The destabilization of the music market caused by the Internet, which phonographic producers did not anticipate, is partly one of the reasons for the series of mergers and acquisitions that has altered the distribution of the music market and, consequently, the music production landscape in which major labels are increasingly involved. In 2003, the BMG group, already the owner of Killers Tracks, Atmosphere, Match Music, and Koka-Media (after Frédéric Leibovitz sold his stake), simultaneously acquired Zomba Music and its production music publishing group. This made BMG Production Music the market leader, thanks to the incorporation of the Chappell, Bruton, and Firstcom labels, before being acquired by Universal in 2007. From that point, Universal Production Music became the global leader in the sector. With the acquisition of Kapagama and Kosinus in France, Universal further strengthened its international position and currently holds the most extensive roster of labels. In the USA, Universal owns Firstcom and Killer Tracks and co-owns APM Music with Sony/ATV, the three leading companies in the American market. Since 2005, Warner Brothers’ publishing division, Warner-Chappell Music, has formed an international production music publishing group by acquiring numerous companies, including the American firms One-Stop Music, 615 Music, Groove Addict, and the British company Carlin Production Music. Through its acquisitions, Sony Music initially incorporated Famous Music, which also owns Extreme Music, before purchasing EMI Music in 2012, which, along with KMP, owns one of the jewels of production music. The new entity created by the Bertelsmann Group after selling BMG Music Group to Universal, BMG Rights Management, notably acquired Selectracks, X-Ray Dog, Parry Music, Deep East Music, and recently the French companies AXS and Télémusic, to name just the most well-known. Along with Sony, Universal, and Warner Brothers, these are the four major music publishers currently involved in this sector. Apart from the arrival of experienced new publishers such as WestOne Music, Bibliotheque, and Inspired Production Music in the UK, Cezame Music Agency, Parigo, and Myma in France, and Intervox Production Music in Germany, the 2000s saw the emergence of numerous contenders in this new Eldorado, proposing new business models. Based on rejecting copyright and undercutting prices through the concept of so-called “royalty-free” music, these companies aim to position themselves in the market based solely on short-term profitability, employing strategies akin to hard discounting. Although these primarily commercial initiatives may only appeal to producers for whom musical quality is a marginal or even non-existent concern, there is unfortunately a possibility that, in the long run, this phenomenon could affect the overall quality of audiovisual production if it becomes widespread, as well as jeopardize the traditional companies already established in the market and the income of creators. In this respect, the primary difference, aside from aesthetic and commercial approaches, between royalty-free music and that of traditional production music publishers lies in the fact that composers working for the former are not compensated for the exploitation of the music they have ceded, often through a flat fee to these companies. This can be frustrating and quite unfair in cases where one of these pieces is synchronized with a major advertising campaign or a large film, for example. This method represents a step backward to times before the establishment of copyright and authors’ rights, as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, in recent years, the production music sector has structured itself internationally in a manner similar to phonographic producers’ labels. New players, such as Real World (Peter Gabriel’s label) or Lo Edition (an offshoot of Ninja Tune), and broadcasters like the BBC and ITV, have their own catalogs. In France, independent producer Green United Music has created its labels GUM Collection and GUM Motion Tracks, distributed by Cezame Music Agency, followed by GUM Tapes, distributed by Universal.