- The music videos from List A could be regarded as 'mainstream' as they come from commercial artists who have been signed by 'major' record labels. The music videos all feature their respective artist(s) and are a mixture of performance and narrative, and raise the number of similar representational issues surrounding 'street life'.
- The music videos in List B from alternative or less commercial artists. These music videos do not feature their respective artist(s) at all, instead, with each music video celebrating the power of narrative and signification and a postmodern emphasis on intertextuality. The videos in List B each use very different representations to each other, but each contrasts clearly with the representations featured in the music videos in List A.
What does record label do?
- A record label is responsible for production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, and promotion of music.
- They enforce copyright laws
- They conduct scouting and development of artists.
- They maintain contracts with recording artists and their managers.
The 4 major record labels are:
- Warner Bros
- Universal
- EMI
- Sony
They are the parent companies of many small labels, including:
- SyCo Music
- Island Records
- Atlantic
- Epic
- Aftermath
- Cash money Billionaire
- and many more...
Media Ownership
- Universal is the largest media owner of the music industry
- Independent labels are smaller and often focused on more alternative genres.
- An example:
- Gingerbread Man Records, Ed Sheeran's record label. Owned by a bigger brand Atlantis
What do A&R people do?
- A&R stands for Artists and Repertoire. This is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and the artistic and commercial development of the recording artist. It also acts as a liaison between the artist and the record label.
- The role of A&R has three main responsibilities:
- Finding talent
- Overseeing the recording process
- Assisting with marketing and promotion
- As you can imagine, going to clubs, scouting new talent, chatting regularly with recording studios, superstar producers, and major stars, makes this one of the most sought after jobs in the recording industry.
The song production process:
- A&R scouts find an artist
- A contract is signed
- An album producer is at the centre of the process
- Marketing may begin well in advance
- Team of songwriters produce songs
- Backing vocal artists are sourced and recorded
- Label heads oversee production and manage budgets
- Session musicians are employed, samples recorded
- The star records their vocals
- Music videos are produced
- The album is streamed or tracks given away
- The album is marketed and distributed globally
Who makes money?
- The contract will dictate the percentage of ownership of any profit made from a single song or album sale.
- Typically a superstar royalty rate is 20%
- Apple will take 30% of an album sale through Apple music
- Songwriters earn royalties when a song is played on the radio/adverts etc
- Artists earn money from touring ticket sales and album sales
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