The Music “Industry”

Hip hop is everywhere. Indeed, hip hop has transcended music. It has affected not only the record label industry but fashion, clothing, and beauty industries globally. So what exactly is hip hop? More importantly, is it a stolen cultural artifact?

In the music industry, the basic relationship between the artist and label is a contractual one. The label’s focus lies in the creation and success of records and not necessarily the artist, but though of course these two are linked. The job of the record label is to pay the artist an advance in order to record music and in exchange they it will get a cut of the monies earned as well as the advantage of owning the masters of those recordings. So, as it’sits name would suggest, the standard recording contract has a few customary clauses that every artist must consider when signing the deal.

Why does music have such an impact on our emotions? One potential theory is that the emotional effect music can have on people is so essential to humans that life simply would not be the same without it. In fact, more recent research supports the idea that music can induce actual emotions in a listener. So the question is not really if music creates emotion in a listener but how. While there are several theoretical frameworks that might explain this, one theory offers a more compelling answer than the others: musical expectancy.