The Big Four major record labels that dominate the global music industry are Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and EMI. They own music production, distribution, and consumption through "vertical integration" and have significant influence over how music is made and sold. The record labels have a variety of subsidiary labels that serve different music genres and markets.

1. The Big Four

2. • The ‘Big Four’ make up about 70% of the worldwide music industry; the other
30% is made of other independent labels.
• All four of these music companies own the production, distribution and
consumption of their music, this is known as ‘vertical integration’.
• Production – recording music.
• Distribution – promoting music and getting it into shops,
on the radio and downloaded for
payment.
• Consumption – people buying CD’s, downloading
music, paying for live concert
tickets and purchasing related
products.
• Because EMI, Song, Warner Music Group and
Universal do all these stages themselves they
are very powerful within the music industry and
have a lot of influence over the way music is
made and sold nowadays.
• Each of these companies consists of many smaller
music labels which serve different markets.

3. - Background Information
• Fourth largest of the Big Four.
• Headquarters - London, UK. However they are able to serve artists, consumers and
partners all over the world.
• Founded in 1931 by Emile Berliner (the inventor of the gramophone)
• Revenue = £1.072 billion (2009)
• Employees = 5,500 (January 2008)
• EMI Music’s first websites went live in 1993 and 1994 and in 1998 EMI streamed
the first complete album over the internet, ‘Mezzanine’ by Massive Attack.
• The following year EMI was the first company to release a digital album
download, David Bowie’s ‘…Hours’. EMI also launched the first internet video
single in 2001. In 2007 EMI was the first major music company to make its music
available without digital rights management (DRM) software.
• On 12 November 2011, it was announced that EMI has sold its recorded music
operations to Universal Music Group for £1.2 billion ($1.9billion) and its music
publishing operations to a Sony-led consortium for $2.2 billion. Among the other
companies that had competed for the recorded music business was Warner Music
Group which was reported to have made a $2 billion bid.

4. - Artists
Below is a list of some of the artists signed with EMI...
• You Me At Six • Peter Doherty
• Priscilla Ahn • Nickelback
• 30 Seconds to Mars • Kylie Minogue
• Pink Floyd • KT Tunstall
• The Beatles • The Kooks
• Lily Allen • Gorillaz
• Katy Perry • Evanescene
• David Guetta • Eliza Doolittle
• Blur • Empire of the Sun

5. - Record Labels
Below is a list of some of EMI’s record labels...
• Angel • EMI CMG
• Astralwerks • EMI Records
• Blue Note • EMI Records Nashville
• Capitol • Manhattan
• Capitol Latin • Parlophone
• Capitol Records Nashville • Virgin Classics
• EMI Classics • Virgin Records

6. • Third largest of the Big Four.
• Headquarters - New York, USA.
• Founded as Warner Brothers Records in 1958, then became Warner Music
Group in 2004.
• Offers artist management, merchandising, touring, fan clubs, VIP
ticketing, sponsorships and brand endorsements, and numerous third-
party solutions that facilitate the sale of music-based content directly to
consumers.
• Record Labels include – Asylum, Atlanitc, Cordless, East
West, Nonesuch, Rhino, Sire, Warner Bros. And Word.
• Artists include – Areosmith, The Kinks, The Prodigy, My Chemical
Romance, Cee Lo Green, Paramore, Bruno Mars, Jason Mraz.
• Out of all the major record companies it is the 3rd largest with a net
income of $56billion (2008).

7. • The largest of the Big Four.
• Headquarters - California, USA. However it also has headquarters in New York,
London, Florida, Tennessee and France.
• Founded in 1934 as ‘Decca Records USA’ and then in 1996 it become UMG.
• They discover and develop artists and then market and promote their music
across a wide range of formats and platforms.
• Their publishing company also discovers and develops songwriters and owns
and administers copyrights to musical compositions for use in recordings,
performances, films and adverts.
• Their merchandising company, Bravado, sells artist/music related products
through not only the internet but also live performances and fashion retail.
• Record labels include – ECM, Decca, Universal Music Latino, Disa, Emarcy,
Mercury Records, Verve Music Group and Universal Music Group Nashville.
• Artists include – All Time Low, Lady Gaga, U2, The All-American Rejects, Justin
Bieber, Jackson 5 and Two Door Cinema Club.

8. • Second largest of the Big Four.
• Headquarters - New York, USA.
• Founded in 1929 as ‘American Record Corporation (ARC)’ and then in
2008 became Sony Music Entertainment.
• SME is a major conglomerate company; this means that it is a large
corporation formed by the merging of separate and diverse firms.
• As of 2008 Sony had a revenue of $5,672million.
• Along with creating music, Sony also makes devices such as mp3 players
and headphones which consumers can buy and use.
• Record labels include –Epic Records, Sony Music Nashville, Sony
Masterworks, Columbia Records UK, Syco Music, Legacy Recordings, JG3
Records and Verity Gospel Music Groups.
• Artists include – Olly Murs, Rebecca Ferguson, Avril Lavigne, One
Direction, Beyonce, Michael Jackson, Oasis, Chris Brown, Foo Fighters and
Boys Like Girls.