North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Canada 2022 Version 1.0

51 - Information and cultural industries

This sector comprises establishments primarily engaged in producing and distributing (except by wholesale and retail methods) information and cultural products. Establishments providing the means to transmit or distribute these products or providing access to equipment and expertise for processing data are also included.

The unique characteristics of information and cultural products, and of the processes involved in their production and distribution, distinguish this sector from the goods-producing and services-producing sectors.

The value of these products lies in their information, educational, cultural or entertainment content, not in the format in which they are distributed. Distribution of these information and cultural products via the Internet are included. Most of these products are protected from unlawful reproduction by copyright laws. Only those possessing the rights to these works are authorized to reproduce, alter, improve and distribute them. Acquiring and using these rights often involves significant costs.

The intangible nature of the content of information and cultural products allows for their distribution in various forms. For example, a movie can be shown at a movie theatre, on a television broadcast, through video on demand, or rented online; a sound recording can be aired on radio, distributed online, or sold at a record store; software can be bought at retail outlets or downloaded from the Internet; a newspaper can be purchased at a newsstand or read online. In addition, improvements in information technology are revolutionizing the distribution of these products. The inclusion in this sector of telecommunications services providers reflects the increasingly important role these establishments play in making these products accessible to the public.

The main components of this sector are the motion picture and sound recording industries, the publishing industries, the broadcasting and content providers industries, the telecommunications industries, the computing infrastructure providers, data processing and hosting services industries, and the web search portals, libraries, archives, and other information services industries.

There are establishments engaged in culture-related activities that are classified in other sectors of NAICS. The most important are listed as exclusions below.

• Exclusion(s)

  • design activities (See 54 Professional, scientific and technical services)
  • duplicating information or cultural products in print form, or in the form of optical or magnetic media (See 31-33 Manufacturing)
  • performing in artistic productions, and creating artistic and cultural works or productions as independent individuals (See 71 Arts, entertainment and recreation)
  • preserving and exhibiting objects, sites, and natural wonders of historical, cultural and/or educational value (See 71 Arts, entertainment and recreation)
  • producing live presentations that involve the performances of actors and actresses, singers, dancers, musical groups and artists, and other performing artists (See 71 Arts, entertainment and recreation)
  • retailing information and cultural products such as newspapers, books, software and sound recordings (See 44-45 Retail trade)
  • wholesaling information and cultural products such as newspapers, books, software, videocassettes, DVDs and sound recordings (See 41 Wholesale trade)

512 - Motion picture and sound recording industries

This subsector comprises establishments primarily engaged in producing and distributing video and audio recordings or providing related services, such as post-production services, exhibition services, and motion picture processing and developing services. Sound recording studios are also included.

• Exclusion(s)

  • mass duplication of pre-recorded audio and video tapes, cassettes, diskettes, DVDs and CD-ROMs (See 334610 Manufacturing and reproducing magnetic and optical media)
  • retailing video and audio recordings (See 449214 Audio and video recording retailers)
  • wholesaling pre-recorded video cassettes and DVDs (See 414450 Video recording merchant wholesalers)
  • wholesaling sound recordings (See 414440 Sound recording merchant wholesalers)

5122 - Sound recording industries

This industry group comprises establishments primarily engaged in producing and distributing music recordings, publishing music, or providing sound recording and related services.

• Exclusion(s)

  • mass duplication of sound recordings (See 334610 Manufacturing and reproducing magnetic and optical media)
  • musical groups and artists (See 711130 Musical groups and artists)
  • songwriters (See 711513 Independent writers and authors)
  • wholesaling sound recordings (See 414440 Sound recording merchant wholesalers)

51223 - Music publishers

This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in acquiring and registering copyrights in musical compositions, in accordance with the law, and promoting and authorizing the use of these compositions in recordings, on radio and television, in motion pictures, live performances, print, multimedia or other media. These establishments represent the interests of songwriters or other owners of musical compositions in generating revenues from the use of such works, generally through licensing agreements. They may own the copyrights or act as administrators of the music copyrights on behalf of copyright owners.

51224 - Sound recording studios

This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in providing the facilities and technical expertise for sound recording in a studio, and audio production and post-production services for film, television and video. These establishments do not hold the copyrights to the sound recordings produced in their facilities.

51225 - Record production and distribution

This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in record production and/or releasing, promoting and distributing sound recordings.
These establishments contract with musical artists, arrange and finance the production of original master recordings, manufacture or arrange for the manufacture of recordings, and promote and distribute these products to wholesalers, retailers or directly to the public.
They produce master recordings themselves, or obtain reproduction and/or distribution rights to master recordings produced by record production companies or other integrated record companies.

51229 - Other sound recording industries

This industry comprises establishments, not classified to any other industry, primarily engaged in providing sound recording services.