Recording industry is the group of businesses involved in the production and sale of such sound recordings as vinyl records , compact discs (CD’s) , and digital music data files. Digital music data files store sound in numeric form. Hundreds of companies in the United States, and many more in other countries, make up the recording industry.
Each year, millions of musical recordings are made and sold throughout the world. Such recordings enable people to listen to a wide variety of musical styles, including classical, country and western, jazz, blues, rap, and rock. They also enable musicians around the world to learn about one another’s musical styles, instruments, and songs. A number of spoken-word recordings, such as instructional records, comedy albums, and dramatic readings, are also made and sold. For information on the impact of recordings on musical styles, see Popular music (The recording era) .
Several companies dominate the manufacture and distribution of popular recordings. These companies, called the “majors,” include Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group. Many well-known record companies, such as Atlantic, Elektra, Geffen, Interscope, and Motown, are administered by the larger recording companies. In addition, small independent companies are important in certain segments of the industry, including bluegrass, folk, and gospel music.
Making a musical recording
The procedure used to make a musical recording varies. This section describes how a popular recording, such as a pop song or country performance, is made by a large recording company.
Before recording.
Performers who do not write their own music obtain a composition from a composer . Composers protect their interest in a song by copyrighting it and by assigning it to a publisher . The publisher promotes the song for the composer.
After an artist has decided to record a song, a copy of it is given to an arranger. The arranger adds instrumental or vocal parts, changing the music to suit the artist’s performing style. An artist and repertoire (A & R) executive, who works for the record company, oversees artists and their recordings. The responsibilities of an A & R executive also include listening to demonstration, or “demo,” tapes from new artists, deciding which artists to hire, and choosing which songs to record.
In a recording studio.
A recording session involves the work of musicians and technicians, and their assistants. These individuals are directed by the recording engineer and the producer. The recording engineer oversees all technical aspects of the recording session, such as choosing the recording equipment and arranging the placement of microphones . The producer makes artistic decisions about the overall sound of the recording based on the tastes of the music-buying public. The producer’s duties also include reserving the studio and hiring musicians.
Popular recordings are usually made in two basic steps. First, the song is recorded part by part. Next, the parts are edited and combined into a single performance.
Recording.
The singers and the instrumentalists needed for a song are recorded with separate microphones. These recordings may be made with professional multitrack recorders, which can record dozens of separate tracks (channels of sound). The tracks may be recorded on magnetic tape as analog patterns, which are similar to the wave patterns of the original sound. Or they may be recorded as a digital pattern that represents the sound, on digital audiotape or on a computer hard disk . Each musician is usually recorded on a separate track. The tracks can be played back alone or in any combination.
The parts of a popular recording are often recorded at different times. A process called overdubbing enables engineers to add one musical part after another. The background sounds of a song, such as drums, rhythm guitars, and bass, are usually recorded first. As the remaining parts are recorded, the other musicians use headphones to listen to and play along with what has already been recorded. Vocal tracks are usually recorded last, though a rough vocal track may be made first to guide the instrumentalists.
The mixdown.
Once all the parts have been recorded, the tracks are edited and combined on tape or on a computer’s hard disk using a device called a mixer. This process, called the mixdown, reduces tracks to the required number. Two tracks are needed for stereophonic sound . Surround-sound recordings using a DVD -Audio (digital versatile disc) format require six tracks.
With a mixer, an engineer can control the overall sound of the song. For example, mistakes in the recording can be corrected by erasing unnecessary or undesirable parts. Various aspects of sound quality, such as loudness and tone, can be adjusted for each track. The mixing engineer can even rearrange vocal and instrumental segments of the recording. The mixing engineer tries to find a sound balance that will work well on home, car, and portable stereo playback systems, and over the radio. Many mixers have computer controls that can “remember” the way in which the engineer has organized and manipulated the tracks. This feature allows engineers to experiment until they achieve the desired sound effects.
More than one version of a recording may be made. Recording companies often remix popular recordings to make them better for dancing.
Mastering
refers to the processes used to create copies of the recording for use in the mass production of such products as vinyl records, CD’s, and digital music data files.
The mixdown process produces a new recording called the master. The sound information on the master is eventually transferred to a number of production masters, tapes or digital files that quickly duplicate the information onto blank tapes or discs. Different mastering techniques are required for each type of product. For information on how sound is stored on various products, see Compact disc ; Phonograph ; Tape recorder .
Live recording
involves installing portable recording equipment at a concert site. Actual live recordings do not have the excellent sound quality of those made in studios, where an engineer can carefully record the elements of a performance. Most recordings that are labeled “live” are actually combinations of parts from several live performances, often with studio recording enhancement.
Releasing the recording
The release of a new recording is often promoted by a music video or by a concert tour. Traditionally, radio was important in introducing new music to listeners. But today, listeners often use the Internet to discover new music.
A company can release a recording for sale whenever it wishes. Sometimes a company reissues an old recording because the public seems interested in it again. A company may also reissue an old recording to make it available in a different format, or to offer a remastered (improved) version of the original recording.
An artist receives a royalty payment from the record company for every recording sold. A royalty is a percentage of the price of the recording. Composers and publishers receive mechanical royalties for allowing a song to be recorded. The owner of the song’s copyright receives a performance royalty whenever the music is used on radio or television or in a motion picture . Performance royalties are collected by several large societies, including the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music, Incorporated (BMI).
The sale and release of pirated recordings costs recording companies and artists billions of dollars annually. Pirated products include bootleg records made by secretly recording a live performance; records, tapes, and digital data files copied from an original recording without permission; and recordings posted illegally on the Internet. Since the growth of the Internet in the 1990’s, music piracy has become a serious threat to the recording industry.
Recording industry awards
Several organizations present awards for artistic and commercial achievement within the recording industry. For example, Grammy Awards are given annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) for artistic achievement in a broad range of categories. Grammy winners are determined by members of the academy, which includes musicians, engineers, and producers. In Canada, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) gives the Juno Awards yearly.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) presents awards to artists who sell a specific number of recordings. When 500,000 copies of an album have been sold, an artist receives a gold record. A platinum record is awarded when sales of an album reach 1 million copies, and a multi-platinum record is given for sales of 2 million or more.
History
The history of the recording industry has been dictated by technological developments. In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, which could record and play back sounds on tin-wrapped cylinders. Edison’s invention was later improved by recording on wax cylinders. By the late 1890’s, the flat disc record had been introduced by the Victor Talking Machine Company of Camden, New Jersey. During the mid-1920’s, discs became widespread, and cylinder recordings began to disappear. The first discs were made primarily of shellac and played at 78 revolutions per minute (rpm).
Recording tape was invented in the 1940’s. As a result, the length of recordings was no longer determined by the wax disc blanks of three or four minutes duration that were being used at the time. The plastic long-playing (LP) record was introduced in 1948. In 1949, the 45-rpm record was introduced. This smaller, less expensive record became an important format for recording companies to promote new songs. Stereo records and recorded tapes were first sold during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Beginning in the early 1970’s, compact cassettes began to compete with LP’s as a popular format for pre-recorded music.
In the 1980’s, music videos became a popular means for promoting songs and artists. CD’s were introduced in 1982. By the 1990’s, CD’s had largely replaced phonograph records; by the late 1990’s, CD’s had also largely replaced cassettes. By the 2010’s, phonograph records began to make a comeback among serious music fans. Manufacturers introduced surround-sound recordings on the DVD-Audio format in 2000.
The growth of the Internet has led to the distribution of music recordings as digital data files. The smaller a data file is, the more quickly and easily it can be transferred over the Internet. Using data compression methods, the size of digital music data files can be reduced. MP3 is a common compressed music data format. In some cases, a computer user downloads (copies) a file before it is played. In other cases, music is _streamed—_that is, it begins to play while the file is being downloaded. Music pirates have posted illegal recordings on the Internet. In the late 1990’s, record labels began using the Internet to sell music. Purchasers can download music files directly to their computer’s hard disk. They can then transfer the files into a digital music player or to a device that can record the music on a CD.
