SMALL FIRM START-UP BY COMPOSERS IN THE RECORDING INDUSTRY

The paper examines new record company formation by music composers. In particular, it addresses their decision to release a record i.e. eith er to contract their music to record companies or to start-up their ow n company. In so doing, the research entails the collection and analys is of new data on the behaviour of musicians in the intermediate marke t for music. The research finds that musicians regard incumbent record companies to have a first mover advantage and that they generally asp ire to secure a record contract rather than set-up their own company. Composers who start-up their own company usually do so because of 'pus h' rather than 'pull' factors and hence usually represent artistic ent erprise which has been rejected by incumbent firms. In this manner, ne w firm formation by composers does not appear to represent the seeds o f future industry.