Record Labels

Record Labels

Major Record Labels

Major record labels are large companies within the music industry that may in addition own smaller record labels. The music industry is known to be dominated by three major record labels which include; Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group. 

The Universal Music Group is known for managing big name artists such as Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and The Killers. This major record label also owns a number of smaller companies who manage an array of artists. Some of the smaller companies the Universal Music group own are; Def Jam and Island Records. Def Jam manages a number of artists such as, Jay-Z, Kanye West and Rihanna. Island Records manages artists including Jessie J, Drake and Nicki Minaj. The Universal Music Group co-developed Vevo, the website designed for music videos. It allows for free, ad-supported streaming of music videos and other music content to the public.

Sony Music Entertainment is also known for owning popular artists within the music industry which include Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, just to name a few. The major record label owns a number of smaller companies including; Arista and J Records. Arista manages artists such as, Alicia Keys, Avril Lavigne and Whitney Houston and J Records manages artists including; Gavin DeGraw, Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera. The company Sony has a number of links within media in addition to the major record label. The media areas include television, mobile phones and computers.

Michael Buble, Cee Lo Green and Christina Perri are a few of the artists owned by the Warner Music Group record label. The Warner Music Group record label also owns smaller companies within the music industry such as; Atlantic and Warner Bros Records. Atlantic manages artists within the music industry like Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars and Wiz Khalifa. Warner Bros Records manages artists including Biffy Clyro, Jason Derulo and The Veronicas. Warner Music Group is owned by Time Warner, the worlds largest media conglomerate which has links with film and entertainment, publishing and television. 

Independents 
An independent record label is a music label that operates one or a few music labels. It operates without funding of the organisations of the major record labels. A number of artists and bands begin their music career being signed to an independent record label. Independent labels can be just as successful as major record labels, they just operate from a smaller company base. 

There are a number of independent record labels in the UK which include; Rough Trade records who managed artists such as The Libertines, Arcade Fire and The Strokes. Rough Trade records was formed in 1978 with artists mainly of genres including; punk and indie pop. This record label therefore closely relates to our chosen song as it is of the indie genre.  

Another independent record label is Warp Records which was founded in Sheffield in 1989. The record label is known for discovering some of the most enduring artists in electronic music. Aphex Twin, Maximo Park and Flying Lotus are just a few of the artists managed by the Warp Records label.

I think its a positive aspect that 4 companies dominate the music industry as they have the most knowledge within the industry. Therefore they will give artists a more likely chance of success within the music industry. In addition to this they will be able to provide the audience with the music they anticipate to listen to. However it will be hard for artists signed to independent record labels to break through into the music industry as there is such competition from the 4 dominating companies. This may prove to be unfair to artists as they may have to settle for signing to an independent record label as the major record label has such high standards of artists that they want to sign. They also manage artists more likely to appeal to a gap in the market at that particular time. This will mean that if the major record label successfully fills the gap with one of their artists and independent record label artist may struggle to gain public interest into their music.

By having 4 main companies that dominate the music industry it could have a profoundly positive affect on the industry. This is because the 4 main companies will manage artists of an extremely high standard and will also be able to implore them high up in the music industry with ease through exposure to record label fans. By having 4 main companies within the music industry it may also entice independent record labels to increase their artists musical standards which would therefore provide more competition within the industry. This could therefore lead to a rise in success of artists within independent record labels.

I believe that major record labels are without a doubt more successful than independent record labels. This is because they have access to the best artists around as they have extreme power within the industry. This would therefore attract upcoming artists to side with signing to a major record label rather than an independent 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. Therefore it leaves independent labels little room in the music industry to produce high quality and successful artists that the audience will want to listen to.

Independent record labels are able to offer the music industry real artists who are not moulded to fit a specific persona that the public are desperate to have. This means that the music industry s likely to have more down to earth and relatable artists that are likely to highly appeal to the public. Independent record labels are more likely to sign underdeveloped and unusual artists, providing the public with a variation from the artists they would usually find themselves listening to. In addition to this independent record labels will have more time on their hands to assist their artists with their music which could in turn increase the quality of the songs they produce. This would therefore entice more people to listen to their artists music and as a result they will be more satisfied with what they are listening to.