Analysis
NAICS 51223 is the 2022 NAICS industry for music publishers, part of 5122 (Sound Recording Industries).
It has only one more detailed code, 512230, which covers exactly the same activities; the definition, index entries and statistics are on that page.
County Business Patterns counts 833 US establishments in this code in 2023, employing 5,355 people at an average annual payroll of $111,717 per employee (89th percentile of national industries). 82% of the establishments have fewer than five employees, which marks it as a small-business industry.
Between 2018 and 2023 the number of establishments grew 12% and employment fell 3%. The 2018 count used NAICS 2017, so part of a large move can come from codes being redefined rather than from businesses opening or closing.
By establishments it ranks 3rd of the 4 codes at this level within Sound Recording Industries, with 18.2% of them.
Official definition
See industry description for 512230.
Source: US Census Bureau, NAICS 2022 Manual.