ABSTRACT
In 2004 we presented a conference paper entitled ‘The music industry doesn't exist and if it does it doesn't matter’ (Williamson and Cloonan 2004). Needless to say, our intention was to be somewhat polemical. An updated and more considered version of our paper was later published as ‘Re-thinking the music industry’ (Williamson and Cloonan 2007). Our purpose in both cases was to provoke debate and to move analysis of ‘the music industry’ away from a focus on the recording industry (and in particular the major record companies) towards one that highlighted both the diversity of those firms whose work involves the making and distribution of music and the new type of businesses which emerged in the music industries in the period post 1999. 1
