1. • 1929- enterprise founded as ARC
• 1938- Columbia Recording Corporation
• 1966- CBS Records
• 1991- renamed SME
• Owned by Sony Corporation
• Revenue – 4.89 billion (US dollars)
• Michael Jackson
• Shakira
• Britney Spears
• Will Smith
• ASAP Rocky
• Jimi Hendrix
• J Cole
• DMX
• Outkast
• T-pain
• Tyler the creator
-Sony Muisc was first founded in 1929, and at the time was founded as
American Record Corporation (ARC), since then Sony has been renamed and
bought by other companies several times, until now, now it is owned by
Sony Corporation.
-Sony Music is an appropriate record label for our artist/band to sign to as
they have signed quite a lot of HipHop/ Alternative HipHop artists previously,
such as, Tyler the creator, ASAP Rocky and Bonkaz. This is relevant to A Tribe
Called Quest as they also create music around the genres of Rap, HipHop
and Jazz. All these artists signed to Sony not only share a similar genre of
music but also a similar style and lifestyle as our artist. They all attempt to
challenge the stereotypical conventions of HipHop/Rap.
-Sony Music headquarters are also situated in New York, which can be seen
as the heart of Rap and HipHop, as a lot of HipHop artists originated there. A
Tribe Called Quest also come from Queens, New York, suggesting that Sony
Music would be well in contact with the true American Rap/HipHop culture.
-Sony Music is also the second largest music company in the world, meaning
it is well positioned in order to help promote our music video as they are
well known due to their long history, giving them a sense of status making
our artist more attractive and building trust between them and the target
audience. Sony Music also have a website www.sonymusic.com allowing
audiences to access the product via online platforms, as technology and the
internet play a large part in the lives of our target audiences.

2. • Founded in 1996
• Founder Peter Adarkwah and Ben Jolly
• Genre: HipHop, Neo Soul and Break beat
• Barely Breaking Even (BBE) is an independent British label
and although this limits the extent of the popularity of our
artist, it is a more realistic goal as Sony Music is known for only
signing artists after they have reached success. For example, they
only signed ASAP Rocky after seeing the success of his album
‘Long.Live.ASAP’. Despite this BBE still focuses on the genre of
HipHop and has signed artists like J Dilla, who is popular, not only
this but he also is often associated with A Tribe Called Quest, and the
genre of undergound HipHop/rap. However, BBE is an independent
British record label, which means that the artists will lack above the
line advertising as well as popularity due to the small amount of
history and buzz behind the record label.
• Despite this similarly to Sony, BBE have their own website,
http://www.bbemusic.com , which means we are capable of
advertising and distributing our artist. This also beneficial as our
target audience consume technology and then internet in large
sums, meaning that buzz will be easier and quicker to generate.

3. TECHNOLOGY
• Technology would have a significant impact on the distribution and exhibition of our music video, as it
allows us to broaden the extent at which we can reach out to our target audience. The development
within technology has made distribution easy, quick and cheap, due to apps such as Spotify and
Soundcloud, which although only generates a 0.01% of profit, it allows the artist to create a buzz around
them and increase popularity. Technologies such as phones, laptops, tablets etc also increase the amount
of platforms on which the music video can be distributed across. Therefore technology will largely help the
distribution of our product as it expands the revenue and buzz around the product itself. Another positive
aspect that technology brings is that it allows new artists to be discovered by record labels, an example of
this is Justin Bieber, who was discovered through Youtube.
Cross media convergence and Synergy
• Cross media convergence is another aspect that can largely increase the buzz around the artist and increase
their popularity, as their music can be used in other media products, such as games, films, TV shows and
adverts. As our artist is of the HipHop/Rap genre their songs can be used in movies, such as, a new movie
‘Straight Outta Compton’, which is a modern urban, due to the upbeat mood of the movie, and its
involvement within the HipHop culture, Universal Pictures the distribution company may be highly interested
in cross media convergence between us and the movie. Also, adverts for new trainers or street style clothing
could involve our artist’s songs within their advert as the genre would reflect then style effectively. This
would be primarily beneficial for us as it would increase buzz and popularity around the artist and their
work.