A record label is a brand and also a trademark that is linked with the marketing of music videos and music recordings.
This label is the company that manages these trademarks and brands, as well as coordinating:
· The manufacture
· Marketing and promotion
· Copyright enforcement
· Production and distribution of music videos and sound recordings.
The record label company also undertakes talent scouting and the development of new artists, while also sustaining contracts with the artists themselves and their managers.
Record labels are often controlled by larger organisations which are known as a music group, with the music group usually being owned by an international company, which commonly has non-music related divisions within their company. A music group consists, as well as controls:
· Music publishing companies
· Record/sound recording manufacturers
· Record distributors
· Record labels
Major Institutions:
There are 4 major record labels in the music industry today:
In 2005, it was believed that these 4 music groups controlled about 70% of the world music market, as well as around 80% of the US music market.
Each of these record labels include many smaller labels, allowing them to have genre specific labels as well as having companies in different regions which makes it easier for them to efficiently distribute their products around the world.
Minor Institutions:
Record companies and therefore labels which are not controlled by these 4 major labels are considered to be independent, also known as indie, even though they may be part of large corporations which also have complex structures to their companies. These independent labels are commonly considered to produce non-mainstream music. These labels and companies produce and distribute their own music, with considerably smaller budgets compared to the major institutions. Because of this money issue, it is harder for minor institutions to produce/distribute music successfully, as they cannot gain as much exposure to an artist as the major companies can. To gain this needed exposure and financial backing, independent labels can be bought by major labels, fitting into the smaller sectors of the company.
Our Label
As a group, we have chosen our artist to sign to the company Universal Music Group, in the subdivision Universal Music UK, with the label Island Records. We have decided to use this company as it is part of the 4 major institutions, which produces and distributes its own music. Island Records, was a UK based label who’s artists are generally of the rock and pop genre, allowing our Indie Pop artist to work with a label, who has experience with the genre and this specific style of music the label produces will narrow down audiences.
This link will take you to Island Records UK website:
Island Records was founded in Jamaica in 1959 by Chris Blackwell. The label moved to the UK in May 1962 until it was sold to PolyGram. Island Records then became known as the largest Indie record label in history and went on to have a massive influence on the music scene in the 1970s. PolyGram and the labels it was associated with were bought by Seagrams in 1998, and this company is now controlled by the Universal Music Group. Since this take over by Universal, there has been an obvious separation between brands and genres, such as clear specific genres in the label, allowing the label to appeal to a variety of specific audiences. The label now controls and operates a division of The Island Def Jam Music Group in the US as well as having a standalone label in the UK, which is also known as Island Records Group/Universal Island.
NBC Universal, an entertainment and media company, is linked to the label. This will mean that our artist will have a good chance of being noticed and gain exposure, as the Universal Channel only plays songs by artist who are signed to parts of the Universal Music Group. Universal Studios also only use soundtracks which consist of Universal signed artists in their films. This wide exposure is important to the success of our artist, as this will allow them to gain recognition if their music is used on a soundtrack .e.t.c.
Well-known artists and bands which are signed to this label include Mumford & Sons, Jessie J and Kelly Rowland. The label has many solo female artists signed to them which fall into the Indie Pop genre, these include:
As a group, we have found a female artist who we are potentially going to use for our work, and by having these successful solo female artist already signed to the label which we have chosen, it indicates that the label will be able to steer our artist in right the direction creatively as they have experience in this style of artist. This will mean that our artist will have the best chance possible to be successful in the music scene.
One theme that is clear when looking at the artists, who are signed to the label, is that there are gender specific genres within the company. For example, many all male bands dominate the indie rock genre, while solo male artist are extremely present in the male rap genre. In the Indie Pop genre, it is apparent that this is very much dominated by solo artist, especially female solo artists. This is again will give our artist every chance possible to make it in the indie pop genre, as solo female artists dominate here and this is what the audience expect and are comfortable with. However, this may raise the issue of our artist possibly not standing out from the other female artists.
By choosing this specific label and company, it means that our artist has a very good chance of succeeding in the music industry, as the Universal Music Group and Island Records are trusted companies who already produce and distribute music for successful artists of our genre. This means that we are also likely to make a good profit from the music as the label produces and distributes the music itself, meaning that money isn’t lost through this process. By using a label which is owned by one of the four major institutions, our artist is likely to have wide exposure, through Universal’s TV channel and the soundtracks on the films the company make.
No comments:
Post a Comment