The Music Industry is the key financial asset of any society. The production, distribution, regulation and reception are important to compete for the global market.

Three of the largest Music groups are owned or co-owned by Europeans, others are the Bertelsmann Music Group (Germany)/Sony (Japan) (Bertelsmann) and EMI (UK), together with Vivendi Universal (formerly Polygram/MCA) (France) and Warner Music (Canada).

These Music groups are responsible for the 75% of the world’s prerecorded music market that is worth an estimated J40 billion in 2003.

The globalization of the Music Industry is likely to continue however the local recordings are still in demand from those countries leading in producing music.

Local products are still in demand for the most parts of Europe. 60 per cent of the recordings sold in the European Union originate in the Europe. Greece, United Kingdom, France and Italy as well as in Austria, Belgium and those Scandinavian Countries supports local recordings.

On the international scene, Europe between 1991 and 1998, attained 34-42% share from the global music market, making Europe the second to the United States as a supplier of recorded music to the rest of the world, but is closing the gap as more European artists gain global exposure.

Several of the Major Music Companies also own and operate their own CD, cassette, and vinyl manufacturing facilities. As well as supplying phonograms nationally, these music companies also exploit their recordings in foreign markets. Normally this is done by licensing a local company to supply phonograms in a particular country.

The remaining 20 percent of the market lies on small music companies who males one or two releases annually. These independent companies are important to the music industry for they are one often at the leading edge of developments in popular music. They also discover new talents and establish new trends.

Meanwhile, the Swedish Music scene has developed into a highly competitive export industry. According to studies Swedish popular music rose by more than 50 per cent during the 1990s as the growing number of artists emerge on the global music scene.

Because of this Sweden follows US and UK being the largest net exporters of popular music.

The strength of the Swedish music industry rests on the creative talent of Swedish composers, performers and lyricists allied to the business skills of music companies and entrepreneurs. A range of factors is believed by those in the industry to have helped produce the consistent flow of creative talent, enabling Sweden to produce performers who can compete in the global marketplace.

Their strength in music making has resulted not only in a lively and diverse cultural scene but also in significant economic success.