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contract with a digital distributor;
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sign a direct agreement with an online service; and
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create one’s own downloading platform.
International trade
The available data show that world exports of recorded music tripled from $9.6 billion in 2002 to $26 billion in 2008. This spectacular increase — 17.8 per cent average annual growth — represents the fastest acceleration among all creative industries exports. Compact discs are the main physical good used for trade analysis of recorded music; they now represent more than 99 per cent of world music exports (see tables 1.2.A and 1.2.B in the annex). International trade in music continues to be dominated by developed economies. As a group, these economies accounted for about 90 per cent of total exports of recorded music (mainly CDs) over the period under review. Their exports increased sharply from $9 billion in 2002 to $22.5 billion in 2008. Similarly, imports by developed economies tripled, following the same trend, reaching $22 billion in 2008. Developed countries’ exports and imports of music CDs accounted for about 80 to 90 per cent of world trade in music goods. Among the top 10 developed economies, the market share remained mostly unchanged since 2002 (table 5.14). This demonstrates that the majority of music
Key players in global markets
World trade in music is driven by developed economies. As shown in table 5.14 and chart 5.11, the five top exporters collectively command about 60 per cent of global markets. Germany predominates with a market share of 21 per cent, followed by the United States, the Netherlands, Austria, Ireland and United Kingdom. All of the top players benefited from market growth in the period 2002-2008, particularly Germany, which reinforced its lead with a growth rate of 23 per cent. What these figures do not show is the oligopolistic market structure of the world production and distribution of music. This structure is dominated by four vertically integrated conglomerates that together and through their subsidiaries retain nearly 80 per cent of the world market for recorded music. This situation inhibits music production by independent local producers in developing countries. However, downloading music from the Internet is gradually transforming this picture, as indicated earlier.
5 International trade in creative goods and ser vices: Global trends and features
Tajikistan), underscores the promise that Figure 5.1 A summarized version of the online music value-chain mobile technologies hold at both the national and regional levels. The study showcases best Consumers practices with an emphasis on support activities that can be undertaken by governments and trade-support institutions. The study confirms Online Website of the potential of mobile distribution channels Music the Production Service for the local music industry. The Internet proCompany Aggregator vides an exceptional opportunity for producers of creative content, such as music and film productions, to offer their products to Internet users from all over the world in the form of digital files. It also emphasizes that whatever Production Company the technological options considered, with the Source: ITC Digital content: Trade in Sounds support of organizations such as ITC, creative entrepreneurs from developing countries involved with the music industry have yet to created in the South is recorded, and exported, by recording establish a new marketing network, online and offline. There companies in the North. are three principal ways to distribute music to a large number of potential consumers on the Internet:
Despite the low level of participation of developing economies in the world trade of recorded music, their exports increased to $3.3 billion in 2008 from 2002 to 2008. Economies in transition had $274 million in exports of recorded music and $458 million in imports in 2008. Developing economies and economies in transition are both net importers of recorded music, primarily because the music is created, recorded and commercialized by transna-
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