Research into Record Labels - Miss Georgiou

Record labels are helpful for an artist because they allow them to spend more time making music. This is because it means other people handle the business sides of things so you val just focus on the creative side, writing and recording music etc.  Record labels know the industry much more than an upcoming artist will. They understand how album releases, manufacturing, distribution and advertisement work. Record labels have been about for a long period of time and so have a lot of connections including contact details that could get other employees to help make an artists album a a success such as PR companies and manufacturers. Record labels will likely have more money than the artist does alone especially to begin with. This means they can spend more money on promoting an artists record than they could spend on it themselves.

Record labels make releasing a record less hard work.  If an artist is signed to a record label, there will be people who will manage the manufacturers and distributors for them as well as running your whole PR campaign for you.  An artist could do all this work themselves but it would take a lot more time and effort. Although indie record labels are often run by fewer people and may have one person doing the job of five major label employees, there are still other people working for the artist in the business of selling their record. So as a result  because I have chosen indie as a genre my artist would have to consider record labels.

Ke$ha

Major record labels are large companies within the music industry that may also own smaller record labels.  Sony Music Entertainment UK is one of the largest music and entertainment companies in the world. A few examples of artists signed to Sony include The Ting Tings and MGMT. Sony Music Entertainment owns smaller companies such as Kemosabe and RCA Records. Ke$ha is an artist that has been signed to both of these American subsidiaries. Sony also owns British subsidiaries including Columbia Records UK, RCA Label Group, Sony CMG, Syco Music, SYRA Music Group and Phonogenic Records. Columbia Records is very successful having signed artists as well known as One Direction, Calvin Harris and The Script. The Foo Fighters and Kelly Clarkson are signed to RCA.  Current artists signed to Syco Music are Olly Murs and Little Mix. So ultimately all of these artists are managed by Sony.There are links to other mediums because Sony is also a well known company in both the television and electronics businesses.


Another major record label is Warner Music Group.  WMG is the third largest business group of record labels also making it one of the "big four".  The company was formed in 2004 as a spin off from Time Warner but Time Warner no longer retains any ownership. This label manages artists such as Gnarls Barkley, Basshunter and Fleetwood Mac. Warner Music Group owns the smaller companies Atlantic Records and Reprise Records. Atlantic Records is best known for specialising in jazz, R&B and soul with artists such as Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and Otis Redding. Warner also has links with other mediums as it is a major film company.

Aretha Franklin

Mariah Carey

Universial Music Group is a major record label who manages artists such as Lady Gaga, Keri Hilson, Gwen Stephani and Mariah Carey.
Island Records is a smaller company owned by Universal Music Group and manages Leona Lewis, The Vamps and U2. Capitol Record is also managed by Universal and this subsidiary manages Sam Smith and 5 Seconds of Summer. Virgin EMI and Decca Records are more of Universals subsidiaries and Virgin EMI manages the artist Ella Eyre. Universal is also a well known film production company.

The Cure

There are not only major record labels. Independent labels can be just as successful as major record labels but cooperate from a smaller company base. They are traditionally known as offering more 'organic' music rather than manufactured mainstream music. An example of an independent labels is Small Wonder Records. This label specialises in managing pop punk and punk rock artists. Artists that have been signed to this company include The Carpettes, Poison Girls and The Cure. The company operated in as small record shop in Walthamstow and was founded by Pete Stennett. The shop used a bag design of a Victorian family with a baby on the front and centre which represented a 'small wonder'. Customers from this shop formed their own indir rock cover band. They named themselves 'The Small Wonders'.

Dreamboat Records is another independent company that operates in the UK and is based in Bristol. The label was founded in 2005 and began to realise songs on a small scale for unknown local artists.It expanded in 2009 to release independent film soundtracks. An example of this is the film How To Be which was a comedy drama starring Robert Pattinson. The soundtrack was written by John Parish and released with Dreamboat Records. The Rollercoaster Project, This Is The Kit and Robin Allender are some of the artists signed to this label.

This Is The Kit

From a music perspective I do not believe it is right that four companies dominate the music industry because it means artists in signed to those companies have a better chance in the industry than others. This could be the case even if the artists in the dominant labels are not as good as those who aren't because they are most popular due to the company and the promotion it provides. This means music that is giving the most recognition will be similar and the audience will not be able to know much about unique artists from other labels and all chart music will be regularly similar and repetitive. In terms of the industry, independent labels are more ignored and unsuccessful which is unfair if they have artist of equal talent.

An independent artist or artist signed to an independent company will have their YouTube fan base but will find it difficult to compete with those artists signed to major record labels as they will struggle to fund their own promotion and music videos etc., while other artists may have this funded for them. This effects the music industry in that independent companies can not become as well known as the major record labels due to the major companies dominating the industry. This means the entire industry is shaped around the type of music the major labels choose to release and the artists they choose to promote. A hierarchy of record labels has formed and so those who belong to the major record labels at the top of the hierarchy will have more opportunities and therefore become more successful compared to independent artists.

In my opinion, I think that independent labels can be as successful as major record labels as success is judged in different way for each artist. For example, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are independent artists who have achieved midstream success; their debut album has gone platinum, they have gained seven Grammy nominations and has over 2million followers on Twitter. A lot of people do not know they are independent due to their success in the form of record and album number sales and largely attended tour dates.

There are some further advantages of an independent company that can not be offered by a major record label. Independent companies often own a smaller number of artists and so have more time to nurture and develop them while a major label manages a large number of artists and do not help the artist develop into a celebrity - they are expected to work in the industry straight away without having time to prepare or grow as an artist. Major record labels have a lot more money but this comes with a lot more pressure as the labels invest a lot of money into an artist (1million+ for a music video etc.) and so if an artist is not making enough profit in return then they will drop the artist so they do not lose any money. This is the reason why a lot of mainstream artists are often switching between record labels which can be stressful and time-consuming while independent artists can save time by sticking to one company.  Furthermore, independent labels offer support so that artists can release material when they believe they are ready to. Another benefit of independent  companies is that they allow an artist to be more creative so they can create music that is more diverse and unique.