Major record labels/Parent companies

 Major record labels.

Major record labels are big companies that are situated within the music industry, some of them even own their own record labels that are smaller. The current major labels in the UK are EMI, group, Sony music entertainment, Warner music group and Universal music group. Most major record labels have sub labels which means that the major label own the smaller record companies, they are managed and controlled by the major label but they just have their own name.

EMI group.

EMI group have managed and looked after plenty of different artists such as; Lily Allen, The beatles, Coldplay, David Guetta, Katy Perry and Pink Floyd. The label was created in 1930. EMI manage other small record labels such as; Angel, Astralwerks, Blue note, Capitol, Capitol Latin, Capitol Records Nashville, EMI Classics, EMI CMG, EMI records, EMI Records Nashville, Manhattan, Parlophone, Virgin Classics and Virgin Records. Virgin records manage artists such as Janet Jackson, Lenny Kravitz and Keith Richards.

Warner Music Group.

Warner Music Group have managed and manage artists such as; Led Zeppelin, Estelle, Cody Simpson and Michael Buble. Warner music group has a wide audience as it has a variety of different artists and bands. Warner Music   Group own subsidiary record labels such as; Roadrunner records, Asylum and Reprise Records. Roadrunner Records manage artists such as; Slash, Lenny Kravitz and Slipknot.

Sony Music Entertainment.

Sony music entertainment look after plenty of different bands and artists such as; Labrinth, Usher, Rita Ora and Michael Jackson. Sony Music Entertainment have there own subsidiary record labels such as Epic records who manage artists such as; The script, Paloma Faith and Ciara. Another sub label of theirs is Columbia records, who manage artists The vaccines and Calvin Harris.

Universal Music Group.

Universal Music Group is extremely popular and has managed bands such as Rod Stewart, Akon and Alex Clare. Universal Music Group have sub labels that they own, they all have different names some of them are; The island def jam music group who manage artists such as; Justin Bieber, The killers, Ne-Yo and Kanye West. Another sub label that Universal Music Group own is Republic Records they manage artists such as; Owl city, Florence and the machine and Enrique Iglesias.

Independent record labels.

Independent record labels are labels that are much smaller than the major record labels that are around. However it is still possible that they can be successful and make a lot of money. These types of record labels (Independant) usually have artists signed to them who are more unique, rather than the mainstream artists who are usually signed to major record labels.

XL Recordings

XL Recordings are an extremely successful independant music record label, they first started in 1989. They have the likes of Adele, The XX and Vampire weekend signed to their label. It is a record label that signs artists from a variety of different music genres. 

Rough Trade.

Rough Trade is probably one of the most successful independant record labels around, it first came about in 1978. the label became bankrupt in 1991, but then re opened in 2000 and ever since have manages bands and artists such as; Arcade Fire, The Libertines and The Mystery Jets. 

Factory Records.

Factory Records started in 1978 and has managed a lot of artists, and has been successful throughout. The first song released from the label was from the band Joy Divisions - Unknown Pleasures, the record label also managed bands such as Happy Mondays, Joy Divisions and Northside.

Domino Records.

Dominos Records was created in 1993 and has been successful worldwide. They manage artists and bands such as Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand and Alex Turner. 

1. Is it right from a music point of view as an industry point of view that 4 companies dominate the music industry?

I think that there are both advantages and disadvantages to 4 companies dominating the music industry, an advantage could be that those 4 companies are extremely well experienced in finding what the music industry is looking for e.g. talent, and also looking for where there is a gap in the music industry market and being able to go out and sign artists that fit that well. Some people could argue that, the 4 main music record label companies all sign artists that produce mainstream songs, however each music label that dominates the industry have sub sidary labels catering for different music genres. Overall I think that is right that the 4 companies dominate the music industry because, then the music industry is safe and reduces the risk of it going bust.

2. What affect do you think this has on the industry?

I think it has a negative affect on the independent record labels that exist, and record labels that are trying to compete with the 4 dominating music record labels, as it makes it extremely difficult to become one due to the artists that are signed to the companies.