Records labels are typically in charge of promoting signed artist to keep a growing audience, and also work closely with an artists when it comes to recording and releasing new music. Labels and their reps will always have an eye out for new artists to sign, often sending reps to concerts and festivals to scout potential talent. There are thousands of different record labels currently operating in the UK, these labels vary in terms of size (major vs independent), type (sub or vanity etc), and what kind of music genre they specialise in.
Major record labels - These are generally seen as in control of the popular music scene as they can usually 'tell' people what they like where as indie labels generally have to follow a trend of artists styles that sell well. The 3 major labels are Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group. These labels parent many large and successful sub labels.
Sub labels - These are smaller companies that are owned by a major label, they can often start out as an independent label and be bought by a higher company (Island Records) or they can be created by a major label to cater for a certain genre of music (Capitol Records UK).
Vanity Labels - These are another kind of sub label, which are created by an artist, usually to give themselves more control over their music and career. An example of this is Decaydance Records found by Fall Out Boy's bassist Pete Wentz in 2005 under Warner Music Group. Many successful artists including Fall Out boys released music under this name.
Independent ("Indie") Labels - These are not owned by any major label, a lot of the time an up and coming artist will be signed to a small independent label before growing and being scouted by a larger company that can offer a better deal and better promotional skills. However a lot of artist will stick with indie labels for their entire career as major labels are often known for changing an artists style according to what mainstream audiences favour.
While usually offering more freedom to artists during their career, indie labels generally offer worse deals, usually claiming around 50% of an artists profit. Hopeless Records is an example of this with artists such as Enter Shikari, Sum 41 and Moose Blood releasing music under them.
b) recorded music
The process of recording music varies according to each artist but a basic summary of the most common process is as follows:
1. A song is written either by the artist or a different song writer, sometimes they will work together on a song as well (a external writer will be entitled to royalties from a song).
2. The label will locate a studio, producer, engineer etc to help record the track.
3. Artist will record an initial demo of the song with minimal instruments to give everyone and idea of what they're working with and and early changes can be made.
4. The final track will be recorded (often vocals and each instrument is recorded separately). If the artist is solo, other musicians will come in and record instruments that are required.
5. Each component of the piece is mixed together and if needed, any computer generated sounds are dubbed in by an engineer.
6. Changes are made to the track are made according to the artist, producer engineer etc. Some bits are re-recorded if needed.
7. Once the label, artist and anyone else involved is happy with how the track sounds, it will be mastered.
8. The track will be sent to the artist and label representatives for distribution and promotion.
c) live music
The production of live music is often operated by an external company to the record label, a few major music promoters include, SJM Concerts, Kilimanjaro Live, and Live Nation. It is down to the promoters to organise finance, venues, advertising for concerts/tours etc.
Below is a process marking the main factors in the production of a concert or tour.
1. After an artist has released new music, as part of the promotion, the label will plan a tour around one or more countries where the artist is popular.
2. A label will work with one or more music promoters who will take a cut of the profits from a gig held in their venue.
3. The label will sort out merchandise and meet & greet packages for fans to create extra revenue. finalise the budgets with with the promoters.
4. Once the venues and dates are finalised, advertising can begin for the tour. This will include posters, social media posts, emails, etc. Tours are announced usually announced 3-6 months in advance. Tickets will go on sale between 1-7 days after initial tour announcement.
5. Crew will be sourced for the tour, often artists have certain crew that are employed by them regularly and will stay with them the whole tour, while other parts of the crew will come with the venue hire and work for one concert.
6. Seek accommodation, transport and any other necessities for artists and crew.
7. Final tour preparations, Rehearsals of set lists, Extra advertising if not sold out.
8. Venue will be set up ready with appropriate equipment, sound checks of instruments occur on the day of the show.
d) distribution
There are two main form of music distribution, how people discover new music, and the distribution of music into stores. Both of these have changed drastically in recent years due to evolving technology.
In terms on getting music into stores to sell, a record label will work with a distributor and give them a certain amount of CD'S or vinyl records to put into stores to sell to fans while the label markets and promotes the release. However, now with online stores and streaming services such as iTunes Spotify, Amazon etc. The distribution of physical records is vastly becoming obsolete and is often only popular with big fans of an artist or music collectors. Also a large advantage that online stores have that hughstreet store do not have is unlimited shelf space and inventory. This means that they can stock nearly every piece of music that is release and never run out meaning they have endless money flowing in. This is often better for the label as well because they can charge the same amount as a physical CD but save money on actually producing it.
They way people discover music is changing too, while the typical form of marketing is still used (adverts on busses and television or in magazines/newspapers etc) Technology is making it a lot easier for labels to market a product. With the growth of Youtube, often music videos or song will be suggested to somebody listening to something of a similar genre, it will be recommended free of charge or can be boosted at a cost. also the impact of social media is huge, accounts of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram (among others) are free to setup and are widely used by fans, they will generally suggest their favourite music to others without being paid or asked. Again this save labels a tonne of money as they a lot of promoting work is being done for them.
e) legal and/or ethical issues
Many legalities and ethical issues come with producing and releasing music, they are there to protect the artist/label and to protect audiences/fans.
Legal
Intellectual Property - IP laws are divided into several legal frameworks, including copyright, trade-mark.
Copyright is the exclusive and assignable legal right, given to the originator for a fixed number of years, to print, publish, perform, film, or record musical material. Copyright helps protect artists, it allows them to be recognised as the owner of an material they have released meaning they can make money from sales. It also means that permission must be granted by the owner to others wanting to use the piece in exchange for royalties. Legal action can be taken against anyone who copies copyrighted music however it is often difficult to decide whether two track coincidently sound the same or genuinely have been copied.
Trade-mark generally protects the use of certain words, symbols logos etc. For example a bands logo can be trade-marked meaning nobody else is allowed to use it for profit, this prevents counterfeit merchandise being created and sold which also helps protect the revenue for the artist and label.
Music Piracy - This is the illegal copying or downloading of music without the consent of the recording artist, composer or recording company releasing the piece of music. This is a very common practise among young people. There are many website which allow users to easily source and download music for quickly and for free. people generally don't realise the devastating effect it has on the industry and how much money is robbed from it through piracy. However with new legal streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music, the rate of piracy has dropped due to fans willing to pay a small subscription each month to get access to unlimited music.
Ethical
Record labels can face ethical issues when it come to releasing music, although they have no legal obligation to censor or control potentially offensive content, it is down to them to decide what they sort of music they want representing them. Generally the bigger labels like Sony Music will want to focus more on making as much money as possible so will release anything wether it contains harmful content or not but independent label are usually more concerned about what is they are being represented by in terms of what they release so are more likely to control content.
f ) representative bodies
Representative bodies are there to ensure that everything runs fairly in the music industry, they battle a variety of issues from piracy to giving alternative music a fair amount of air time on the radio.
The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) represents and protects the UK's recorded music industry. They are open to all record labels – big or small – and any music company which has an interest in working with the UK’s music sector. They provide a meeting place where major and independent labels and all those who work in and around music can come together to discuss challenges and identify innovative solutions to help their businesses grow and develop, to ensure the UK maintains its position as a leading force on the global music stage.
Below are some of the BPI's achievements in recent times, it gives an idea of the wide range of what they do to help the UK's music industry.
Comparing Live and Recorded Music Production
The key difference between the two is the general sound that is produced. When recording music, everything is tweaked to perfection (auto tune) and you're allowed to make mistakes as you can just do another take of the recording. during a live music event, there are no sending chances, what you play is what the audience will hear so any mistakes are more of a risk. There will also often be extra sounds on the recording that the artist can't do in real life so some of the track is lost.
Different licensing is required for live and recorded music if the artist is using a song that doesn't already belong to them. If and artist was performing someone else song, they'd need a performing license with permission from whoever owns the rights to the song. Its similar in recording however there would be more copyright issues and agreements to allow and artist to release a covered version of someone else song.
In terms of ethical issues, recorded music will often have a warning of explicit language and any offensive words will be cut out if the song is played publicly. However at concerts the artist will almost defiantly include any swearing in their performance, there are often ae limits at concerts but it would deb more difficult to filter bad language away from anyone who might be offended or influenced by it.
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