job roles research

1. CEO: The CEO (chief executive officer) isincharge of the businessof the whole company.
Vice president:Underthe president/CEOof the individual label,thereare vice presidentsincharge
of differentdepartments.
Businessaffairs:Thisdepartmentdealswiththe businesssideof things.Ittakescare of bookkeeping,
payroll andgeneral finances.
Legal:Thisdepartmentisresponsible forall the contractsthatare made betweenthe companyand
the artist,as well ascontracts betweenthe recordlabel andothercompanies.Anylegal issuesthat
arise (suchas lawsuitsbetweenanartistandthe company) go throughthisdepartment.
A&R: The A&R (artistsandrepertoire) departmentisoftenconsideredthe mostglamorous
departmentata record label.Thisisbecause A&Risincharge of discoveringnew talent.A&Rpeople
workveryhands-onwiththe artiststhat they"sign."(Whenarecordlabel "signs"anartist,it simply
meansthat the artistmakesan exclusivecontractwiththatrecord label.) Theydoeverythingfrom
assistingwithsongselectiontochoosingthe people thatwill produce the albumtodecidingwhere
the albumwill be recorded.The peopleinthisdepartmentworkasthe linkbetweenthe recording
artistand all the other departmentsof the recordcompany.
Artistdevelopment: Thisdepartmentisresponsible forplanningthe careersof the artistswhoare
signedtothe record label.Itpromotesandpublicizesthe artistsoverthe course of theircareer.
Accordingto Music BizAcademy,manylabelsnolongerhave artistdevelopmentdepartments.As
record labelshave come tosee artistsasproducts inrecentyears,some artistdevelopment
departmentshave beenrenamed"ProductDevelopment."Manyinsistthatthisisbecause the
emphasisinthe currentmusicbusinessistopromote artistsveryheavilyinthe beginningof their
career,as opposedtolong-termplanning.*If youdon'twantto be a "one-hit-wonder,"payclose
attentiontohowthe record label viewsthisaspectof careerplanning.
Marketing:Thisdepartmentcreatesthe overall marketingplanforeveryalbumthatthe record
companywill release.Ithelpscoordinatethe plansof the promotion,salesandpublicity
departments.
Online/new media:Thisdepartmentisincharge of dealingwiththe neweraspectsof the music
business,includingproducingandpromotingmusicvideosforthe artist.Inaddition,thisdepartment
isoftenresponsible forhelpinganartistcreate a presence onthe Internet.Itdealswiththe new
technologiesinwhichartistscanstreammusicand musicvideosthroughthe Internet.
Art department:Thisdepartmentisincharge of all the artworkthat goesalongwithproducingan
album.ThisincludesCDcoverart, advertisementsanddisplaysatmusicstores.
Publicity/promotions: Thisgroupisresponsible forgettingthe wordoutabouta new or established
artist.It arrangesfor articlestobe writteninnewspapersandmagazines.Theyalsodeal withradio
and televisioncoverage of anartist.Many artistsalso have theirownindependentpublicistswho
helpcoordinate publicitywiththisdepartmentaswell.

2. Sales:Thisdepartmentoverseesthe retailaspectof the recordbusiness.Itworkswiththe record
store chainsand othermusicstoresto getnew albumsonto retailers'shelves.The salesdepartment
oftencoordinatesthese effortswiththe promotionandpublicitydepartments.