Group: Music Indusrty Analysis

Who owns the record labels?

Within the music industry, most recording artists have become increasingly reliant on record labels to broaden their consumer base, market their albums and be heard on top radio and TV channels. The majority of record labels are referred to as sub labels - a label that is part of a larger record company but trades under a different name. The 3 major labels today are Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group.

 

Who is involved in a record deal?

A record deal involves both a record label and a recording artist; it is essentially a legal agreement under which the artist can make a record for that label to promote. Once in this deal, the artist cannot record for any other label until the deal ends or they leave.
 

How are musicians promoted?

The main strategy in promoting an artist is primarily through music videos as it amplifies the artists artistic abilities. It also adds an interesting visual illustration of the song which will make it more repeatable. As well as this it also adds to the artist star image and begins to create a meta-narrative for each artist making them more appealing to the audience. In addition to this many artists will go onto radio stations to promote and sometimes perform one of their new songs or albums. Likewise, chat shows such as Graham Norton or Alan Carr Chatty Man give them the opportunity to perform their new single and later talk about the album to come and even tour dates. Finally on shows such as 'The Voice' artists are seen coaching other singers who are trying to start a career in music. This would also add to their star image as it indicates that they really are musically talented to the point where they could give lessons.

Who is responsible for making branding/marketing decisions?

This very much depends on the size and decisions of the band. Smaller artists or artists that are signed on to their own record label - i.e. Enter Shikari’s Ambush Reality - make more or less all their own branding and marketing choices. For example, merch designs are often drawn or created by band members themselves or friends; similarly, the artist will arrange the production of the merchandise and will often be the ones who send it out. On the other hand, bigger artists or those signed to a record label will have all a large majority of their decisions made for them - even choices on how a song should sound is not always controlled by the artist. Their is a certain reputation a record label will hold, and therefore they will adjust an artists image, genre, and merch to suit that reputation.

Why is a music video so significant?

The music video is a chance for the artist to show off their creativity in other areas of the media. It provides visual links to the song increasing repeatability as they are usually very visually arresting and add to the general interest. Within many music videos from the same album or artist there are narratives that are all connected in some way for example the band Woodkid have a young boy who stars in all of their videos and shows him on some sort of journey. This in itself increases repeatability as the audience want to know who this boy is and what he is doing. As well as this, signs and symbols go on to create associations with the band or artist for example if they had a logo which as individual to them, you might see it on a poster somewhere and be reminded of them. 

What is the production process of a music video?

Much like any video production, there are three key stages: pre-production, production and post-production.

Pre-production involves the planning, primarily working out whether to make a performance, conceptual, narrative, or a combination of the aforementioned. Its important to make the right choice to suit the song, so it is repeatable and enjoyable for the audience. Then comes the choice of locations, ‘characters’, extras, and a rough outline of the video before the storyboard. The storyboard has to reflect each shot of the video, and will give the director an idea of the pace of the song. An animatic is then made and, if approved by the record label (if applicable) the video will be made.

Production is fairly self-explanatory, it is where the video is actually shot. The artist or the actors will do as the director and the storyboard say and film the video itself. Sometimes, shots or shot length is changed in the moment, as it may suit the video better one way than the way it was initially set out to be.

Post-production is where the video is edited. The track will be put in to some form of editing software and then have the footage edited to it. Normally changes of shot will be anchored to the video. They can do more or less anything to the video, its limitless in some respects as it can be taken in any direction dependent on how the artist/label likes it.

What role do NMTs play in promoting artists and how has this changed?

NMTs have played a huge part in the way artists are promoted and consumed. The most prevalent strategy used to be promotional adverts or posters seen in magasines or on billboards however online websites such as YouTube and Vevo have become prime places for promoting artists. Vevo uses YouTube to advertise new tracks and music videos and provide links that can take you to their own website to watch these videos. In addition to this music can be downloaded from YouTube and other similar music websites for a fraction of the price of buying the whole album making it more appealing to a consumer audience. As well as this, if you purchase music online from stores such as iTunes, you also get a copy of the album artwork which can be put onto an iPod or other MP3 devices. This in itself begins to create connotations with the artist. This is an example of how NMTs have democratised the way in which media is promoted and consumed.

What role does the music press play in promoting artists in a digital media age? Are they still relevant? Give specific examples from UK press.

Simply, yes, the music press is most definitely relevant in promoting artists in a digital media age. Despite having websites to coincide with their physical copies, music magazines such as ‘NME’, ‘Q’ and ‘Kerrang!’ have played a large role in the development and success of a number of bands. ‘Kerrang!’ for example have favoured bands such as ‘You Me at Six’ and ‘Bring Me the Horizon’ since their beginnings; with front page and lead articles, features and live reviews being given to the bands mentioned have contributed to their successes, and provide a reason why they are growing to be some of Britain’s biggest bands. It is similar with ‘NME’ and ‘Arctic Monkeys’, right from their very first album, ‘NME’ have promoted and supported ‘Arctic Monkeys’ - getting their faces out there and generally spreading the name of the band to a broad audience. Without the music press, I very much doubt that music labels would be able to promote and give success to their signed bands enough to make them successful; this is even more relevant to unsigned bands who rely on the music press to make them successful.