RESEARCH INTO RECORD LABELS // INSTITUTIONS

WHAT IS A RECORD LABEL?

'A record label is a brand or trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos'. The record label is responsible for producing, promoting/advertising, marketing and distributing the music to its audience. They also manage the enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos of brands and trademarks. The label maintains contracts with recording artists and their managers and receive a percentage of the profits made from releasing singles and albums. Being signed to a major label such as the big 3 which includes Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group (since 2012)is important to broaden consumer base, market their albums and promote music across different platforms e.g. radio and TV. Recording artists have become increasingly more reliant upon record labels to promote the artist as a brand by marketing their merchandise using publicists to assist performers to create positive media reports. Creating a music videos is an easy way to sell music especially if the video is rememberable and sufficently produced.

 

 

 

NICHE MARKET: MOSHI MOSHI RECORDS

Moshi Moshi Records was founded in October 1998 by Adrian Pike and is a small London-based record label. The label releases music from various music genres such as Folk, R&B, Indie Rock, Alternative and Punk Rock which typically attract niche audiences.  Examples of artists signed to this record label include Bloc Party, Kate Nash, Florence and The Machine, Disclosure, Alterkicks, Summer Camp and The Drums. Mates Of State's 2008 record 'Re-Arrange Us' was Moshi Moshi's 50th release. The label celebrated its 10th birthday in October 2008 with a party at Matter in the O2 Arena. Hot Chip, Kate Nash, Florence And The Machine, Slow Club, Tilly And The Wall, The Mae Shi, The Wave Pictures and James Yuill were some of the artists who performed at the event. This record label is only established on small basis therefore they only support small independent artists rather than mainstream stars. The record label spends little on promoting and distributing music in addition to producing music videos. The record label does not have to worry about promoting music on a large scale as they do not need to attract a mass audience unlike other record labels such as Sony. 

MASS AUDIENCE: VIRGIN emi RECORDS

Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell and Tom Newman in 1972. Virgin Records has been at the heart of every groundbreaking moment in music in the past 40 years, by supporting the most current popular artists around. In March 2013, Virgin joined forces with mulinational music and publishing company EMI to become Virgin EMI Records. This started a whole new chapter for both iconic labels where they could both expand to be home to more successful artists. International superstars such as Justin Bieber, Sir Elton John, Kayne West, Iggy Azalea, Ella Eyre and Rihanna are signed to the multi-billion record label. Virgin EMI Records is a very large conglomerate company that spends thousands on producing, marketing and distributing music and videos. The vast majority of artists signed to the label are from the Pop genre which targets a mass audience that dominates the music charts internationally. In order to continue to attract the mass audience high quality music videos with special effects, expensive costumes, extravagant locations/studios are used. 'Heartbreaker' by Mariah Carey featuring Jay-7 (1999) is the 9th most expensive music video ever made, costing $2,500,000. 

MASS AUDIENCE: SONY MUSIC entertainment

 Sony Music Entertainment is an American music corporation managed and operated by Sony Corporation of America (SCA), a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony Corporation.It is the world's second largest music company, after Universal Music Group. The company was founded in 1929 as American Record Corporation (ARC)until 1991 it became SME. The genre is described as 'eclectic' meaning obtaining different ideas, style, or tastes from a broad and diverse range of sources. In terms of context, SME is home to a range of artists from different genres on a wide spectrum. Examples include pop stars Olly Murs, Rita Ora, The Script, Little Mix and Indie Rock/Alternative/Rock artists Kasabian, Tom Odell, Nothing But Thieves, AC/DC and Bruce Springsteen. The label is also very well known for managing international legends Michael Jackson - The King of Pop, Beyoncé - Queen of R&B, Britney Spears - Princess of Pop, Elvis Presley - King of Rock and Roll and Justin Timberlake - President of Pop, the list is endless. The label supports local artist and intertainal superstars past and present due to its world class business qualities and industry leaders.    

niche audience: CHERRY RED RECORDS

Cherry Red was founded in 1978 and is a London-based independent record label home to artists from the Punk Rock and Alternative Rock music genres.  Artists signed to the label include The Fall, Tracey Thorn, The Nightingales, Kevin Coyne and The Wolfhounds. The majority of the artists would be unheard of to mainstream mass audiences as they are unconventional due to their alternative and divergent style of music and appearance. The independent record label has over 35 years of experience in releasing new music in the ever-changing music industry. The company takes pride in continuing the original vinyl renaissance in addition to keeping up-to-date with modern technology and looking into the future by expanding the label and releasing new frontline albums regularly.

MY RECORD LABEL - VAC RECORDS

I now need to establish and design my own record label. I have already decided that my company will be called 'VAC Records' which is my initials making the company personal to me. I feel the name of the label is very professional and is obvious what its purpose is and what it represents. I now need to design and create the logo which will represent my company therefore it is important the logo reflects my genre and target audience. I plan to create three different logos and either ask people what their favourite is or post them onto social media and get people to vote.