The History of the Music Business:
Literature review of readings

The landscape of the music business has been shaped by influential minds in music history. From as early as the 1940s to the 21st century, artists such as Nirvana and managers such as Peter Grant have made major decisions that would shape their careers and subsequently the future of the music business (Goldberg, 2008; Welch, 2003). In this literature review, the events and decisions that helped shaped the future will be examined and explored in the text to understand their impact on the music business. Ahmet was one of the influential people in the early stages of the music industry (Greenfield, 2011). When he met all the guys with independent record companies and decided they were ‘a bunch of third-rate crooks’, he like Rothchild jumped on the opportunity to get into the record business and eventually finding Atlantic records with Herb (Greenfield, 2011: 40; Goodman, 1997). But not all independent record labels were third rate crooks, Morris Levy, started from an independent record company, Roulette and was an important figure in the early stages of the music business (Dannen, 1990). He was described as the octopus of the music industry with his influences and connections, especially with the mafia who were heavily influential in many parts of the States. This would set the precedent for the future rap industry in which the themes of alcohol, stripper, violence and drugs are common and run by gangsters. Also part of Levy’s powers also came from his understanding of copyrights of tracks and the fundamental roles as the core business assets in which Levy would leverage.

One of the people that was influenced by Levy was Peter Grant, the manager of Led Zeppelin (Welch, 2003). Welch explores the influential roles that Grant played in Led Zeppelin’s ascend to fame and also the relationship