Coursework for my A2 media studies

1. Institutions:
Record Labels

2. What is a Record Label?
A record label is a brand, company or trademark which is associated with the
marketing of music videos and music recordings. A record label is also responsible for
the production, distribution and marketing the music to its audience. They also
manage the imposition of the copyright for sound recordings and music videos of
brands and trademarks. The record label has a contract with its recording artists and
their managers which entitles the label to receive a percentage of the profit made from
singles, albums and videos that the artist releases. There a 3 major record labels and
these are; Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music
Group. Being signed to a major/big record label will allow artists to market their
albums/singles, promote their music across different platforms and broaden their
consumer base. A music video is an easy way for an artist to promote and sell their
music, especially if the video is well produced and is rememberable and unique. In
order for the music video to be well produced, the record label will require the funds,
to pay for good equipment, costumes, locations , etc.

3. Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment is an American music
corporation managed and operated by Sony
Corporation of America. The company was founded in
1929 as American Record Corporation until 1991 it
became Sony Music Entertainment. Sony Music is
home to a range of artists from different music genres,
this allows them to have a mass/wide audience.
Examples of their signed artists include; Foo Fighters,
Justin Timberlake,Whitney Houston, One Direction,
Britney Spears, The Clash, The Script, Michael
Jackson, Beyonce and Little Mix.
Because Sony Music Entertainment is a large
conglomerate, it has a large budget to spend on the
production, distribution and marketing of music
videos; therefore increasing the chances of the video
being a success. It is often the case that music videos
produced by conglomerate companies are entirely
performance based, this is down to the fact the video
is trying to portray a certain persona/star image.

4. Dirty Hit Records
Dirty Hit Records is an independent, British label which was
formed in 2009. The label was set up by; Brian Smith, Jamie
Oborne and Ugo Ehiogu. The label was founded ‘through a
desire to develop and nurture homegrown artists’. Dirty Hit
Records is actually distributed by Universal, however it is
still classed as an independent label by the Associate of
Independent Music. Artists signed to Dirty Hit are from the
indie/indie rock music genre; therefore the label has a niche
audience. Examples of their signed artists include; The 1975,
Wolf Alice, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, The Japanese
House, Ben Khan, Marika Hackman and the Fossil
Collective. The 1975 were the labels first act to achieve
mainstream success, having achieved number 1 on the UK
album charts with their self titled debut album in September
2013.
Because Dirty Hit Records is an independent label, it has a
smaller budget to spend on music videos. However because
their records are distributed by Universal, they have slightly
more to spend on videos, than labels who are completely
independent Therefore the music videos produced tend to
be relatively simply and lack special effects and props. The
music videos are either narrative or performance based,
however sometimes can be a hybrid of both.

5. Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is a global, american record label.
It is a conglomerate company and is referred to as one
of the ‘big three’ record labels. Warner Music Group
also owns and runs many other successful record labels
such as; Atlantic Records Group, Warner Bros. Records,
Parlophone Label Group, Warner Classic, Rhino
Entertainment and Warner Music Nashville. This
means that the label provides music of different music
genres, which allows it to have a wide/mass audience.
Examples of their signed artists include; Coldplay,
Charlie XCX, Jason Derulo, Metallica, Led Zeppelin,
Major Lazer, Jess Glynne, Frank Sinatra, Kylie Minogue
and James Blunt.
Warner Music Group, like Sony Music Entertainment,
is a conglomerate company. Therefore it has a large
budget to spend on distribution, production and
marketing of music videos. Similarly they focus on
performance based music videos, in order to reinforce
and portray the artists star image/persona.

6. Domino Recording CompanyDomino Recording Company is an independent, British record
label which is based in London. Domino, was founded by
Laurence Bell in 1993. Domino is now one of the longest running
and most successful independent record labels in the UK. The
record label signs artists and bands of the music genres rock and
indie rock; this therefore means that they label has a niche
audience. Examples of their signed artists include; The Kills,
Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, Animal Collective, The Last
Shadow Puppets, Wild Beasts, The Range and Hot Chip. The
record label has its first UK number 1 album in October 2005
with Franz Ferdinand's ‘You Could Have It So Much Better’ and
in the same month had their first UK number 1 single with Arctic
Monkeys' ,’I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor’
As Domino Recording Company is an independent label, it
doesn't have a big a budget as the conglomerate record labels like
Sony Music Entertainment or Warner Music Group. However due
to the fact the label has been running for 26 years and has been
able to get a name for itself, it is rather successful which suggests
that they might have a bigger budget to spend on their artists
music videos. Because of the genre of artists that the label signs,
the music video tend to be reflective of that genre and are
relatively simply and lack special effects. The videos they product
are usually narrative however sometimes they can be purely
performance based or sometimes even a hybrid of both.

7. Conclusion
After researching both conglomerate and independent record labels, I was
able to clearly see a difference in the type of artists that they sign and the
music videos that they produce. Independent record labels produce music
videos which have a smaller budget. These videos are usually a hybrid
between narrative and performance and have a niche target audience.
I have decided that for my music video I want to use either an indie or
indie rock song therefore I think that creating an independent record
label for my video and artist would be the best idea. I would like my label
to be similar to Domino Recording Company because whilst it is
independent it is well established and successful which allows the
company to spend more money of their artists. I have not yet decided
what I should name my record label, however I plan to come up with a
few different ideas so that I can conduct a questionnaire to find out what
name my audience thinks is better.