RECORD LABELS

DOMINO RECORDING COMPANY

Domino Recording Company, also known as Domino Records, is a British Independent record label, founded in 1993 by Laurence Bell and Jacqui Rice. It is based in London but there are a number of branches across the world such as Brooklyn, New York, Germany with a division named Domino Deutschland and a French division called Domino France.

Some notable artists include Animal Collective, Artic Monkeys, Blood Orange and Elliot Smith.

This record label would be well suited to our song as they have signed artists that are of the indie pop genre.

XL RECORDINGS

XL Recordings is an English independent record label, it was founded by Richard Russell, Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes in 1989. It is owned by Beggars Group who own several other labels including 4AD, Rough Trade Records and Matador Records.

Notable artists include Adele, Beck, Dizzee Rascal, Vampire Weekend and The Prodigy.

Although it is an independent record label they distribute and release a wide range of genres including rave, dance music and indie. The most notable indie artist signed to XL is Vampire Weekend.

CAROLINE RECORDS

The record label that we decided to go with for our artist is Caroline Records. It was founded in 1973 by Richard Branson, it was orginally a subsidiary of Virgin Records America but is now of Caroline Music. They started off specialising in mainly progressive rock and jazz but now work with a varied amount of genres.

Some notable artists include 50 Cent and Azealia Banks.

The reason we picked Caroline Records to be our record label is because the original artists of 'Shark', 'Oh Wonder' are actually signed to this company and they are an indie pop ground, this is appropriate for our genre.

INDEPENDENT vs MAJOR

Independent record labels are most likely to sign artists that are undeveloped or unusual.
Smaller regional distributors usually release their singles.
Their royalties often range from 9% to 50% depending on the clause agreements.
As they are signingwith a smaller organisations the indies will be content with receiving smaller profits.
As independent organisations lack big marketing and distribution power compared to major labels, they might allow the act to build a more niche appeal instead of trying to convert them to a mainstream act.

INDEPENDENT vs MAJOR

Warner Music Group, EMI, Sony Music and Universal Music Group are four of the biggest record labels.
They tend to work with acts that have generated a fan base.
The extra publicity and promotions you will get from a major label can be hugely beneficial for the act.
Many successful bands start off at independent companies and as they gain more fans may move onto a major label.
For example, Coldplay was first signed to Fierce Panda before signing with Parlophone.
Major labels cover services such as A&R, Advertising, Sales, Legal Finance and Shipping and Merchandising. The act will receive a smaller percentage of the total royalties they get from sales of their songs.
Major labels tend to have several subsidiary labels, where they release songs from a different name.
They can often specialise in a particular genre but are owned by a major label.
For example, 679 Recordings is owned by Warner Music.