The music industry is a confusing one. Labels are changing fast, but one thing that has remained consistent is the existence of major labels - the big players. The ones that can in theory pick up an artist and turn them into a global phenomenon.
But who are these labels? And how did they get started? Let's take a look...
The Big Four
Firstly, let's do some introductions. Since 2004, we've had four major labels. These are:
- Warner Music Group
- EMI
- Sony Music Entertainment
- Universal Music Group
Warner Music Group
Warner's record label was born in 1958, when one of their actors got a hit song and they saw another financial avenue open up. Frank Sinatra made "Reprise Records" in order to have control over his tunes around this time and 3 years later Warner Bros purchased it, growing their label considerably.
Over the 60s they took over Atlantic records, adding many other artists into their line-up including Ray Charles' back catalogue, Aretha Franklin and more, but as they progressed from the late 60s to 70s they signed many ground-breaking rockier acts such as Cream, Yes and Led Zeppelin.
Proceeding to acquire The Rolling Stones' back catalogue and signing Fleetwood Mac, they then created MTV in 1981, but sold it four years later to concentrate on what they did best - signing quality artists.
Madonna and Prince joined the label, as well as less poppy acts such as The Ramones - with such strong artists, the label went from strength to strength and during the 90s, they bought a 50% stake in Interscope Records, who released many gangsta rap recordings from the controversial label Death Row Records. In 1995 they were pressured into selling their stake, however, as activist groups apparently really don't like Snoop Dogg.
And that brings us to past the millennium, where they turned their attention to the future of music as pirating became rampant (though involved considerably less rum than the last time pirating became rampant) and CD sales plummeted.
They weren't pioneering in selling mp3s online, being the 3rd major label to jump on that bandwagon, but they were the first company to make a business relationship with YouTube... until the relationship broke down soon after and all their music was taken off the site. Similarly, they licensed their songs for use with the free streaming software Spotify, and then promptly withdrew the license a few years later. So it looks like after trying the new alternatives they're sticking firmly to convention, even though it's in decline.
EMI
The British major label EMI is the smallest of the four, but boasts a roster to be reckoned with.
Electric and Musical Industries Ltd was born from a merger of two older companies, one of which was behind the famous HMV label. As the name implies, they made electrical products, but more relevant here - they were a music label.
When the company was formed, they opened the Abbey Road Studio in London, where The Beatles recorded - a useful band to have on your label. Other useful bands they had include The Shadows, The Beach Boys and later Pink Floyd, who they put on their Harvest Records subsidiary label.
Through the next few decades, they topped up their roster by buying several labels, including United Artists Records (Tina Turner, ELO), Liberty Records (Idle Race), Imperial Records (The Hollies) and Virgin Records (Mike Oldfield, Sex Pistols).
From 2000 onwards, as with most music labels, things went a bit sour. Although they made record breaking deals such as the one with Robbie Williams for £80 million for a 6 album deal, they proceeded to lose a lot of money. This might also translate into losing a lot of artists - Joss Stone has reportedly offered to give up £2 million so she can leave the label. So looks like things aren't going too well for EMI. Unless Robbie Williams can save them, of course.
Sony Music Entertainment
After the great depression in the 1930s, several smaller record companies combined to make ARC - the American Record Corporation. They were acquired in 1934 by CBS, then the popular label "Epic Records" was founded in the 50s.
This really paid off when they signed ABBA and The Jacksons to their label amongst others and proceeded to release albums from Johnny Cash and Barbra Streisand on other subsidiary labels.
The fact that Sony jumped on board in the late 60s was a real help, as they were one of the developers of CDs. When CDs came out, you can bet that CBS records got them out first.
In the late 80s, Sony acquired CBS Records (Including freakin' Michael Jackson - in the 80s!!!) for $2 billion, and then in the 90s, changed the company name to Sony Music Entertainment.
A joint venture in 2004 with BMG led to the birth of Sony BMG, which 4 years later became SME again when Sony acquired BMG fully (BMG had acts from Rammstein and Linkin Park to Britney Spears, Shakira and Avril Lavigne - quite a diverse label!)
Universal Music Group
Another record label that sprouted from a film company, Universal Music was originally called MCA (Music Corporation of America) Records.
During World War 2, the UK and US branches were severed and things got a little bit confusing, but all was well after the war, when another label, "London Records" was made for the American Branch of the severed UK branch (man, that's unnecessarily complicated.)
But yes - artists! Elton John, Cher and the Pope had records sold by MCA (I'm not even joking.) They went to the rockier side of music too, with Meat Loaf, Marilyn Manson and Blink 182 all appearing on the label.
But before Travis Barker was even known, MCA had to work its way up. From Elton John's boost, they set up Infinity Records, then Acquired ABC (Cliff Richard, Genesis). They were a money-savvy label though, attempting to increase the price on CDs for the most popular artists - calling it "Superstar Pricing". It didn't stick, however and eventually they went back to consistent pricing.
Buying Motown, Sugar Hill a few other record labels, they grew exponentially and it wasn't until '96 that the name "Universal Music Group" was used. With more of a market share than any other label, they're a force to be reckoned with.
So when you get that deal through from the major labels as they realise how awesome you are - take a moment to look at the history of the label and ask yourself - do you really want to be on the same label that the Pope was on?
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