Major Record Labels - Miss Georgiou

The purpose of record labels are to ensure that an artist is promoting themselves to become as successful as possible. They a manage the artist they have signed, and create links with other media successes in a way to help promote the artist and make them become more established and recognised in a successful way. Some artists manage to pursue their career without a record label, however, when reaching a certain stage of success a record label could be necessary. Record labels are able to invest money into an artist, resulting them in releasing better quality products and a more successful reputation and career in the music industry. All of the aspects of artist success and promotion for example the marketing, producing of the record, tour arrangements and distribution of the products the artist creates is all handled by the label.

Currently, there are many numerous UK major record labels that are existent today. Three of which include Island Records, Columbia Records and EMI Records. 

Island Records

Island Records was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall and Leslie Kong in Jamaica and has been based in the UK since 1962. 'My Boy Lollipop' by Millie Small was the labels first success in the UK which also lead to a world tour as a result. There are a large amount of artists that are managed by this label, whether that be past or present, diversity is still clearly displayed. The label are open to new music and tend to want to build long-term careers in the industry, rather than short lived ones. Some of the past artists they have signed are Mariah Carey, Bob Dylan, Etta James and Amy Winehouse - which whilst being very unique from one another, are very successful individuals in the industry. Some of the current artists they manage are Robbie Williams, Dizzee Rascal, Duffy and Leona Lewis. The artist's they have managed/are managing are very successful and some are widely recognised on a global scale. This label has collectively owned over 45 subsidiary labels, however, only a few of them now are still owned by them. These include labels such as Mercury which has been owned by them since 2014. Mercury manages artists such as Jake Bugg, Fall Out Boy and Paul McCartney all of which have demonstrated success which would have very much have been influenced by the success of Island Records. It is not clear that there are any direct and main links within media, however there would be which is reflected in how successful the artists that they manage are.

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is the oldest surviving brand name in recorded sound and was founded in 1887. There are a large number of artists that are managed by this company for example, Ella Henderson, The Script, One Direction and Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) to name a few. Success has been greatly achieved by these artists, likewise with the artists who are managed by Columbia's subsidiary companies. One of their subsidiaries are Kemosabe Records who manage global star, Ke$ha. There are links within media as the parent company of Columbia, Sony Music is also linked to television and so can retrieve contacts through this connection.

EMI Records

EMI Records was founded in 1972 by Sir Joseph Lockwood. Virgin EMI Records are one of the subsidiaries of EMI Records and they manage UK artists such as Elton John and Pixie Lott. These artists have proved to be successful in the industry from the numerous hit singles that they have collectively released. It could be said that EMI Records is not as major as the other labels I have written about above, however, they still produce successful artists that are relevant in today's music industry. There are also links within media as EMI Records have links to TV and magazines too, increasing their contacts within the media. 

Independent Record Labels also exist in the industry and they operate one or a few music labels. Regardless of their funds and lacking of what a major record could provide, they can still be successful however just operate from a smaller company base. Traditionally, they produce more unique and organic music rather than manufactured mainstream that is more released from major labels. 

Angular Recording Corporation

Angular Recording Corporation is a UK independent record label, originally based in South East London. It was set up by two ex-Goldsmiths college students, Joe Daniel and Joe Margetts, in June 2003. The label was able to finance its debut release in November 2003 due to gaining funds through medical testing. This was published in NME magazine (a successful and popular magazine based around music) 'The New Cross : An Angular Sampler'. Ahead of many major label releases, NME made Angular Recording Corporation the lead review in the magazine. The label manages artists such as Crystal Stilts and Gyratory System. Crystal Stilts are a post punk band who managed to go on tour due to their success to share their material on a broader and wider scale. Gyratory System are a three-piece music band based in London. 'The Sound-Board Breathes' was the band's debut album, which was very much praised by BBC critic, John Doran who stated, 'superb album, sounding like little else released this year' and was rated 8 out of 10 by NME. This shows that even though independent companies may not have other companies that support them or bigger and larger company funds and contacts, the artists that are signed can still achieve success. Some artists managed by the major labels do not always achieve more success than the independent label's artists. 

Sony Vista Music

Sony Vista Music is a UK independent label that was founded in Kingston upon Hull in 2005. The label does however, have many business connections in Canada and Japan. The general kind of genre that the artists they sign are situated in different types of rock. Artists which they manage include Dropshard and Fonda 500. Dropshard are a progressive rock band founded in 2007. They have released 2 EP's and 2 studio albums which have done well in the industry, especially for a rock band. Fonda 500 are a British band that was founded in the same area as the label was - Kingston upon Hull. Their music was very successful in the industry and even in television from the way some of their material was found on the soundtrack of television programmes such as 'Teachers' on Channel 4 and also on E4's 'Skins'. Altogether the band have released 6 albums, so even with an independent record label, the same amount of content can be created and released, just like a major record label could do. 

From a music, as well as an industry point of view I don't think it is right that 4 companies dominate the music industry. This is because not every talent may be able to get recognised, as stated earlier in the blog, independent record labels seem to produce unique and organic artists. Talents like these may not be recognised by major record labels as they may be more focussed on finding artists from a particular more popular genre such as pop to guarantee and ensure of success. This would therefore leave a talent unnoticed that could have pursued in the industry as a success. Furthermore, because of the contacts and accessibility of the major record labels, in a way their artists have an advantage due to the fact that most of their resources are already handed to them. This could mean that they put in less work but still become acknowledged maybe higher than an independent label artist would. Even if an independent label artist was more talented than a major record label artist, this would mean that the major record label could still promote and market them in a way to attempt to make them a success. This creates an imbalance in the industry as an effect due to the fact that major record labels tend to go for new and current artists displaying a more niche idea of genre. In addition, the major record labels have more power in competing against more low-key artists from independent labels. An independent artist promoting their material through YouTube can't get as much promotion as a major record label artist as they do not have as much funding as this. By having the major record labels dominating the industry means that there are going to be more recognised artists from a particular genre than others. For example, mostly pop artists such as Ke$ha are recognised because of the major aspect of their record label and so they have the funding to seek more opportunities and promotions that independent artists may not be able to reach out to. There are less recognised independent label artists as a result of this. Success is judged by how well an artist feels they have done themselves. If an artist releases a single this could be seen as being successful, regardless of how well the single does in the industry. The artist could see themselves wing successful from performing at small concerts/gigs which could (to them) be successful and something to feel proud of. Major record label artists seem to be more greedy when it comes to their aspirations due to the opportunities that are open to them. This can make them more disappointed if these unrealistic 'successes' are not met. Independent record label artists tend to be more realistic and genuine. The independent record label artists however, can still reach great success, even taking over major record label artists in some cases. For example Sony Vista Music expanded their label as far across the world as Japan which enabled them for their artists to be recognised on a wider scale. securing slots are popular and well known mini tours, as well as large festivals. Therefore, for this reason I think that independent record labels are just as successful as major record labels in different ways. Independent record labels offer more diversity into the industry from the different and unique kinds of artists they sign, which is very much lacked from major record labels. They're normally a lot more raw and tend to have more musical talent as they often have arguably worked harder than artists from the major record labels. This can make them appear more talented and dedicated to the industry, in addition, the independent record labels have time and dedication to the artists in which they sign. They tend to have more dedication to developing, naturing and moulding the artist into who they want to be, giving them the opportunity to flaunt their talents in the way they wish to be represented. Independent record labels tend to also welcome the ideas from the artist and offer more choice and support to them whereas, major record labels can be quite demanding and want to create an artist that the artist may not be satisfied as being. The major record labels seem to want to uphold more of a successful and money making reputation and so, can appear sometimes to care less for the artist themselves but more for the money that they can make out of them. The major record label artists can face pressure and appear rushed in a way that the major record labels have so many artists to manage that they may not feel ann evenly distributed and dedicated time to each artist. If an artist appears to be slightly inconsiderate and unsuccessful in view of the major record label, they can be dropped instantly with no leeway for understanding for the artist.