The invention of the phonograph by Thomas Alva Edison (1847– 1931) in 1877 marked the outset of the modern music industry with mass production of phonograms and the emergence of a global distribution network for music cylinders and records. Music, however, was an economic good before the advent of the recorded music industry. Antique sources prove that musical products were already traded in the centuries BCE. It is reported that the Greek poet Pindar sent 470 lyrics from his hometown Theben to tyrant Hieron in Sicily in the fifth century BCE (Baierle 2009: 51). Pindar himself was not just a writer but also a kind of early music entrepreneur. Since lyric verses were usually accompanied by music performances and dance, Pindar also choreographed the dances for his odes. He was commissioned to stage performances in all parts of ancient Greece and was an ancient “impresario” in high demand (Carey 2007: 199– 210). Pindar was an early example of an artist who was commissioned by wealthy and powerful patrons.

We can usefully divide the economic history of music into five periods:

• 1. The era of music patronage from the ancient times until the late-eighteenth century;

• 2. The era of music publishing from the late eighteenth century until the 1920s;

• 3. The era of broadcasting from the 1920s to the 1950s;

• 4. The era of the recorded music industry from the 1950s until c.2000;

• 5. The era of the digital music economy since 2000.

The era of music patronage

From the Middle Ages to the Renaissance

The era of early music patronage covers the ancient period until the medieval age when the Catholic Church became the main patron for the arts, especially for music. Music was an integral part of liturgy and the term cappella still refers to practising music in chapels and churches. Music schools in monasteries (e.g. the Abbey in St. Gall, Switzerland) and at the medieval cathedrals (e.g. Notre Dame in Paris) were centres of music education and almost all famous medieval composers of sacred music received their musical training there.