Record Labels

Major record labels

• Sony BMG • Universal • EMI• Warner Music Group A subsidiary of Sony BMG is Columbia records, Epic and Syco. Universals subsidiaries are Def Jam, Island Records and Republic records. Subsidiaries of EMI are Enigma Records and Gold Typhoone. Warner music group also have subsidiaries such as Atlantic Records, Rhino Records and Warner Bros records.

Minor Record Labels

• The minor record labels exist with the four major record labels, they follow vertical integration.

• Examples of these are • Def Jam Records • Columbia • RAM Records

Independent Record labels

Blue Horizon Cherry Red Criminal Records Factory Records Glass Records Major League Productions Mute Records

Advantages of a Major Record Label

The advantages of having or being part of a major record label is the money and power. As they are larger co-operations it means that the artist will have a more substantial budget provided to them in order to create and produce their song and music video. Furthermore the bigger the label the more power and influence they have over the music industry, therefore the success of the artist may be fast tracked compared to an artist who Is involved with an independent record label. Moreover the bigger the record label, the more influence they have nationally, therefore the artist song may have a greater chance of being recognized world wide.

Advantages on Minor Record label The artist themselves have got more independency freedom, to create the music they want to produce. When signing to a major record label a lot of artist will find themselves as a little fish in a big pond. Fighting for attention, a lot of major record labels release a lot of music just to see if the artist will stick, if they don’t the artist can find themselves fighting for attention. By signing to a minor record label the process of making the music and the music video is actually a lot more of a simpler straight forward process. The business side of the minor record labels means that the company are more likely to make more money from the sales of the record due to them being a small business with a small amount of employee’s. Minor records label also only specialize in one genre of music therefore it is easier for artist to be recognized with the label they are signed to,.