Topic: Record labels in the U.S. (2024)

The global music industry has been bouncing back in recent years after a period of decline and stagnation in the early 2010s, as its worldwide revenues rebounded to 28.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. This revival of the industry has also been supported by a period of transition, since music streaming has quickly become the dominant form of music consumption, with sales of physical music decreasing simultaneously. In fact, music streaming has become so dominant with its increasing revenue that it has been the driving force behind this transition from a stagnating music industry to a growing one. This is particularly remarkable as it happened in a period of time when global events challenged the economy as a whole. As the backbone of the industry who nurture, promote, and distribute music around the world, will record companies manage to maintain their place in this rebloomed, yet reshaped industry?

The Big 3 are dominating the market

The music industry’s ‘Big 3’ of Universal Music Group, Sony Music, and Warner Music Group, make up the of the music publishing market. These three companies exert control over nearly every aspect of the music industry by serving as music distributors, owning record labels, and coordinating artists’ performance rights. The most successful record labels in the U.S., Interscope, RCA, and Atlantic are owned by Universal Music Group, Sony Music, and Warner Music Group respectively. In fact, each of the top 10 most successful record labels is owned by one of the Big 3. As a result of easy-to-access recording technology, combined with the global reach of the internet, independent music publishers, referring to labels with a market share below five percent, have become more popular as an alternative to the larger corporations, catering to individual needs of emerging artists while still emphasizing physical sales rather than digital music formats.

Record labels are facing change

Music publishers generate their revenue through the accumulation of different kinds of royalties. However, music consumption has undergone a move towards streaming and away from physical sales in the past decades. Around two thirds of all recorded music industry revenues come from streaming as of 2023, a percentage that is only expected to increase in the coming years. Among record companies, digital music consumption has also become the main source of revenue, while many independent labels still focus on physical sales. This means that record companies are faced with the challenge of promoting their artists and finding ways to ensure that they are getting paid for their work in an increasingly digital industry.
Likewise, global events from recent years and their social and economic consequences have shown the volatility of revenue earned through live performances. With these changes in mind, record companies have to invent new strategies as to how to generate revenue. In terms of music publishing, the U.S. and Canada present the largest market, followed by Europe. This also means that there is still growing potential for record companies in other regions such as Latin America, Africa or Asia, which are currently the fastest growing regional markets. While record labels used to be the most powerful players in the music recording market, they are now facing a lot of challenges, including the increasingly important move to digital music publishing as well as the heightened competition for talented artists, who now have the choice to self-publish and promote online or to join an independent labelproviding more individualized support.
It will be interesting to see in how far record labels will be able to adapt to the ever-changing music market in order to survive and thrive in the reality of a digital music world as well as a live music world, that is yet to survive the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.