Dr. Erik Hitters*Erasmus University RotterdamErasmus Research Centre for Media, Communication and CultureESHCC / Dept. of Media and CommunicationP.O. Box 1738NL - 3000 DR RotterdamE: hitters@eshcc.eur.nl

dr. J.W. (Wes) WierdaHobéonLange Voorhout 142514 ED Den Haag

Keywords: history of music industries, music publishing industry, sociology of music

Expanding Isomorphism; the case of the Dutch Music Publishing Industry

Erik Hitters & Wes Wierda

Through the ages publishers developed a specific intermediary position which led to specific roles and functions in the music economy. Until today’s digital era, music publishers surprisingly survived largely unnoticed. The Italian composer Franco Fabbri (1991) identified the music publishing industry as the ‘Dark side of the music industry’. Especially in scientific analyses, publishers are rarely the centre of attention. We will try to explain the significance and behavior of the music publishing industry by analyzing the Dutch market from the beginning of the recognition of the authoring right in 1912. What are the main drivers of the market transformation of the music publishing industry and how can we explain their relative obscurity?

Edison’s and later Berlin’s technological push of hard- and software inventions for music recording, separated the producers of sound carriers from the traders in compositions. New media industries developed quickly and there was much demand for music . The film- and radio industry are apparent examples. Likewise, publishers entered these new value chains (Porter M. , 1985; Kretschmer et al, 1999). In the music industry sheet music was a dominant consumer product until the 1950s. The cultural revolution of pop music transformed the industry as well. The composer and the artist became mostly unified in one person. The responsibilities and roles of publishers and recording companies became blurred.

Publishers smartly positioned themselves in legal ways as (silent) rights owners and were inventive participators in new business models. A lack of transparency was often exploited

and eventually led to the crossing of ethical borders between authors and consumers. This behavior may be explained partly by the neo-institutional theory of Dimaggio and Powell (1983). Their mechanism of isomorphic behavior remarkably supports the unconscious conduct of the music publishing industry in the former century. We suggest to enrich this theory by introducing the concept of “opportunistic isomorphism”. On the one hand this is related to a characteristic attribute of the creative industries: the abundance of supply and scarcity of demand, which strengthens the power position of gate keepers (Negus, 1999; Peterson & Berger, 1975). On the other hand, there is a general lack of transparency about the intermediary position of music publishers within the value network of the music industry. Both among users, composers and other parts of the music industries there is little knowledge about music publishing. The sheltered position of publishing companies allowed them to explore boundaries. Music publishers seek, as legal innovators, to acquire a part of royalties in order to maximise their own revenue, which in itself is a legitimate entrepreneurial aim. The tendency to push back the frontiers of what is ethically acceptable, however, can harm music publishing, as well as the revenues of the industry as a whole. As a result mimetic isomorphic behaviour, a ‘trade practice’ of industry peers came into being. Time and again, publishers lost sight of their original role and function, while legitimizing their remuneration vis-a-vis composers and users.

In this paper we will demonstrate a model of market transformation, informed by the dynamics of the hidden industry of Dutch music publishers. Based on extensive historical and empirical research, we will illustrate and analyze their conduct and significance.

References

Dimaggio PJ & Powell WW, (1983). The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields. American Sociological Review 48(2): 147-160.

Fabbri, F. (1991). The Dark Side of the Music Business. Worldbeat - I, 109-114.

Kretschmer, M., Klimis, G., & Roger Wallis. (1999). The Changing Location of Intellectual Property Rights in Music. A Study of Music Publishers, Collecting Societies and Media Conglomerates. Prometheus, Vol. 17, 2, pp. 163-185.

Negus, Keith. (1999). Music Genres and Corporate Cultures. Routledge.

Peterson, R., and Berger, D. (1975). Cycles in Symbol Production. American Sociological Review 40:158-73.

Porter, M. (1985). Competitive Advantage. New York: Free Press.