Research into music labels-Miss Georgiou (Updated)

Research into music labels
01/11/24
Vasil

A record label is a brand/trademark that is associated with the marketing/distributing of music recordings/videos. The record labels are usually separated into Major record labels and minor record labels.

Major record labels are large companies in the music industry that own smaller record labels (For example Sony owning Sony UK). These music labels are known as the three major record labels (Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group). 

The first one to be analysed is Sony Music Entertainment. The company is known with artists such as: Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake and others. A part from its own branches (Sony Music UK, Bulgaria, etc.) the record label owns smaller companies such as J Records and Arista. Arista is responsible for artists such as: Avril Lavigne and Whitney Houston, while J Records is responsible for: Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera. Sony itself is involved in more than one type of entertainment (Playstation, Sony games and others). This leads to the company having several types of links within the media world. These links involve: television, movies, mobile phones, computers and as previously said, gaming consoles . 
 

The other music company is called Warner Music Group. The record label also owns Atlantic and Warner Bros Records. Atlantic is famouys in the music industry for being responsible with the following artists: Ed Sheeran, Wiz Khalifa and other misc celebs. Warner Bros Records is further responsible for stars such as: Jason Derulo and the infamous band; The Veronicas. The Music Group is part of the largest media conglomerate (Time Warner) which similarly to Sony Music Entertainment, has links with other types of media.

The final majour music group is the Universal Music Group. This Music group is known for introducing artists such as: Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and others to the music world. The record label is in control over several small music companies such as Def Jam (the company is responsible for artists such as: Jay-Z, Rihanna and others) and Island Records (artists such as: Jessie J, Nicki Minaj and others). The Universal Music Group is also partly responsible for the development of the Vevo music channel. The website allows for free, ad-supported streaming.

Thus we are now left with the UK`s Independent Music Record Labels. An independent record label is a music label that operates without funding. Some artists and bands begin their music career being signed to an independent record label. These record labels are equally successful as the big record labels, however, they work on a smaller scale and promote less mainstream music genres such as dubstep, house, electro and others. Bellow are the 3 majour UK independant music labels.

Rough Trade records were in command of Arcade Fire and The Strokes. This UK Independent record Label is one of the most popular ones. The company was formed 1978 with the main genres being: punk or indie pop. This means that this record label would be very appropriate for our song (Blue Jeans). Furthemrore, the founder successfully promoted and sold records by early punk bands such as The Smiths. However, in the late 80's Rough Trade experienced severe cash problems, which landed the label in bankruptcy. Nevertheless it found new sources from success in the late 90's with bands like The Libertines and The Strokes with which the label was restructured and remains active to this day. Currently it is known for representing indie and rock artists such as: Destroyer, Arcade Fire, My Morning Jacket, The Strokes, The Libertines and The Hold Steady. Sadly, this record label would not be able to aid as although music genre is more diverse, it is still more popular with more major record labels.

Another independent record label is Warp, which was founded in Sheffield in 1989. The record label the label was commonly referred to as Warp Records. It is an independent British record label, that specialises in electronic music. It was founded by Steve Beckett and the late Rob Mitchell from their experiences working at the FON record shop. With Robert Gordon, the label soon became home to artists who would be influential in the electronic music industry. They are responsible for successful artists such as: Aphex Twin, Darkster, Red Snapper, Seefeel and TNGHT. This record label would be perfect for our music video as our music genre is a mix between electro house and indie. It does give us hope as we are aware, that many of the majour record labels prefer to be secure in what they are releasing and currently, pop or dance are the most-successful music genres to sell.

Currently, the label is a dubstep, 2-step garage style record label that is run by Ammunition Promotions, out of the Truman Brewery, East London. The company was created in 1999. Tempa is now widely considered to be one of the founding labels of the dubstep sound as they have managed successfuly to promote other artists such as: Skream, Benga, Kode9 and DJ Hatcha. Nevertheless, I still believe that we will experience problems, promoting our product in this company as they do not support our music genre.

I believe in polytheism, rather than monopolism. However, a very different picture is painted by the 3 majour record labels as they mainly support mainstream music (Pop, Dance, RnB). And as the 3 music companies are the most important ones in the music industry, they control most of what can go on the music market. This means that some artists will be unable to play the songs they want or the way they want as they might not get subsidised by the companies. Nevertheless, with the aid of the UK`s independant music labels that I have listed, an artist should have a slightly better chance at entering the music industry. This is why for my music video, I would 

In Conclusion, one believes that the major record labels are likely to be more successful than independent record labels. This is because they have extreme power within the industry compared to the Independent music companies. This would therefore attract upcoming artists to try and sing for a major record label. Another reason that an artist would rather sign to a major record label is because they manage artists that are extremely popular in the music industry, and in turn they would believe that by signing to a major record label their chances of success will increase.