The purpose of record labels are to represent different artists. Some artists are signed to major labels, others independent. This can also vary depending on the type of music the artist produces. For example, a major label would be more likely to represent and artist producing music of the pop genre.
Many artists starting out are known to work their way up progressively in the music industry, starting out their career under an independent record label and then after gaining some success and popularity, end with a major record label. Domino is an excellent example of a successful independent record label with equally as successful artists signed to it from the likes of 'Arctic Monkeys' to 'Blood Orange'.
The difference between an independent and major record label is the fact that independent record labels do not get near as much financial support. This would therefore give the artist less backing in order to progress in the industry, e.g. promotional perks such as radio play and album advertisements on television- major labels would be able to provide this however.
Smaller independent record labels have less money which could have a knock on affect on the artist signed to it, e.g less quality and quantity of music videos it is able to produce, therefore making them less likely to reach the charts. (lack of promotion)
All negatives aside, independent record labels often provide much more freedom for their artists by creating their own image/content which makes the artist more real, unique and raw. An opposite example to this is One Direction who are signed to Sony. As this is a major label, it is well known that they do not have as much individuality and do not have much of a say in their image or the music they produce. Their management is rather strict and brand them regarding to their target audience, inevitably proving that the majority of these factors fall down to finance. This proves that independent record labels are not all negative as you would rarely find an example of One Direction's on a label such as Domino.
Major record labels are known to dominate the charts, often as a result of their financial resources. Their ability to produce the best quality and popular music videos also links back to money as they can afford the highest budgets which are carefully designed to fit an audience's desires to secure record breaking views which is what they crave. Major record labels secure artists access to the best recording studios, song writers to collaborate with, personal stylists to always keep on top of their 'branding' and the most technical up to date software.
Some of the most well known labels are The Universal Music Group, Columbia Records and Warner Music Group. Beyonce, Sam Smith and Little Mix are just a few successful stars signed to these major labels. This type of label ties in with globalisation as all of these artists are able to be promoted to a universal audience which is an example of why they appear so frequently in the charts and appear on music related television shows such as The VMAs which are watched globally by a large number of people.
In terms of our own artist 'Nova', it's crucial that we carefully consider the type of record label we want to to be represented by and how we want our own label 'Opal Records' to be presented. One of the main factors that we wanted to present in our video alone is staying true to yourself therefore it wouldn't make very much sense for us to have a label that controls their artist and could potentially restrict their unique choices (a major record label). We therefore feel that an independent record label would be an ideal choice for our artist and would also make more sense as Nova is only just starting out in the industry so an independent label could be perfect for her. This smaller label could act as her foundations as she slowly works her way upwards, the want for chart success may also introduce her to a major label which could give her more exposure as well as financial security- an independent record label can never guarantee this.
Following this research, we have decided that 'Opal Records' will be an independent record label. A reason for this is that Nova is a new act and will therefore give her the time and support to create her own image/brand in order for the public to familiarise themselves with her as a person before she proceeds to bigger things. She will be able to find herself whilst creating a strong fan base which is invaluable.
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