Initial Research, Influences and Ideas - Record Labels

A record label is a brand associated with the marketing of a musical artist, their music records and their music videos. A label may also coordinate production, distribution and marketing of the artists, as well as enforcing copyright on their music records and videos. A label may also scout new taletns and develop new artists, and may have contracts with the artists and their managers.

Major Record Labels
Sony Music Entertainment is a music corporation owned and operated by Sony Corporation of America, which is a branch of the Japanese Sony Corporation. Sony Music Entertainment owns three major record labels: Colombia Records, Epic Records and RCA Records. Colombia Label Group distributes artists outside of the US, including in the UK, and is part of the UK branch of Sony Music. Syco Entertainment, or Syco, is a global joint venture between Simon Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment focused on the production and marketing of music, television, film and digital content. It is also another UK branch, and Syco Music is one of the UK distributed labels of Sony Music. The corporation signs a variety of genres of artists, including One Direction (pop, signed to Syco), Daft Punk (french house , signed to Colombia Records), Beyoncé (pop, signed to Colombia Records) and Foo Fighters (alternative rock, signed to Colombia Records).

Independent Record Labels
4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, originally funded by Beggars Banquet Records. Artists are also distributed by Beggars Group. Genres on this label include alternative rock, indie rock, post-punk and gothic rock, and artists signed to this label include Daughter (indie folk), Bon Iver (indie folk) and Iron & Wine (folk). 

FatCat Records is an independent label based in Brighton, England. The genres they produce includes electronica, post rock, indie, punk-pop and some pop. They are also located in New York, America.

Domino Recording Company, generally known as Domino, is an independent record label based in London. There is also a wing of the label based in Brooklyn, NY that handles releases in the United States. It produces indie pop and indie rock artists, such as Arctic Monkeys (indie rock), Franz Ferdinand (indie rock) and Hot Chip (synthpop).

Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London, England. Originally active from 1976 to 1985, the label was reactivated in 2007. The label produces artists of the pub rock, punk rock and new wave genres, such as Elvis Costello (pub rock), Pink Fairies (punk rock) and Madness (new wave). 




Unsigned Artists
An unsigned artist is not under a contract with a record label, and they release their own material. UK unsigned artists are able to use services such as The Unsigned Guide to access music industry contacts, as well as information on how to get signed to a record label or how to market music independently. The Unsigned Guide is an online contacts directory and careers guide for the UK music industry. It was founded in 2003, as is produced specifically for emerging musical artists and managers and the UK music industry. It contains information covering all aspects of the music industry such as record labels, PR companies, gig promoters, venues and music distribution. For example, Ed Sheeran's earlier EPS (Loose Change, for instance) were self-released before he was signed to Atlantic Records. Marie Naffah is a London born singer-songwriter, and was named MTV's Unsigned Artist Of 2014.
A lot of unsigned artists use the internet to distribute their music, such as posting videos on YouTube, like 5 Seconds Of Summer or Justin Bieber before they get scouted and signed, or other sites like SoundCloud, where artists like Royal Blood post their original music. Artists also play gigs in order to try and become noticed in the music industry, and try to gain a reputation through word-of-mouth, or they are support acts for larger artists to again try and gain some fans and reputation - examples of this include Ed Sheeran, who played hundreds of small gigs before he reached number 2 on the i-tunes chart in 2011 with his independent EP No. 5 Collaborations Project, which featured a number of grim artists including Wiley. This led to him being signed to Atlantic Records. Royal Blood are another example - whilst they are now signed to Warner Bros. Records and Black Mammoth Records, were unsigned when they formed in 2013. After it was announced that they would open for Arctic Monkeys for their two Finsbury Park shows (May 2014), the band was signed to Warner Bros in December 2013. They were nominated for the BBC Sound Of 2014, and their debut album 'Royal Blood' is currently number two in the UK, followed by Ed Sheeran's 'x', as shown below.