The economics of music exports

This chapter analyses the economic distribution of global music exports and the implications of new developments in music technology for the career choices of artists and government music policy. In terms of the international music trade, countries with relatively large and wealthy domestic markets for music products have an advantage in exporting their music goods. The chapter examines the scale and scope of global music exports; global music flows between countries and the distribution of export income within the industry. It explores the impact of new technologies on existing industry structures, business models and artists’ careers in the music industry and possible implications for government music export policies. D. Throsby argued that the labour markets for artists do not conform to conventional theories and suggested the following artist-specific model. Digital streaming technologies have also created new competitors to traditional record companies who are increasingly finding themselves in competition with independent labels, managers, artists and streaming services.