Major record labels - Miss Georgiou

Major Record Labels

Introduction

The definition is Large companies with the music industry that may also own small record labels.

When a musician or band reach a certain stage in their career, the need to be associated with a record label might seem necessary. Record labels operate in a variety of ways. Some bands have managed to have a career without any record label at all. Most people have heard of major record labels such as Sony, Universal and EMI but a variety of independently owned record labels exists too. Some labels are created by bands to put out their own music. The most obvious difference between these types of labels is how much money is available to be invested in you or your band and how much creative freedom you will have. Major Labels will provide a larger budget and more recourses than smaller labels but you will also be restricted creatively. Because record labels are concerned with making money, they will most likely require input regarding what you can record.

Sony Music

Sony Music entertainment UK is is part of one of the largest music and entertainment companies in the world. Sony have labels such as  columbia records, RCA records,  epic records and many more. Columbia records are well known for being the record label of One Direction, RCA records are known for being the record label of Asap Rocky and epic records are well known for being the record label of Mariah Carey. Sony Music themselves have features artists such as Elvis Presley, Fifth Harmony and Pentatonix. Columbia records has signed some of the most famous British artists such as The Script, Clavin Harris and one direction. There are links to other mediums of media because Sony is also in the television business and electronics.

Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group are the current major UK label company that owns many companies. A company well-known that they own is Island Records who manages groups/artists such as U2 who are well-known for downloading there songs onto all the apple devices within the UK. Also Leona Lewis who is famous from being on the X-Factor and is now managed by Universal Music Group. Virgin EMI records is also a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Universal is also known for creating films so them being as a music group are large distribution company and this is good for them as they are not just known for their music.

Warner Music Group is an American major global record company headquartered in New York City. The largest American-owned music conglomerate world-wide it is one of the big three recording companies.  EMI is the third largest record Label within the UK. Pixie Lott is a famous female british artist which is singed to EMI. EMI also have links to magazines which is an advantage for the artist's who are signed as this increases publicity for them and allows them to have a wider access. As well as magazines, also access to TV and film.

Independent label companies
The independent label company I have chosen is XL Recordings. This helps me with me research as my artist for my music video is Adele, who is signed to them, so my research and findings will help me further my gatherings. XL recordings is owned by Richard Russell, and originated in 1989. The company have people such as Adele, The white stripes, Dizzee Rascal and Vampire weekend signed to them. XL recordings are well-known within the UK and have helped increase the sales of all there artists singles and albums.
Another independent label I have researched into is Sleep it Off records. This is a Gainesville, Florida based independent record label, which was started by the band Less Than jake in 2008. The label name was taken from a track on the band's 2004 B-sides album.

Conclusion

From analysing different Major record labels i have understood that have a large company will help with your promotion as well as being well-known within the music industry. Within each record label they focus on a different music genre. If independent companies want to become major record labels then they may not get the opportunity because they aren't as well known. Because of this the effect on the effect this has on the music industry is that the independent companies cannot become as large as the major companies and the larger companies take over/dominate the industry.  I think that independent record labels are just as successful as major record labels in different ways. Independent record labels offer more diversity into the industry from the different and unique kinds of artists they sign, which is very much lacked from major record labels. Success is judged in different ways, as well as the amount of record sales, festivals, followers on social media sites; Sometimes it doesn't matter whether you are signed to a independent label or a major label, as many artists create success through the things listed above. It isn't fair that 4 companies dominate the music industry, as it is hard for any other companies to get into the industry and can't compete at the same level. They will not be able to create a music video at such a high standard, e.g. a music artist from youtube. When you belong to a major conglomerate company, you have a lot of money to produce and have all the equipment to produce such a high standard music video, whereas independent companies don't have as much money and funding and can't compete with the larger companies. There isn't as music money for promotional materials, and money is the key to production within major companies. The effect this has on the industry is that its harder for independent companies to get involved with the industry. An artist such as Calvin Harris has a larger opportunity within the music video because he is signed to a major record label; Columbia Records. Calvin was funded a lot of money to produce his music, travel the world and was able to get known globally because of the high demand behind Columbia Records. This is an advantage for artists such as Calvin as their record label has endless amounts of money to fund, and can include a high standard amount of equipment to produce successful music. Independent companies are more diverse as they sign different artists who create different types of music, which is one thing that lacks within major conglomerate companies. Independent labels can offer diverse artists, they also have more time to nurture their artists and help them to who they want to be and create s successful artist. Whereas major labels have no time for their artists, they just supply the money and let the artist get on with their music, and if it is not good enough they do not offer support and nurture. This is why i feel that independent artists are better in some ways and can offer a lot more support, and sometimes this is better than a lot of money for artists.