The Music Industry - Institutional Context

1. By Ben Sinden, Max Boyden and
Ben Bovington-Key

2.  Is a legal agreement between the
recording artist and a record label
 The artist makes the record and the record
label sells and promotes the product
 Usually within a contract it means the artist
can only record for that label exclusively
 Often the record label receive an agreed
percentage of record sales

3.  The larger more industrial record labels are often a
smaller subsidiary in a large conglomerate, for
example The Warner Brothers music group are owned
by Warner Brothers, and they are owned by time
warner.
 Being a part of a large conglomerate allows easier
synergy and cross media convergence as
advertisement and promotion can be done using the
conglomerates existing subsidiaries
 Smaller independent artists usually use smaller record
labels, this means that the agreement is between the
artist and the company, so vertical integration is
needed to promote the product as they do not have
subsidiaries available

4.  There are many different methods of promotion, for example
using magazine articles and TV/ Radio interviews to talk
about new products, and also to advertise the artist
themselves raising their awareness
 Another method of promotion is interacting positively with
fans, this would include listening to what they want and
responding to their feedback to show interest, after all fans
are the most important factor for an artist
 Social media is another effective method of promotion as it
allows the artists to target a specific target audience, for
example JLS could use Facebook or Twitter to target younger
generation
 Producing products and merchandise to surround a track or
artist means different customers could be attracted, and also
subliminally advertises the product when others see it, for
example when someone wears a One Direction t-shirt other
people will see it on the street

5.  The record label is responsible for the
marketing and distribution of the music
video in accordance with the Artists wishes,
based on the contract signed. It may be
that the record label has bought the rights
to the product and can therefore choose
to market it as they wish, however the artist
may have retained rights to the product in
order to have some influence over the
branding and marketing of their product

6.  A music video is an artistic and promotional tool
used by record labels and artists to market their
product. This is important in one aspect, as it is
essential to create buzz and awareness around the
product in order for it to sell successfully. In other
aspects it also allows the artist of collaborating
director/filmmaker to add further meaning to a
song through the use of visual imagery. The video
may also increase the repeatability of the song as
some may want to watch the artist as they feel
closer to them leading to them listening to the song
more often

7.  The production process will normally start with working with
the artist or record label in order to develop a desired
treatment or concept. This will become more detailed
gradually as they develop concepts such as key themes,
style and locations. This will then assist the creation of a
budget heading towards the production as some idea is
gained about how much the production will cost. This
process then moves onto storyboarding if the concept is
suited to it and this will be spread amongst all the
technicians involved. Then casting will take place if
necessary along with the development of call sheets and
risk assessments in preparation towards the filming process.
Once filmed the video will head to edit and sound to be
finalised before mastering and eventual distribution

8.  NMTs (or New Media Technologies) now play a
significant role in the way artists are promoted. As
technology has advanced, people are relying
far less on posters and billboards to promote their
music, but are using internet advertising on
websites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
This has changed the traditional practice as it is
now far more competitive a market to get your
music noticed, let alone a substantial following,
however, this technology makes the sharing of
new music far easy also, meaning someone in
the UK could share a brand new track with
someone in Japan in a matter of seconds,
making it a prime example of “we media”

9.  The music press has always been significant in
“making or breaking” an artist’s new content.
This was key in getting readers in the case of
magazines and listeners of Radio chart shows
to listen to and appreciate the new track. To
some extent this still continues. BBC Radio 1’s
Zane Lowe showcases brand new music on his
show, reaching thousands of people across the
country, and music magazines such as NME
and Kerrang, while still printing copies of their
magazines, have lots of online content for the
digital age, including interviews, music videos
and other relevant material. So, in that case,
the music press is still very significant