Music Label Research

1. Music Label Research
Jesse Hammond

2. Independent (indie) Record Labels
Independent record labels are funded
independently and are not connected to one of
the big three music label companies.
Indie labels do not lack financial support as they
can range in business size from large profitable
companies to small in-house hobbies.
As the music industry has developed and grew,
some of the larger indie labels are now
distributed by the big three.

3. British Indie Labels
Domino Records
Domino records are a record label based in south
London. They base their music around rock which makes
them highly profitable due to the artists they’ve worked
with such as Artic Monkeys
XL Recordings
XL Recordings was launched in 1989 to release
independent dance and rave music, later on the company
expanded their music genre and have become very
profitable. Artists that they have worked with are:
Vampire Weekend, Dizzee Rascal and Tyler the Creator

4. The Big Three
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group was founded in 1934. It is one of the
largest music companies in the world owned by French media
conglomerate Vivendi which owns other companies such as
Universal film. Universal Music group has their subsidiary of
Universal Music Publishing group which is the second largest
music publishing company in the world.
Some famous artists that are signed to the record label include
Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Tom Jones, Elton John and Ellie
Goulding.

5. The Big Three
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment is the second largest music
corporation in the world. The company was founded in
1929 and is now owned and controlled by the Sony
Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Japan's Sony
Corporation.
SNE has other smaller record labels, one well known
label is Columbia Records.
Some famous artists that are signed to the record label
include: Alicia Keys, Backstreet Boys, Fatboy Slim and
One Direction

6. The Big Three
Warner Music Group
Warner Music group is an American multinational
company that features entertainment. The record
label’s headquarters are in New York City. The
company have a range of genres and locations that
they feature music in from small scale to world-
wide.
Some famous artists that are signed to the record
label: Madonna, Coldplay, Metallica and Wiz
Khalifa.

7. My Music Label
If I were to release my music to a record label
then I’d stick to an independent company rather
than the big three as the smaller companies are
able to target more niche audiences. I would
choose XL Recordings as they are known as
releasers of contemporary British Sound.