Building on a comparison of the academic and musical worlds, this paper explores a classical issue in the sociology of organizations, i.e. the relationships between an organization and its environment, by focusing on the labor markets on which organizations intervene. It reveals three different types of articulation between organizations and their labor markets: a first one where ephemeral organizations are linked to labor markets of spot contracts; a second one where quasi-firms rely on labor markets of time-limited but renewable contracts, and a third one where permanent organizations build a labor market of tenured positions. The authors conclude that the links that develop between an organization and its environment first of all depend on the very nature of the type work achieved within this organization.