Independent Bands vs Record Companies Flashcards
Who are the “Big Four” Label Companies - who are they owned by?
Major music labels are owned by multinational media conglomerates that also produce other media content. They are generally known as ‘the big four’:
- EMI
- Sony BMG
- Universal Music Group
- Warner Music Group
All other record labels are considered as independents.
Who are the independent labels.
Who owns them?
- Indie labels are much smaller than major labels, but there are many more of them around the word.
- Although they are often seen as more fashionable or edgy, some major companies create subsidiary labels that appear to be independents but are actually owned by large conglomerates.
- Some independent labels include: Domino, XL, Rough Trade, Fierce Panda
List the key characteristics of Major Record Labels.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of artists signing up to a Major label?
(1) They have big financial resources, and established power and connections in the music industry.
(2) They often have global reach, with offices in most big cities.
(3) They control every step of the production process through their big staffing teams and subsidiary companies; from making the music, distributing the music including to online platforms and social media, and promoting the artists, including organizing concerts, TV interviews and selling merchandise.
Advantages for the artist.
(1) The big labels typically give higher advances to artists (more money upfront) as they have more money.
(2) Greater commercial impact (have ties with other big fashion brands for example, TV + film shows, merchandising).
Disadvantages for the artist
(1) Sometimes artists have less creative control over their material. The labels tell them how to dress, what songs to sing, how they should present themselves in music videos.
(2) Artists don’t own their own music. The artists only get a % of the sales of the music (royalties)
List the main characteristics of Independents
What are the advantages and disadvantages for artists signing up to a Indie label?
(1) Indie labels are typically much smaller than major labels, although there are many more of them, and they tend not to have international reach or a lot of employees.
(2) They are typically not so well funded vs the Major Labels.
(3) They are often specialized. Artists could be from the same geographic area or play in a similar genre of music (hip hop, indie music).
Advantages for the artist.
(1) Artists typically have more creative freedom. Major labels have a reputation for being overly controlling, dictating the direction of an artist’s career and pressuring them to create music that is marketable rather than true to their artistic vision.
(2) Artists can sometimes benefit from more personal attention from a smaller label’s team.
(3) Indie labels are more likely to offer co-publishing deals that allow artists to have more ownership over their produced materials.
Disadvantages for the artist.
(1) Artists typically receive smaller advances (money upfront).
(2) Indie labels often have less commercial influence; less resources to spend on promotion.
Who are the Artic Monkeys?
Who is their target audience?
Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band from Sheffield. Unlike bands like One Direction and BlackPink, they weren’t put together by a record label, they were all friends from school. They formed in 2002 and wrote songs based on their lives and what they saw on nights out in Sheffield. They played pubs and small venues in and around Sheffield, and built up a huge following online using Myspace.
They were one of the first bands to come to the public’s attention due to the internet, starting a new way that bands are produced and marketed.
Target Audience
Arctic Monkeys’ audience are likely to be white, middle class and reasonably young. The Indie movement came from the council estates of Manchester. The music trends to appeal to more working class people as they are able to relate to the music easily.
Arctic Monkeys could have signed with pretty much any major label before their debut came out. They were massive already. But they chose a little indie record label. Why?
Artistic control. The band have complete control over their clothes, hair and the narrative of their videos. This meant they had to market themselves but they had new digital techniques to do that (see next slide).
How did Artic Monkeys build up their brand and following without a big marketing budget
(1) Built up a fan base via internet.
* In their early career, the band gave away CDs and posted a lot of music on websites such as napster and myspace for free. This meant that lots of people were hearing their songs despite not making money.
* The sharing of their music encouraged people to talk about and share their music, which created a buzz about the band.
* Their fan base moved online, creating online communities where they could share songs and information.
(2) Videos helped to reinforce their image and connection with audience.
* Because they had no input from a record company, the band was able to have complete control of their clothes, hair and narrative of the video.
* The audience can gain a sense of identity as they recognize something of themselves or relate in some way to the group.
* The audience is interested in dressing in a particular way that emphasizes their love of the “indie” music genre and could be seen as rather rebellious.
Sometimes record labels “manufacture” bands, through TV shows or private auditions. Can you think of examples?
(1) Recently many artists or bands have been discovered via talent TV shows like The X Factor. The artists that are successful on these types of talent shows have a prime time media presence that helps develop a fan base before they even release a record. One Direction is an example. After finishing the show, they signed a record deal with Syco Records (Simon Cowell’s record label) which is part of Sony, one of the ‘Big 4’
(2) Other bands have been formed through private auditions, for example Blackpink, which was formed by YG Entertainment.
YG Entertainment is a major firm in the K-pop industry, which recruits young musicians to become “trainees” in a highly structured system that eventually turns them into “idols,” or highly produced pop stars with a particular image curated by the entertainment company.
Who are Blackpink
Who is their target audience
Blackpink is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment and consisting of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. Cited as the “biggest girl group in the world”, they are considered the most successful Korean girl group internationally.
The main concept that Blackpink often uses in their songs is “Black” or “girl crush”, taking the black tone as the main color, expressing a strong, individualistic and proactive image However, in some of their songs, the group changes their style when using the “Pink” concept, showing a feminine, youthful and cheerful image
Target Audience
Blackpink’s music products are aimed at the mass market
(1) Age: Their music of this group appeals to 12-35, especially young people, called gen Z, but also a lot of older people because of the excitement, youthfulness and catchiness in each song
(2) Gender: Both men and women but the majority of fans are young females
(3) Income: Usually people with high or stable income. When music is released, other products are also released like CDs, photobooks, lightsticks, postcards, etc. about the group’s members. These usually range from 40$ to 80$.
(4) International: Their music is played all around the world with subtitles in different countries’ languages. The international nature of the girls (brought up in different countries; speak different languages) helps expand their international appeal
What makes Blackpink so successful?
A powerful combination of Marketing strategies, including
(1) the use of differentiation through a girl crush concept,
(2) the creation of extremely high-quality, but scarce content,
(3) the focus on personal branding, and of course,
(4) a big Marketing budget.
What are key aspects of Blackpink’s marketing strategy.
(1) Concept of scarcity. This is widely used in Marketing. It is a tactic that creates a psychological need for people to acquire a certain product because it is exclusive or for limited-time only, which artificially increases the demand. YG Entertainment is applying the same strategy for Blackpink as well. Instead of releasing regular content within a shorter period of time, the music videos that they release are very rare and there might be up to 1 year of time between comebacks. This lack of content creates hype and gets fans impatient for the next video, especially considering that they don’t know when it will be released.
(2) Generating a buzz. Blackpink has mastered the art of creating buzz and anticipation before a new release. They do this by strategically releasing teaser images, videos, and concept photos leading up to their comebacks. These teasers generate excitement among fans and the media, creating a sense of urgency and curiosity.
With all of these tactics, the moment YG and Blackpink decide to release a video, everyone rushes to see what all this waiting was about. Which boosts the views to higher and higher records.
(3) Impressive Marketing budget: YG Entertainment is one of the “Big 3”, and they can afford to spend a lot more on promotion than other production companies. The company has a huge Marketing budget for each of their music videos, concerts, shows, and all content that’s created around them in order to not only get maximum visibility in South Korea but also internationally.
(4) High-quality production. They are spending more than $1 million per video. The production is high quality, supported by very high music video professionals, and the end result is that it exciting and pleasing to watch. For example, for the solo single of Rosé, they actually set a real car on fire:
(5) International audience reach.
* The diversity of the girls (born in different countries, speak different languages) not only attracts fans from these countries but also from all over the world.
* They use a lot of English words in their songs, which makes it easier for non-Koreans to adopt these songs and sing to them.
* Many of the songs have English names as well, which increases the exposure opportunities to a more international audience.
(6) Social Media: Blackpink attracts a large number of followers on social networks and streaming platforms.
- 71.1 million subscribers on YouTube;
- 20 million followers on Spotify;
- 44.5 million followers on Instagram;
- 17 million followers on Facebook.
(7) 6. Focus on personal branding: A part of the group success is thanks to the fact that each member is quite popular on its own as well, not only as a group.
* YG is spending heavily on solo promotion, and Jennie, Lisa and Rosé already released their solo singles – with only Jisoo left to go.
* Additionally, each girl gets her own shows, promotions, campaigns and initiatives (Jisoo is staring in a K-pop drama, Lisa is a dancing mentor, etc.). They are becoming very successful on their own as well, which only adds to the popularity of the group.
* As opposed to other K-pop groups, each member has an individual Instagram account as well – with a lot of followers:
