Record Labels

Major Record Labels

Major record labels are large companies within the music industry that may also own smaller record labels.
The current major record labels in the UK are Warner Music Group, EMI Group,  Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group.

Warner Music Group manages artists and bands such as; Death Cab for Cutie, Fleetwood Mac, Linkin Park and Red Hot Chilli Peppers. So Warner Music Group manages a large and diverse group of artists and bands which will appeal to a very large target audience.

EMI Group has managed thousands of different artists and since the music label was created in the 1930s and has managed artists such as 30 Seconds to Mars, Blur, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Gorillaz.

Sony music Entertainment was set up in 1929 has managed many bands in its lifetime, including; Adele, Beyonce Knowles, Avril Lavigne, Calvin Harris, The Fray and Foo Fighters.

Universal Music Group was founded in 1996 when MCA Music Group changed its name to Universal Music Entertainment, it has managed bands like 50 cent, The All-American Rejects, Backstreet Boys, The Cure and Lady Gaga.

Many major record labels have 'sublabels'  which are smaller record labels which operate under the major record label but have their own name. For example all of the four major record labels have their own small sublabels.
Warner Music Groups sub labels include Atlantic Record Group (which has artists like B.o.B, Ed Sheeran and Hadouken!)and Rhino Entertainment.
Some of EMI Group's sub labels are Blue Note Label Group and Capital Music Group.
A few of Sony Music Entertainment's sub labels include Epic Records (which has artists such as AC/DC, Cher Lloyd and Olly Murs) and Columbia Records (which manages artists such as Calvin Harris, Editors and The Vaccines).
Universal Music Group also has many sub labels including Polydor Records (50 Cent, Brand New and The Cure) and Mercury Music Group (Example, and Fall Out Boy).

In addition, many of these record labels also have links within the media, such as the TV and magazines, to help them promote their artists and company.
Universal Music Group is part of the multinational company Vivendi which has activities in many different parts of the media, including TV, films, the Internet and video games.  This enables artists and bands from the Universal Music Group to be advertised inside these different media platforms, for example Vivendi owns Blizzard Entertainment, so music produced by the Universal Music Group can be used in the video games produced by Blizzard Entertainment.
Sony Music Entertainment is owned by Sony Corporation, and this company also has subsidiary companies in the film, video games and TV industry. Sony Pictures Entertainment is also owned by Sony Corporation and it produces and distributes television and films, so music produced by artists on Sony Music Entertainment records can be used in the films produced by Sony Pictures Entertainment to help advertise them.

Independent Record Labels

Independent record labels are much smaller than the major record labels, but it is still possible for them to be just as successful. Independent labels are known to usually produce more diverse artists and music than the major record labels, which mainly produce mainstream music.

Rough Trade is a very well known and successful independent label, it was founded in 1978 by Geoff Travis. The label started off with bands such as The Smiths and The fall, but when bankrupt in 1991 and relaunched its label in 2000 when it managed to secure the band, The Strokes, who in turn have become a very successful band.

XL Recordings are also a very successful independent label which boasts new talents such as Adele, the xx, Vampire Weekend and Tyler, the Creator . The label started in 1989 as a dance and rave label but now releases albums from artists of all genres.

Domino Records was set up in 1993 and has held many successful artists in its portfolio. Domino released Franz Ferdinand's first two albums, which quickly rose to fame, and after this they have release one of the most popular albums which reached the top charts, Arctic Monkeys 'Whatever People Say I am, That's What I'm Not'.

Factory Records started in 1978, but before it became a record label it was a club which then decided to make an EP with songs on it from all the artists who had performed at  the club, including Joy Division. The first LP released by Factory Records was Joy Divisions 'Unknown Pleasures' and the record label continued to be successful with artists such as Happy Mondays and Durutti Column.



From a music point of view it may be seen that having three companies dominate the music industry is not acceptable. The current three major record labels dominating the music industry are Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group. It could be seen as unfair as there may be less competition within the music industry if there are only three major record labels, and this could lead to some independent record labels finding it difficult to survive in the music industry as some artists may not look to be signed by these smaller independent record labels if there are only three major record labels that could make them extremely successful. In addition, due to there being little competition with only a few dominating record labels, this could lead to these major record labels controlling the music industry, as they could decide their own rates and make bigger profits at the expense of the artist as the artist wouldn't have many other major record labels to turn to, to look for a better contract deal.
Also, another way this could lead to the major record labels controlling the music industry is that if they decide a particular genre of music is selling well, such as Rap, then they may not sign many artists from other music genres, such as Country, even though the other artist is very talented, so these large companies could begin to control what the public listen to.

However, Independent Record labels can still be successful as they may not want to be as big as some of these Major Record labels, as the target audeince of the artists owned by the independent record label may enjoy music that is not mainstream, therefore they do not want these artists to become as big as some that are owned by major reocrd labels, but they are still very successful with a large fan base.
Also, these independent record labels could offer more to the artists than the major record labels, as they may have more time to communicate with the artists themselves and be able to focus on the creative music side of the business rather than the financial side. So they may be able to help their artists be successful and enjoy their music more than the artists signed to the larger record labels.