Music Industy

What is the Music Industry?

The music industry is the business of companies and individuals that make money by creating and selling music. There are many different types of people involved in this industry, from the musicians who compose and perform the music, the companies and professionals who create and sell recorded music i.e music publishers, producers etc. those that present live music performances i.e booking agents, promoters, road crew, and those who braodcast the music as well as many others, all in all, there are many different professions and individuals involved with properly running and organizing the music industry.

The industry in particular is overseen by a number of different record labels and companies. The term record label can be difficult to define as it refers to several things - today, there are still small independent companies that work with either one artist, and are generated by the artist of that work with just a few artists. The independent labels often encounter difficulty when it comes to promotion and distribution of their music, because they have nowhere near the presence or advertising budget. After independent comes the larger record labels, typically the brand of these tend to specify the recording studio - the two largest companies in the industry are Universal Music Group and Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, EMI Group (now a part of Universal Music Group) and Warner Music Group were collectively known as the Big Four majors.

The Big Four

'The Big Four' labels/major record labels represent the majority of the music sold making up as much as 75% of the music market or more depending on the year. Artist who are signed to the Big Four record labels are either signed to the central label or signed to subsidiary of the label. For instance, a band may be signed to Sony, or they may be signed to the Sony subsidiary label Columbia Records. The Universal Music Group, one of the biggest out of the four, sells more music than any other major label, earning a massive 4.89 billion in euro's in 2013. The companies well knows subsidiary labels include Universal, Island, Interscope and plenty more. Signing hundreds of artist big or small, some of their most popular artists include The 1975, 5 Seconds of Summer, Arcade Fire, Black Sabbath, Chase and Status ad plenty more. Sony BMG Music Entertainment is the second biggest major record label in music sales, so far earning 4.89 billion in 2014. Featured artists include: AC/DC, Bob Dylan, Fifth Harmony, Foo Fighters, One Direction and many more. The EMI (Electrical and Musical Industries) Group is the third biggest major record label in music sales, EMI administered the publishing right over 1.3 million songs; controlling the libraries of artists such as Jay-Z, Beyonce, My Chemical Romance, Avicii, Slipknot and Megadeth. EMI's music publishing operation were sold to Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2012. Finally, Warner Music Grop is the fourth major record label in music sales, the groups well-known label imprints include Atlantic, Reprise, Warner Bro. Key artists signed to this label include James Blunt, Green Day, The Flaming Lips and Wiz Khalifa.

Independent Label 

I am going to being my exploring a independent record label based in London, Domino Recording Company or better known as Domino, was founded in South West London in 1993 by Laurence Bell and his partner Jacqui Rice. The labels start-up capital consisted of a weekly £40 Enterpirise Allowance Grant, some demos from friends in the American underground, the idea that 'self expression was still possible in the corporate nineteen nineties' and a phone and a fax machine, in a small bedroom. However, it didn't stop them from aiming to seek out and promote upcoming indie rock and indie pop artists, which helped the label achieve there first release which was the Sebadoh EP Rocking The Forest, licensed from Sub Pop records for release in the UK. The success of the label was not immediate, as labels such as Domino and those who were releasing more unusual British music were marginalized during the Britpop era. 20 Years later, Domino is now one of the longest running and most successful independent record labels in the United Kingdom, in this time, they signed artists by the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys and The Kills. In 2003, the labels saw its 10th anniversary, to celebrate the label released a compilation album and a series of gigs in London. Domino then created their first UK#1 album in October 2005 with Franz Ferdinand and Arctic Monkeys featuring on the album. As well as the UK based headquarters, there is also a wing og the label based in Brooklyn, NY that handles releases in the United States, as well as a German division called Domino Deutschland and a French division called Domino France.
  Despite the huge success of the record label there ethos remain the same 'to represent and release music by artists who have no choice but to make music and to draw them to the attention of the outside world'. All acts with a distict identity that established Domino as a label interested in creativity rather than in any particular sound or style. Toward the end of the labels first decade, they became synonymous with this new set of artists who provided a catalog for Domino's New York office to release into the American Market. Domino Recording Co. remains an independent record company whose characteristics are best presented by its artists, individuality, originality and total immersion in the music stratosphere.

Major Label

Ever since Virgin was founded  40 years ago by Sir Richard Branson, Virgin records has been at the heart of the music industry, In March 2013, Virgin, the British record label joined forces with another huge name in music industry for £1.2 billion - EMI - to become Virgin EMI Records. Virgin EMI became one of the Universal Music UK's front-line labels, alongside Polydor Records, Island Records, Decca Records and newly established Capitol Records UK. Mercury Record UK, which traditionally released International Island and Def Jam artists in the UK now operates as an subsidiary of Virgin EMI, along with Universal Island, which also released Republic Records artists in that country. Virgin EMI Records is home to artists from across the spectrum, such as the biggest selling artist of last year, Jake Bugg, Elton John, Kanye West, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Taylor Swift.

Pros and Cons of an Independent Music Label 

When it comes to choosing the right record deal, its important to look into factors that will identify whether bands will fit better in an independent label or a major label. I am going to consider the difference between the two and which will benefit our band the most. Firstly the independent labels for example, Soundway, National Anthem, Type and plenty more generally have the freedom to work with whomever they like. There isn't the pressure that there is a major label to sacrifice the band or artists tastes in favor of seeking out chart success, so once signed to an indie label, in almost every instance it is because the label is a big fan of the artist music and they will work extra hard as they believe in what the artists is doing. Another advantage to joining a independent label is that they usually have smaller rosters of bands/artists and that ideally means the artist will get a lot more attention. As an artist they love, they will get more communication access with the label meaning they'll be able to talk about future plans for music, albums etc which is great for those artists who want to be taken seriously by their label. Artists will also have the opportunity to more input into the overall planning stages and so on. Some larger labels have relatively complex contracts, but smaller independent labes often do business on the more relaxed side with a profit split agreement, alot of this depends on the band/artists situation. Following on from this, there is a few disadvantages to working within a smaller, independent record label. The money. While the smaller size of an Indie label can be a pro, it can also be a con - smaller size usually means smaller budgets and no matter how much the believe in your music there are limitations to what an indie label can offer you as well as this, it is likely that the wont have the money to fund for large media promotions like the majors and they often have to become creative with promotion ideas. Restriction in terms of affording packaging, large recording budgets, tour support and other major factors can be a difficulty to working in an Indie label. Another slight disadvantage is the disorganization, not every Indie label is disorganized but some are, the informal nature of operation at smaller indie labels means that things could become confusing, as an artist this means that sometimes things can be missed out on such as promotion opportunities and it can be hard to figure out the accounting side of things.

Pros and Cons of an Major Music Label 

With this being said, Major labels aren't all pros, as they have there disadvantages too. However beginning with advantages, money is the biggest factor to consider, the major labels have deep, deep pockets and very high budget. And it's the large budget that supplies almost every pro that a major label can offer for example they can offer you high quality recording studios, production i.e engineers that will cover mistakes in music making, major distribution therefore your music will reach out to all the major selling points, music videos, pro photography, pro advertising, tour and even merchandise. When your label has a lot of money, that means they'll be able to spend a lot of money on promoting you and your music - which is exactly what you want. Another pro towards a major record label is the connections, the money and promotions will help open a lot of doors, and when a major label approaches you most media outlets do to. Additionally, most major labels have been in the business for decades therefore have long established connections that help reach the artist career goals. The last important pro is the size, which will matter when it comes to choosing a record label, Major labels are behind the vast majority of music sold firstly they can get the best deals on manufacturing, advertising and other expenses meaning they do in fact have way more purchasing power compared to that of an indie label.  In regards to this, there are of course cons to consider. Being an upcoming artist like one of many many the label will have, if they do not show success almost immediately then major labels are most likely to lose interest in them. On the other hand, if you are doing well then you will get good responses from the Major labels. In addition to this, another con is the artist unfriendly deals, not all major labels give unfriendly contract to the artist but many major labels want to sign artist for multi album deals that offer them very little flexibility and with that means handing over a lot of the creative control you previously has. There are always loop holes to signing contracts and with a major label its the fact they will always want a piece of everything you earn.

Our Decision

Phoebe and I both came to the conclusion that we would like to sign Rock Capacity to and Independent label. Firstly the reason being,  the band has a deep connection with the music they create and they want to keep the creativity side to themselves, Putting them into an indie label will give them ine independence to work with others, get advice and improve whilst still keeping there image but signing to a major label there is a risk of them losing there image that they worked hard to achieve. In addition to this, despite the the lack of money resulting from joining an independent label it is not a huge factor to them - whilst beginning the band as fun they'd like to keep it this way and not let the idea of money get to there head - I also believe the band image will speak for itself and they're success will come from them and not the money.To conclude with have chose Domino records, they have a strong ethic and a true success, whilst still keeping themselves grounded to the beliefs they had when the label was created in 1993.