ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the recorded music industry’s structure and practices. After discussing the industry’s long-term performance, we examine its core services, key contingencies, and primary capitalization strategies. A second section focuses on industry structure: oligopolization, conglomeration, economies of scale, and barriers to entry. A third section examines how decision-making processes address high levels of uncertainty within the recording industry. We conclude with an analysis of events surrounding Internet music file-sharing systems and the potential benefits and problems posed by online delivery of recordings.
