Initial Research : The Music Industry

Musical taste can be a controversial topic- almost to the point of tribalism.

It is contentious because it defines and often signifies personality and lifestyle. Musical taste is about the way you dress, speak and sometimes act.

However, all commentators agree that Music and its trends - sit at the epicentre of popular culture.

Not only to the extent that an individual can derive a sense of identity but to the extent the global community can be changed by Musical Trends

The pop video is only one strand of a often multimedia campaign.

The overview is a diagram of the contributing and sometimes, conflicting forces behind music/media creation.

The Industry is dominated by 4 transnational corporations known as ‘The Majors’


Universal

SonyBMG

Warner Bros

EMI


Most majors also own, or licence, a string of smaller subsidiary companies in order to reach different kinds of audiences in different kinds of genre. These companies are known as ‘major-independents’ Finally, there are a huge number of small companies with little or no financial connection to the majors. These companies often concentrate on a small number of artists, within specialised niches in the industry known as ‘independents’.


Most record companies organise themselves internally into several key areas:



Artists and Repertoire

Marketing/Artist Development

Promotions

Legal

Financial



The industry as a whole has a complex relationship with a number of different media and puposes. Radio, TV, Print media, Film, New Media. There is a synergy and symbiosis that helps to represent and is reshaping fans expectations, who can be a recording artist / performer and the brand image of bands and record labels.