2. MAJOR RECORD LABELS
THE 4 MULTINATIONAL
CORPORATION
Universal
Sony
Music
Warner
Brothers
EMI
• THESE ARE REFERRED TO AS ‘THE
MAJORS’. THEY HAVE MANY SMALLER
COMPANIES AND ARE FOUND IN
DIFFERENT AREAS IN MEDIA SUCH AS
FILMS AND VIDEO GAMES.
3. MAJORS • COLUMBIA
• ISLAND
• SYCO
• RCA
• VIRGIN,
• THESE COMPANIES ARE KNOWN AS
‘MAJOR-INDEPENDENTS’.
MOST OF THE ‘MAJORS’
HAVE SMALLER COMPANIES
IN ORDER TO REACH
DIFFERENT KINDS OF
AUDIENCES IN DIFFERENT
KINDS OF GENRE.
4. INDEPENDENTS
• THERE ARE A LARGE NUMBER OF SMALL COMPANIES
WITH LITTLE OR NO FINANCIAL CONNECTION TO THE
MAJORS.
• THESE COMPANIES OFTEN WORK ON A SMALL
NUMBER OF ACTS, WITHIN SMALLER COMPANIES IN THE
INDUSTRY.
• THESE ARE CALLED ‘INDEPENDENTS’. AN EXAMPLE OF
A HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL INDEPENDENT IS ‘DOMINO
RECORDS’. DOMINO RECORDS WAS FOUNDED BY
LAWRENCE BELL IN PUTNEY IN 1993. THEY REPRESENT
MANY ARTISTS WHICH INCLUDED THE ARTIST
MONKEYS. THEY REPRESENT ARTISTS IN A RANGE OF
DIFFERENT GENRES SUCH AS POP, ROCK , RAP AND
OTHER MUSIC GENRES . THEY REPRESENTED THE BAND
FRANZ FERDINAND AND AFTER A YEAR THEY RECEIVED
THE MERCURY MUSIC AWARD
• IT IS OFTEN THAT RECORD LABELS BEGIN AS
INDEPENDENTS, BUT THEN ARE BOUGHT BY A MAJOR
AND THEN BECOME MAJOR-INDEPENDENTS.
5. “
”
ORGANIC
• ORGANIC IS USED TO REFER TO BANDS THAT FOCUS
MORE ON MAKING MUSIC THAN MONEY. THE BEETLES
WERE AN ORGANIC BAND BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T
BECOME A BAND JUST TO GET MONEY, THEY BECAME
A BAND BECAUSE THEY ALL KNEW EACH OTHER AND
WANTED TO COME TOGETHER TO CREATE GOOD
MUSIC .
• ‘ORGANIC’ MUSIC OFTEN APPEALS TO SMALL
AUDIENCES BUT CAN APPEAL TO LARGER AUDIENCES
TOO.
THE BEATLES LIVED AND PLAYED IN HAMBURG FOR A
YEAR WHEN THEY WERE BEGINNING AND DID NOT HAVE
A RECORD CONTRACT.
6. SYNTHETIC
•THE ‘SYNTHETIC’ REFERS TO BANDS THAT ARE
MADE FOR THE SAKE OF MONEY INSTEAD OF
MUSIC
•A GAP IN THE MARKET IS IDENTIFIED, AND
THEN IT IS EXPLOITED BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF
MUSIC, AND OFTEN THE ARTIST, TO SUIT THIS
GAP.
IN AMERICA A ‘SYNTHETIC’ GROUP CALLED THE
MONKEES WAS ARTIFICIALLY CREATED TO BE THE
‘AMERICAN BEATLES’! THEY WERE CHOSEN
BY AUDITION. DID NOT WRITE THEIR OWN MUSIC
AND DID NOT PLAY ON THEIR OWN RECORDS.
ONE DIRECTION IS AN EXAMPLE OF A SYNTHETIC
BAND CREATED BY X FACTOR. BEFORE THEY
EVEN CAME ON X FACTOR THEY DIDN’T KNOW
EACH OTHER. THEY WERE CREATED FOR THE
