases non-mainstream music, regardless of its corporate structure.
Reported statistics
Nielsen SoundScan reported that the big four accounted for 81.87% of the world music market in 2005:
- Universal Music Group (France/USA based) — 31.71%
- Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Japan/Germany based) — 25.61% (13.83% Sony, 11.78% BMG)
- Warner Music Group (USA based) — 15%
- EMI Group (UK based) — 9.55%
- Independent record labels — 18.13%
and in 2004, 82.64%:
- Universal Music Group — 29.59%
- Sony BMG — 28.46% (13.26% Sony, 15.20% BMG)
- Warner Music Group — 14.68%
- EMI Group — 9.91%
- independent labels — 17.36%
The global market was estimated at $30-40 billion in 2004.According to the RIAA the world music market is estimated at $40 billion, but according to IFPI (2004) it is estimated at $32 billion. Total annual unit sales (CDs, music videos, mp3s) in 2004 were 3 billion.
According to an IFPI report published in August 2005,http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/publications/rin_order.html the big four accounted for 71.7% of retail music sales:
- Universal Music Group — 25.5%
- Sony BMG Music Entertainment — 21.5%
- EMI Group — 13.4%
- Warner Music Group — 11.3%
- independent labels — 28.4%
Prior to December 1998, the industry was dominated by the "Big Six": Sony Music and BMG had not yet merged, and PolyGram had not yet been absorbed into Universal Music Group. After the PolyGram-Universal merger, the 1998 market shares reflected a "Big Five", commanding 77.4% of the market, as follows, according to MEI World Report 2000:
- Universal Music Group including PolyGram — 21.1%
- Sony Music — 17.4%
- EMI — 14.1%
- Warner Music Group — 13.4%
- BMG — 11.4%
- independent labels — 22.6%
In 1918, worldwide sales of phonograph/gramophone records were estimated at 100 million units.
Albums sales and market value
The following table shows album sales and market value in the world in the 1990s–2000s,| N | Country | Album Sales Share | Share of World Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | USA | 37-40% | 30-35% |
| EU | 30-32% | 31-34% | |
| 2 | Japan | 9-12% | 16-19% |
| 3 | UK | 7-9% | 6.4-9.1% |
| 4 | Germany | 7-8% | 6.4-8.3% |
| 5 | France | 4.5-5.5% | 5.4-6.3% |
| 6 | Canada | 2.6-3.3% | 1.9-2.8% |
| 7 | Australia | 1.5-1.8% | 1.5-2.0% |
| 8 | Brazil | 2.0-3.8% | 1.1-3.1% |
| 9 | Italy | 1.7-2.0% | 1.5-2.0% |
| 10 | Spain | 1.7-2.3% | 1.4-1.8% |
| 11 | Netherlands | 1.2-1.8% | 1.3-1.8% |
| 12 | Mexico | 2.1-4.6% | 0.8-1.8% |
| 13 | Belgium | 0.7-0.8% | 0.8-1.2% |
| 14 | Switzerland | 0.75-0.9% | 0.8-1.1% |
| 15 | Austria | 0.5-0.7% | 0.8-1.0% |
| 16 | Sweden | 0.7-0.9% | 0.7-1.0% |
| 17 | Russia | 2.0-2.9% | 0.5-1.4% |
| 18 | Taiwan | 0.9-1.6% | 0.5-1.1% |
| 19 | Argentina | 0.5-0.7% | 0.5-1.0% |
| 20 | Denmark | 0.45-0.65% | 0.5-0.8% |
Singles sales
Physical single sales in the world in the 90s-00s and digital single sales in 2005.
| N | Country | Physical Sales Share | Digital Sales Share in 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|
| EU | 34-50% | 13.2% | |
| 1 | Japan | 26-32% | 1.7% |
| 2 | USA | 4-25% | 85% |
| 3 | UK | 14,5-16% | 6.3% |
| 4 | Germany | 9-12% | 5% |
| 5 | France | 4-12.5% | 1.9% |
| 6 | Australia | 1.8-4.6% | 0.48% |
| 7 | Netherlands | 1.3-1.7% | < 0.2% |
| 8 | Belgium | 0.8-1.8% | < 0.2% |
| 9 | Sweden | 0.6-0.96% | < 0.2% |
| 10 | Switzerland | 0.5-0.92% | < 0.2% |
| 11 | Austria | 0.58-0.82% | < 0.2% |
| 12 | Italy | 0.3-1.0% | < 0.2% |
| 13 | Spain | 0.3-0.7% | < 0.2% |
| 14 | Norway | 0.3-0.47% | < 0.2% |
| 15 | Ireland | 0.2-0.5% | < 0.2% |
| 16 | Canada | 0.1-0.6% | < 0.2% |
| 17 | Portugal | 0.01-1.0% | < 0.2% |
| 18 | RSA | 0.02-0.45% | < 0.1% |
| 19 | New Zealand | 0.19-0.29% | < 0.1% |
| 20 | Denmark | 0.10-0.25% | < 0.1% |
Recorded Music Interim Physical Retail Sales in 2005
all figures in millions| UNITS | VALUE | CHANGE | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singles | CD | DVD | Total Units | $US | Local Currency | Units | Value | ||
| 1 | USA | 3.3 | 300.5 | 11.6 | 326.8 | 4783.2 | 4783.2 | -5.70% | -5.30% |
| 2 | Japan | 28.5 | 93.7 | 8.5 | 113.5 | 2258.2 | 239759 | -6.90% | -9.20% |
| 3 | UK | 13.3 | 66.8 | 2.9 | 74.8 | 1248.5 | 666.7 | -1.70% | -4.00% |
| 4 | Germany | 8.5 | 58.7 | 4.4 | 71 | 887.7 | 689.7 | -7.70% | -5.80% |
| 5 | France | 11.5 | 47.3 | 4.5 | 56.9 | 861.1 | 669.1 | 7.50% | -2.70% |
| 6 | Italy | 0.5 | 14.7 | 0.7 | 17 | 278 | 216 | -8.40% | -12.30% |
| 7 | Canada | 0.1 | 20.8 | 1.5 | 22.3 | 262.9 | 325 | 0.70% | -4.60% |
| 8 | Australia | 3.6 | 14.5 | 1.5 | 17.2 | 259.6 | 335.9 | -22.90% | -11.80% |
| 9 | Spain | 1 | 17.5 | 1.1 | 19.1 | 231.6 | 180 | -13.40% | -15.70% |
| 10 | Netherlands | 1.2 | 8.7 | 1.9 | 11.1 | 190.3 | 147.9 | -31.30% | -19.80% |
| 11 | Russia | - | 25.5 | 0.1 | 42.7 | 187.9 | 5234.7 | -9.40% | 21.20% |
| 12 | Mexico | 0.1 | 33.4 | 0.8 | 34.6 | 187.9 | 2082.3 | 44.00% | 21.50% |
| 13 | Brazil | 0.01 | 17.6 | 2.4 | 24 | 151.7 | 390.3 | -20.40% | -16.50% |
| 14 | Austria | 0.6 | 4.5 | 0.2 | 5 | 120.5 | 93.6 | -1.50% | -9.60% |
| 15 | Switzerland ** | 0.8 | 7.1 | 0.2 | 7.8 | 115.8 | 139.2 | n/a | n/a |
| 16 | Belgium | 1.4 | 6.7 | 0.5 | 7.7 | 115.4 | 89.7 | -13.80% | -8.90% |
| 17 | Norway | 0.3 | 4.5 | 0.1 | 4.8 | 103.4 | 655.6 | -19.70% | -10.40% |
| 18 | Sweden | 0.6 | 6.6 | 0.2 | 7.2 | 98.5 | 701.1 | -29.00% | -20.30% |
| 19 | India | - | 10.9 | - | 55.3 | 79.2 | 3456.6 | -19.20% | -2.40% |
| 20 | Denmark | 0.1 | 4 | 0.1 | 4.2 | 73.1 | 423.5 | 3.70% | -4.20% |
| Top 20 | 74.5 | 757.1 | 42.8 | 915.2 | 12378.7 | -6.60% | -6.30% | ||
Miscellaneous
In its June 30, 2000 annual report filed with the SEC, Seagram reported that Universal Music Group was responsible for 40% of worldwide classical music sales over the preceding year.http://www.secinfo.com/dsvr4.58n4.htm#445
References
See also
- List of record labels and Category:Record labels
- Best selling music artists - World's top-selling music artists chart.
External links
- http://www.move.de/amm/ECON.htm - CD-Markets size in 1996
- http://www.zobbel.de/ - World records sales in years 1994/95/97/98.
- http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/publications/rin_order.html - 2005 Market Share
- http://www.HitQuarters.com - World Top 20 A&R Chart
Major Label | Major Label | Wielka czwórka wytwórni płytowych | Большая четвёрка лейблов звукозаписи
"World music market"