ABSTRACT
The current period in the recording industry is specific. This arises from the coexistence of the old model, based on the star system, sales maximisation, and the production of music on physical formats such as compact discs and, resurging after years, vinyl records. However, since the mid-1990s, the recording industry has witnessed rapid changes, including a decline in album sales and a decrease in revenues for record companies. This chapter aims to explore the wide range of changes occurring in the recording industry under the influence of technological factors, with a particular focus on the power dynamics among the various entities operating within it.
The origins of these changes do not solely lie in original inventions, such as the widespread adoption of personal computers and the development of the global network, combined with content digitisation. Rather, it is the mutual interaction between these factors that has had an impact not only on the way music is consumed but also on its creation, production, distribution, and promotion. The very nature of the product itself, including its physical form and its character as a good, has also undergone changes, resulting in a shift in power dynamics within the recording industry.
