Final answer:
Individuals such as music producers and record labels handle record deals and songwriting in the music industry. Elvis Presley's first record was produced by Sun Records, blending multiple musical styles. Industry efforts to label explicit content in the 1980s met with both support and criticism.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the context of the music industry, those in charge of record deals, writing songs, and other aspects of a musical career are typically music producers, record labels, and sometimes the artists themselves. For example, in the case of Elvis Presley, a youth from Memphis who became a music icon, Sun Records company was instrumental in producing his first record in 1954. They captured the unique blend of gospel, blues, bluegrass, country, western, and R&B styles that Elvis was known for. The record featured 'That's All Right' as the 'A-Side' and 'Blue Moon of Kentucky' on the 'B-Side,' both being reinterpretations of previous songs. The creation of such a record might have been a challenging feat anywhere else in the US, given the regional variations in musical style.
Music producers like David Merrick and Manny Azenberg, mentioned in the context of theatre production, also play a pivotal role in the music industry. They typically oversee the creative and production aspects, and their involvement can be similar to the role of a music producer in the recording industry.
As for content regulation in the music industry, the involvement of record companies and national bodies became evident during the 1980s. This period saw an effort by nearly twenty record companies to label their recordings with 'explicit lyrics' tags under pressure from parental and governmental groups, although many in the music industry argued that this was a form of censorship.