Netlabel : Independent Non-Profit Micro-Enterprise or Just Another Player in the Music Industry?

This chapter discusses the emergence of netlabels (also often called virtual record labels) which may be seen as new agents, having the capabilities of changing the structure of the music industry field. In the theoretical section, this chapter presents selected concepts used to analyze record labels as actors responsible for music production and distribution and compares netlabels with traditional record labels. In the empirical section, two case studies of netlabels based in Poland are presented. I concentrate my analysis on netlabels based in one country, but it must be emphasized that the operation of virtual record labels is not limited to Poland, as their music is promoted and distributed around the world