Cycles in Symbol Production: The Case of Popular Music

TLDR

The nature of cultural production suggests that comparative studies of symbol systems across arts, science, and religion are fruitful. This study questions the common assertion that cultural forms go through cycles. The authors examine 26 years of data on music industry structure and the types of music produced. The study finds that market concentration aligns with musical homogeneity, competition with diversity, and that a prolonged concentration phase precedes a brief burst of competition and diversity, with changes in market structure preceding changes in music, while consumer preference claims are unsupported and vertical integration across creative, merchandising, and distribution levels explains these patterns.

Abstract

This study questions the common assertion that culture forms go through cycles. Data on the structure of the music industry and the sorts of music produced over 26 years are examined. Periods of market concentration are found to correspond to periods of homogeneity, periods of competition to periods of diversity. A relatively long period of gradually increasing concentration is followed by a short burst of competition and diversity, with changes in market structure preceding changes in music. Assertions that consumers necessarily what they or want what they get are not supported. The degree of vertical integration at three key points (creative factors, merchandising and distribution), as well as diverse mechanisms in the industry's task environment, are found to be important in explaining these associations. Their nature suggests the fruitfulness of comparative studies of the production of symbol systems in the arts, science, and religion.