Music Industry

Jay Z's album released in 2013

In one half of our Media Studies course we have finished looking at TV drama and have now moved on to the topic of the Music Industry. We will be looking at the history of music and how it has developed with time as well as the record labels including the three big name ones (Sony, Univesal and Warner) as well as independent record labels by artists who are considered to be more niche.

The three main record labels have the majority of mainstream artists signed to them i.e. Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and One Direction. These three record labels will also own other independent record labels or will have a large share in some of them such as Jay Z's record label and P Diddy's. this generates a high level of revenue for them which is why they are able to grow as businesses and continue to purchase the recording rights of big name artists and future artists who have a lot of potential in them.

Tyler Ward's album released in late 2013

There are other record labels that tend to not gain huge finances like the main record labels as they do not have the public's awareness that they and their artists are around. Examples of this would be Youtube artists who are maybe signed up to one of the bigger recording companies but have their own personal independent record label where they are able to help other artists gain the recognition they need in order to gain success in their careers. Someone such as Tyler Ward does this as he is signed with Sony but he has a small record label where he helps other artists who he has worked with before and/or has seen them perform generally through social media websites. As far as I know he has a few artists signed to him with the main success being Alex G who is beginning to gain recognition by climbing higher in the American music charts and having a tour and original album coming out in 2014. There are other artists on Youtube who are like Tyler Ward and will continue to help those who need it.