Institutions: Record Labels

What is a Record Label?A record label is a brand, company or trademark which is associated with the

marketing of music videos and music recordings. A record label is also responsible for the production, distribution and marketing the music to its audience. They also

manage the imposition of the copyright for sound recordings and music videos of brands and trademarks. The record label has a contract with its recording artists and

their managers which entitles the label to receive a percentage of the profit made from singles, albums and videos that the artist releases. There a 3 major record labels and

these are; Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group. Being signed to a major/big record label will allow artists to market their

albums/singles, promote their music across different platforms and broaden their consumer base. A music video is an easy way for an artist to promote and sell their music, especially if the video is well produced and is rememberable and unique. In

order for the music video to be well produced, the record label will require the funds, to pay for good equipment, costumes, locations , etc.

Sony Music EntertainmentSony Music Entertainment is an American music corporation managed and operated by Sony Corporation of America. The company was founded in 1929 as American Record Corporation until 1991 it became Sony Music Entertainment. Sony Music is home to a range of artists from different music genres, this allows them to have a mass/wide audience. Examples of their signed artists include; Foo Fighters, Justin Timberlake,Whitney Houston, One Direction, Britney Spears, The Clash, The Script, Michael Jackson, Beyonce and Little Mix.

Because Sony Music Entertainment is a large conglomerate, it has a large budget to spend on the production, distribution and marketing of music videos; therefore increasing the chances of the video being a success. It is often the case that music videos produced by conglomerate companies are entirely performance based, this is down to the fact the video is trying to portray a certain persona/star image.

Dirty Hit RecordsDirty Hit Records is an independent, British label which was formed in 2009. The label was set up by; Brian Smith, Jamie Oborne and Ugo Ehiogu. The label was founded ‘through a desire to develop and nurture homegrown artists’. Dirty Hit Records is actually distributed by Universal, however it is still classed as an independent label by the Associate of Independent Music. Artists signed to Dirty Hit are from the indie/indie rock music genre; therefore the label has a niche audience. Examples of their signed artists include; The 1975, Wolf Alice, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, The Japanese House, Ben Khan, Marika Hackman and the Fossil Collective. The 1975 were the labels first act to achieve mainstream success, having achieved number 1 on the UK album charts with their self titled debut album in September 2013.

Because Dirty Hit Records is an independent label, it has a smaller budget to spend on music videos. However because their records are distributed by Universal, they have slightly more to spend on videos, than labels who are completely independent Therefore the music videos produced tend to be relatively simply and lack special effects and props. The music videos are either narrative or performance based, however sometimes can be a hybrid of both.

Warner Music GroupWarner Music Group is a global, american record label. It is a conglomerate company and is referred to as one of the ‘big three’ record labels. Warner Music Group also owns and runs many other successful record labels such as; Atlantic Records Group, Warner Bros. Records, Parlophone Label Group, Warner Classic, Rhino Entertainment and Warner Music Nashville. This means that the label provides music of different music genres, which allows it to have a wide/mass audience. Examples of their signed artists include; Coldplay, Charlie XCX, Jason Derulo, Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Major Lazer, Jess Glynne, Frank Sinatra, Kylie Minogue and James Blunt.

Warner Music Group, like Sony Music Entertainment, is a conglomerate company. Therefore it has a large budget to spend on distribution, production and marketing of music videos. Similarly they focus on performance based music videos, in order to reinforce and portray the artists star image/persona.

Domino Recording Company Domino Recording Company is an independent, British record label which is based in London. Domino, was founded by Laurence Bell in 1993. Domino is now one of the longest running and most successful independent record labels in the UK. The record label signs artists and bands of the music genres rock and indie rock; this therefore means that they label has a niche audience. Examples of their signed artists include; The Kills, Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, Animal Collective, The Last Shadow Puppets, Wild Beasts, The Range and Hot Chip. The record label has its first UK number 1 album in October 2005 with Franz Ferdinand's ‘You Could Have It So Much Better’ and in the same month had their first UK number 1 single with Arctic Monkeys' ,’I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor’

As Domino Recording Company is an independent label, it doesn't have a big a budget as the conglomerate record labels like Sony Music Entertainment or Warner Music Group. However due to the fact the label has been running for 26 years and has been able to get a name for itself, it is rather successful which suggests that they might have a bigger budget to spend on their artists music videos. Because of the genre of artists that the label signs, the music video tend to be reflective of that genre and are relatively simply and lack special effects. The videos they product are usually narrative however sometimes they can be purely performance based or sometimes even a hybrid of both.

ConclusionAfter researching both conglomerate and independent record labels, I was able to clearly see a difference in the type of artists that they sign and the

music videos that they produce. Independent record labels produce music videos which have a smaller budget. These videos are usually a hybrid between narrative and performance and have a niche target audience.

I have decided that for my music video I want to use either an indie or indie rock song therefore I think that creating an independent record

label for my video and artist would be the best idea. I would like my label to be similar to Domino Recording Company because whilst it is

independent it is well established and successful which allows the company to spend more money of their artists. I have not yet decided

what I should name my record label, however I plan to come up with a few different ideas so that I can conduct a questionnaire to find out what

name my audience thinks is better.