Introduction

In the digital era, how we learn about and access music has undergone extensive changes, as the dominance of physical albums has been challenged by the rise of new music products and services. Music assumes digital forms (as download, stream, and service), promotional forms (as music licenced to advertisers, branded content, and endorsements), and traditional forms (as CDs, records, compositions, and live performances). While the abundance of music available may make the contemporary music industries appear open and democratic, in order to understand the power relations that govern these industries, we must examine how revenues are generated and profits accrue.

In this chapter, I will focus on two phenomena that, despite in some ways widening access for recording artists, nevertheless encourage an uneven distribution of career opportunities and rewards: streaming, and promotional agreements between artists and brands. In order to delineate changes spurred by both internet-enabled distribution and the expanding influence of promotional media (advertising, marketing, and branding) over the music industries, I will draw on the ‘cultural industries’ approach to critical political economy as I develop an analysis that builds on trade press and specialist music industry sources.

From selling music to promoting brands

Today, popular music routinely features in and, hence, serves the function of promotional media. This term signals something distinct from music promotion, which Devon Powers defines as ‘the cumulative effect of efforts intended to increase the awareness, presence, longevity, and sale of popular music among the listening public’ (Powers, 2013, p. 315). Popular music's use as a tool for lending cultural legitimacy and appeal to brands unrelated to music as such has emerged as a new convention and essential revenue stream under contemporary business models (see Meier, 2017). Though such practices may generate marketing exposure for recording artists, they are not primarily about music promotion.