R&P Post 13: Researching Record Labels and Companies

Hi there! Today I will be talking about the research I have done into record labels and companies and how they operate. Enjoy!

Researching Record Labels and Companies:
A record label or company is defined as a trademark or brand that is associated with the marketing of music and music videos. Sometimes a record company is also responsible for:

• Publishing and managing the brands and trademarks of an artist.
• The production, distribution, marketing and enforcement of copyright for music recordings as well as music videos.
• Finding new talent in the music industry and developing these new artists.
• Maintaining contracts with artists and also their managers.

In similarity to Hollywood's 'Big Six', the music industry also has its own collection of major music companies. Today, there are only three record labels that can be referred to as 'major' labels or companies:

• Sony Music Entertainment
• Universal Music Group
• Warner Music Group

Sony Music Entertainment is a subsidiary of Sony, a Japanese multinational corporation. Sony Music Entertainment itself is an American company and in the UK, they own a wide range of record labels including Columbia, Black Butter, Red Essential and RCA. It has recorded many internationally famous artists such as the Foo Fighters, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, One Direction, George Ezra and First Aid Kit, demonstrating how their artist rosta varies from the pop genre to rock music to acoustic music.

Universal Music Group (UMG) is a global American music company which is owned by Vivendi, a French multinational mass media conglomerate. It is home to some of the world's most iconic record labels and companies including Island Records, Virgin EMI Records, Abbey Road Studios and Polydor, and has recorded many artists such as Nirvana, Lorde, ABBA, Katy Perry and The Beatles. Here we have a range of artists who produce very different genres from one another- from mainstream pop to grunge rock, developing a diverse artist rosta for the company. As well as this, UMG owns and operates a wide range of businesses focused on recorded music, merchandising, and publishing content in over 60 countries.

Warner Music Group (WMG) is the only American music conglomerate in the world and is a multinational entertainment and record label company headquartered in New York City. It owns and operates some of the largest and most successful record labels across the globe including Warner Bros. Records, Atlantic Records and Parlophone as well as some of the world's most renowned artists, for instance Ed Sheeran, Madonna and Coldplay. 

Independent Record Labels/Companies:

An independent record label is a record label/company which operates on its own without any funding from major or outside record labels. Many musicians begin their career with these types of labels and then later go onto record with more major labels, such as the ones above. 

The definitions of a 'major' record label and an 'independent' record label differ from one another at times. A 'major'  record label is defined as one that owns its own distribution channel, whilst an independent record label does not. However, some independent record labels decide to sign dual-release agreements (as well as make other deals) with major labels, causing independent labels to come to rely on distribution agreements, licensing agreements as well as other arrangements with major labels. These major labels can also come to wholly or partially own independent labels.

Some of the most well-known independent labels include:

Vertical and Horizontal Integration:

Vertically integrated companies are companies which own every part of their business; they own all of the different stages of producing their product, e.g. the distribution, production, and marketing. These companies tend to be large companies, commonly referred to as 'major' companies. On the other hand, horizontally integrated companies tend to be much smaller, more niche independent companies who cannot afford to own every part of their production process. Therefore, as a result of this they use other small companies to help produce, distribute and/or market their product. 

In the music industry, it is the major record labels, including Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group, that are vertically integrated, whilst independent record labels, such as Rough Trade Records, are horizontally integrated. For example:

Sony Music Entertainment: this is one of the three major record labels and is a vertically integrated company. They own several individual record labels including:

• Epic Records
• Columbia Records
• RCA Records

However, as well as owning separate record labels, Sony Music Entertainment also owns other Sony subsidiaries, even being a subsidiary of Sony themselves. Sony companies that Sony Music Entertainment own include:

• Sony Music Nashville- the country music branch of Sony Music.
• Sony Masterworks- the classical music branch of Sony Music.
• Sony Music Latin- the Latin music branch of Sony Music.
• Sony Music Entertainment Korea- the division of Sony Music that distributes its music to Korea. 
• Sony Music Entertainment Australia- a company that records Australian artists and distributes their recordings.
• There is also Sony Music Italy, Sony Music Germany, Sony Music Hong Kong, Sony Music Indonesia, Sony Music Argentina, Sony Music Poland and Sony Music Finland. 

From this, what we can see is just how broad and wide-ranging this record company is. The amount of companies that they own shows us some of the extent of the size of Sony Music Entertainment, as well as the conglomerate Sony itself. They have subsidiaries all over the world who record and distribute national artists and also distribute artists' recordings internationally. 

However, this is different for independent companies:

4AD: this is an independent record label that was founded in 1980, during which it became well-known for its alternative rock artists. It is a rather niche company which focuses particularly on the alternative rock genre but also for its dream pop and gothic rock music. Whilst 4AD, unlike Sony Music Entertainment, is not owned by another company, it does form part of the Beggars Group which is record label that distributes other record labels, 4AD for instance. This is an example of horizontal integration which is very common to independent companies and shows how their production, etc. processes are different to those of major record labels who are vertically integrated.

What I have learnt from researching these record labels is the difference between the major record labels (the 'three major' record labels) and smaller, independent record labels. Major labels are able to own a large range of subsidiaries and also sign artists from all different genres, whereas independent record labels tend to be more niche. Because they are much smaller in size and have smaller budgets, they tend to focus on finding artists who from one specific music genre, making them concentrate on this particular genre.


As well as this, for our artist we have decided that if we were to use one of the major three record labels, we would use Columbia Records which is owned underneath Sony, but if we were to use an independent record label we would use Mad Decent.

We believe that our artist would be well-suited to Columbia Records because as it is a subsidiary of Sony, our artist would be well-supported as Sony provide lots of support for upcoming artists. 

However, if we decided to use an independent record label we would use Mad Decent. Mad Decent is an independent American record label which specialises in recording dance/house music artists. This would be very well-suited to our artist as the song we have chosen falls into the genre of dance/pop music. 



I hope you found my research useful and interesting and also hope to see you again soon!