Show business

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For other uses, see Show business (disambiguation).
Times Square in New York City, the hub of the Broadway theater district[1] and one of the world's busiest pedestrian intersections[2][3]

Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since c. 1945),[4] is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.[4] From the business side (including managers, agents, producers, and distributors), the term applies to the creative element (including artists, performers, writers, musicians, and technicians) and was in common usage throughout the 20th century, although the first known use in print dates from 1850.[5][6][7] At that time and for several decades, it typically included an initial the.[4] By the latter part of the century, it had acquired a slightly arcane quality associated with the era of variety, but the term is still in active use. In modern entertainment industry, it is often associated with the fashion industry (creating trend and fashion) and acquiring intellectual property rights from the invested research in the entertainment business.[8]

Show Business and the Film Industry[edit]

Making films has had an big impact on American history. While movies have helped describe society, history of film has shown that censorship played an essential part in guiding the story being told.[9]

Industrial sectors and companies[edit]

The entertainment sector can be split up into the following subsectors:

See also[edit]


  2. ^ Pramis, Joshua (October 2011). "World's Most-Visited Tourist Attractions No. 1: Times Square, New York City". American Express Publishing Corporation. Retrieved August 28, 2016. 
  3. ^ "The Most Jivin' Streetscapes in the World". Luigi Di Serio. 2010. Retrieved August 28, 2016. 
  4. ^ a b c Oxford English Dictionary 2nd Ed. (1989)
  5. ^ The term is used to describe any and every aspect of the entertainment industry, with the "show" being the forms of entertainment, and "business" being the goings on behind the scenes of those entertainment events
  6. ^ "Slanguage Dictionary". Variety. Retrieved 20 December 2015. 
  7. ^ T. Ford (1850) Peep behind Curtain vii. 26 (cited by the OED)
  8. ^
  9. ^ Black, Gregory (1995). "Film History and Film Archives". Literature/Film Quarterly. 23 (2): 102–109.