A Guide to the Music Industry
What actually is the music industry?
“The music industry or music business sells compositions, recordings and performances of music. Among the many individuals and organizations that operate within the industry are the musicians who compose and perform the music; the companies and professionals who create and sell recorded music; those that present live music performances; professionals who assist musicians with their careers; those who broadcast music; journalists; educators; music instrument manufacturers; as well as many others.”
The music industry is not integrated in quite the same way as cinema. The ‘majors’ are primarily distributors, but not so much ‘exhibitors’- in the case of the music industry; the exhibitors are effectively the radio and television stations and the retail outlines. Disney and Viacom have major presence as exhibitors/broadcasters.
Major Institutions
In the music industry there are both minor and major record labels. The divide between these two types of labels is considerably evident. Whilst major record labels are able to sign globally reknown artists, minors are focused on less well-known artists. This is due to major record labels being more recognized in the industry and having a considerably more amount of money to work with.
The majors in the music industry:
The majors in the music industry:
Universal Music Group (Vivendi)
Headquarters: Santa Monica, CA, New York, NY
Groups/ Labels: Island Def Jam Music Group, Interscope A&M, Geffen, Lost Highway, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury, Polydor, Universal Motown Records Group, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Phillips, Verve Music Group etc.
Sony Music Entertainment is a global recorded music company. It is home to premier record labels representing music from every genre. Artists signed to this label are guaranteed success due to it's excellent reputation.
Warner Music Group
Minor Institutions
The importance of ‘independents’
In one sense the music industry is still a ‘cottage industry’ since the vast majority of the 41,000 ‘creative talents’ in the UK work alone or for the small companies. Ninety per cent of the UK industry is classed as ‘SME’. It is these SMEs, which produce the music, eventually distributed by the majors, organise local gigs and manage new acts. One of the features of the industry over the past twenty years has been the career path of performers who begin with a small independent record label and gradually move to a contract with one of the majors. The majors have also created their own small specialist labels in the hope of finding new talent.
An Introduction to our chosen institution
After researching different institutions across the music industry, we have chosen to use Island Records as the institution responsible for our new band. It is a branch of the highly recognised and successful record label Universal Music Group which is considered one of the major institutions. Island Records was orginally founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell. It was firstly based in the United Kingdom for many years until the company was owned by Universal Music Group. The label now operates in the United States as a division of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group. Island Records is now a largely rock-orientated label which is the main reason for our decision to work with this particular institution. Some of the bands signed to this label are as follows;
-The King Blues
Right from the get-go The King Blues’ music has defied convention. Unafraid to mix up dub bass lines, doo-wop a cappella songs, ska rhythms, Lonnie Donegan-styled skiffle, British folk and gritty poetry, theirs is a stripped-down, hot-wired one where ukuleles, acoustic guitars and melodicas feature heavily. It is punk music as it was intended – engaging, forward-thinking, all-encompassing.
Never has there been a better time for a band like The King Blues than now. Politically-sussed, constantly active but never rigid, they are the latest in a long tradition of well-read, well-intentioned British refuseniks representing the excluded youth from the ground up. With war in Iraq still raging, a Conservative leader in charge of their home city and an economy in decline, the world needs bands like The King Blues more than ever.
-The Killers
An Indie-Rock band formed in 2002, The Killers have gained acclaim for their two albums of synthesized indie music. The band has four founding members all of which worked in Las Vegas, the city in which the band formed, before they started making music. Brandon Flowers is the lead vocalist and on some tracks plays the keyboard, Dave Keuning plays guitar and does backing vocals, Mark Stoermer is the bassies and also does backing vocals while Ronnie Vanucci Jr. is the drum and percussionist.
Since they formed in December 2007, the members of Mumford & Sons have shared a common purpose: to make music that matters, without taking themselves too seriously. Four young men from West London in their early twenties, they have fire in their bellies, romance in their hearts, and rapture in their masterful, melancholy voices. They are staunch friends – Marcus Mumford, Country Winston, Ben Lovett, and Ted Dwane – who bring their music to us with the passion and pride of an old-fashioned, much-cherished, family business. They create a gutsy, old-time sound that marries the magic of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young with the might of Kings Of Leon, and their incredible energy draws us in quickly to their circle of songs, to the warmth of their stories, and to their magical community of misty-eyed men.
We also devised a handout including the same information incorporated into our documentary. The handout was mainly utilized in order to justify why we have decided to use Island Records and to also highlight it's overall success.
Groups/ Labels: Island Def Jam Music Group, Interscope A&M, Geffen, Lost Highway, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury, Polydor, Universal Motown Records Group, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Phillips, Verve Music Group etc.
Other Music Interests
Music publishing, distribution and sale of music products for telephony and download.
Sony/BMG
Headquarters: New York, NY
Groups: Labels in 30 countries including Arista, BMG, Columbia, Epic, J Records, Jive, LaFace, Legacy Recordings, Provident Music Group, RCA Records, RCA Victor Group, RLG-Nashville, Sony Music Nashville, Sony Urban Music, Sony Wonder, So So Def, Verity, etc.
Other Music Interests
Music publishing and manufacturing are not included in the joint operation, remaining with the parent companies.
EMI Group
EMI is a multinational music company. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. Due to it's companies and network of licensees, they are able to serve artists, consumers and partners all over the world.
Headquarters: London
Groups: Labels
Labels in 27 countries, including Astralwerks, Blue Note jazz, Capitol, EMI Records, Mute, Parlophone, Virgin etc.
Other music Interests
EMI Music Publishing, Control over Screen Gems, Virgin Publishing etc. New Media, Studios, Manufacturing, Distribution
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry. During a time of dramatic industry transition, they have established themselves as one of the music industry's most successful companies.
Headquarters: New York
Headquarters: New York
Groups: Labels
Asylum, Atlantic (Bad Boy, Lava, Elektra), East West, Warner Bros, Sire, Nonesuch, Maverick, Warner Jazz), Warner music International, Rhino Entertainment, Word Entertainment
Asylum, Atlantic (Bad Boy, Lava, Elektra), East West, Warner Bros, Sire, Nonesuch, Maverick, Warner Jazz), Warner music International, Rhino Entertainment, Word Entertainment
Other Music Interests
Warner/Chapell Music Publishing ,WEA music distribution
Minor Institutions
The importance of ‘independents’
In one sense the music industry is still a ‘cottage industry’ since the vast majority of the 41,000 ‘creative talents’ in the UK work alone or for the small companies. Ninety per cent of the UK industry is classed as ‘SME’. It is these SMEs, which produce the music, eventually distributed by the majors, organise local gigs and manage new acts. One of the features of the industry over the past twenty years has been the career path of performers who begin with a small independent record label and gradually move to a contract with one of the majors. The majors have also created their own small specialist labels in the hope of finding new talent.
An Introduction to our chosen institution
After researching different institutions across the music industry, we have chosen to use Island Records as the institution responsible for our new band. It is a branch of the highly recognised and successful record label Universal Music Group which is considered one of the major institutions. Island Records was orginally founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell. It was firstly based in the United Kingdom for many years until the company was owned by Universal Music Group. The label now operates in the United States as a division of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group. Island Records is now a largely rock-orientated label which is the main reason for our decision to work with this particular institution. Some of the bands signed to this label are as follows;
-The King Blues
Right from the get-go The King Blues’ music has defied convention. Unafraid to mix up dub bass lines, doo-wop a cappella songs, ska rhythms, Lonnie Donegan-styled skiffle, British folk and gritty poetry, theirs is a stripped-down, hot-wired one where ukuleles, acoustic guitars and melodicas feature heavily. It is punk music as it was intended – engaging, forward-thinking, all-encompassing.
Never has there been a better time for a band like The King Blues than now. Politically-sussed, constantly active but never rigid, they are the latest in a long tradition of well-read, well-intentioned British refuseniks representing the excluded youth from the ground up. With war in Iraq still raging, a Conservative leader in charge of their home city and an economy in decline, the world needs bands like The King Blues more than ever.
-The Killers
An Indie-Rock band formed in 2002, The Killers have gained acclaim for their two albums of synthesized indie music. The band has four founding members all of which worked in Las Vegas, the city in which the band formed, before they started making music. Brandon Flowers is the lead vocalist and on some tracks plays the keyboard, Dave Keuning plays guitar and does backing vocals, Mark Stoermer is the bassies and also does backing vocals while Ronnie Vanucci Jr. is the drum and percussionist.
-Florence and the Machine
“I want my music to sound like throwing yourself out of a tree, or off a tall building, or as if you’re being sucked down into the ocean and you can’t breathe,” says Florence Welch. “It’s something overwhelming and all-encompassing that fills you up, and you’re either going to explode with it, or you’re just going to disappear.”
Florence writes her best songs when she’s drunk or has a hangover, because that’s when the freedom, the feral music comes, creating itself wildly from the fragments gathered in her notebooks and in her head. “You’re lucid,” she explains, “but you’re not really there. You’re floating through your own thoughts, and you can pick out what you need"
Florence writes her best songs when she’s drunk or has a hangover, because that’s when the freedom, the feral music comes, creating itself wildly from the fragments gathered in her notebooks and in her head. “You’re lucid,” she explains, “but you’re not really there. You’re floating through your own thoughts, and you can pick out what you need"
-Mumford and Sons
Since they formed in December 2007, the members of Mumford & Sons have shared a common purpose: to make music that matters, without taking themselves too seriously. Four young men from West London in their early twenties, they have fire in their bellies, romance in their hearts, and rapture in their masterful, melancholy voices. They are staunch friends – Marcus Mumford, Country Winston, Ben Lovett, and Ted Dwane – who bring their music to us with the passion and pride of an old-fashioned, much-cherished, family business. They create a gutsy, old-time sound that marries the magic of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young with the might of Kings Of Leon, and their incredible energy draws us in quickly to their circle of songs, to the warmth of their stories, and to their magical community of misty-eyed men.
Other Artists Include: Bombay Bicycle Club, Fall Out Boy, The Fratellis, Rizzle Kicks and many more.
During the duration of our research tasks we analysed a variety of different bands from the indie-rock genre. In fact, a number of the bands we researched are signed to Island Records. Our group viewed this as a positive factor as it means that Island Records have prior knowledge of working with bands from our chosen genre which means that they know what is expected from the genre. Overall, we believe that by choosing Island Records it will ensure that our project as a whole will be successful due to the success of other bands signed to Island Records.
As a group, we devised a documentary-style video on iMovie. The documentary included additional information on Island Records, the bands signed to the label, and why we believe it is the most suitable label for our band.
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