==Business structure==
The music industry is made up of various elements, including:
* [[Musician]]s
* [[Musical ensemble]]s
* [[Musicians' Union]]s
* [[Composer]]s and [[songwriter]]s
* [[Music publisher (popular music)|Publisher]]s
* Writers' [[copyright collective]]s and [[performance rights organization]] like [[American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers|ASCAP]] and [[Broadcast Music Incorporated|BMI]] (or [[Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society|MCPS]] and [[Performing Right Society|PRS]] respectively for the UK)
* [[Record producer]]s
* [[Record label]]s
* [[Record distributor]]s
* [[A&R]]
* [[Royalties]]
* [[Business manager]]s
* [[Band manager]]s
* [[Tour promoter]]s
* [[Booker (music)|Booker]]s
* [[Road crew|Roadies]]
A [[record company]] is an entity that manages sound recording-related [[brand]]s and [[trademark]]s which consist of their owned labels; their owned and licensed master recordings; and various related ancillary businesses such as home video and DVDs.
Labels may comprise a ''record group'' which is, in turn, controlled by a music group. As such, a larger umbrella label may have a number of sub-labels releasing music.
Music publishers exist separately (even if sharing the same ultimate holding company or brand name), and they represent the rights in the compositions - i.e. the music as written rather than as recorded.
Record companies and record labels that are not under the control of the Big Four music groups and music publishers that are not one of the Big Four are generally considered to be ''independent'', even if they are part of large corporations with complex structures. Some prefer to use the term ''indie label'' to refer to only those independent labels that adhere to criteria of corporate structure and size, and some consider an indie label to be almost any label that releases non-mainstream music, regardless of its corporate structure.
