Back ground-The music industry structure

Major record labels

A record label is a brand name and trademark for the marketing of music recordings and videos. A record-label company scouts for talent and develops new artists, coordinates production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforces copyrights. Examples of record labels:   A&M Records   American Recordings   Angel Records   Capitol Records   Columbia Records   Decca Classics   Deutsche Grammophon   Elektra Records   Epic   MCA records   Philips Music Group   RCA Victor   RCA Victor Red Seal Opera Treasury   Rhino Records   Sony Music Online   Universal Music Group   Virgin Records America   Warner Bros. Records The industry is dominated by four majors who produce and market 75 percent of music recordings. They are:   Sony BMG   Universal Music Group   EMI   Warner Music Group Each of the big four record labels manages smaller businesses. Artists who are signed by one of the big four labels are either signed to the main label or to a subsidiary label. For instance, a band might be signed to Sony, or they may be assigned to a Sony subsidiary label such as Columbia Records. Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Inc., one of the big four record labels, was the result of a merger of two industry giants, Sony Music and BMG Music. Sony BMG has more than 20 labels including:   Epic   Jive   Columbia   RCA   Arista   LaFace   Zomba Music Group   SoSo Def   Legacy   J Records   Red Music Distribution Sony BMG's artists include:   Britney Spears   Jessica Simpson   Celine Dion   Franz Ferdinand   The Fray   Belle and Sebastian   Justin Timberlake   Kelis Universal Music Group, owned by Vivendi SA, is the top selling family of labels:   Interscope   Geffen   Motown   Def Jam   Island   So So Def   Roc-a-fella   Verve Universal's artists include:   Gwen Stefani   50 Cent   Marian Carey   U2   Kanye West EMI is another of the big four major record labels. Headquartered in London, England, the company started in 1931 as the Gramophone Company, manufacturer of gramophone record players. In 1931, EMI opened the Abbey Road music studios in London, which eventually became home to the Beatles and had a significant influence on the music industry. EMI artists include:   The Beatles   Elvis   Nat King Cole   The Beach Boys   Pink Floyd   Depeche Mode   Pet Shop Boys   Elvis Costello   The White Stripes Warner Music Group labels include:   Atlantic Records   Bad Boy   Roadrunner Records   Asylum Records   East West Records   Rhino Records   Sub Pop Records   Rykodisc Records   Reprise Records The record labels produce the music of each artist who is under contract, manufacture the discs, distribute them to wholesalers, and sometimes have their own retail outlets.

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