Transcript The Music Industry

The Music Industry
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By Ross Galloway, Will Burden and Dan Wild
Universal Music Group is a global
conglomerate
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The largest of the ‘big four’ labels
Responsible for 30% of world music sales
Based in the US with offices worldwide
Owned by Vivendi (French media
conglomerate)
• Merged with BMG Music Publishing in 2007
• Many subsidiary companies including Island Records Group,
Decca, Polydor and Mercury
• Revenue $5.87 billion in 2010
Major labels operate a vertically integrated business model, where
the owner has acquired companies which play different roles in the
process of creating, promoting and selling music.
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360 degree record deals are recording contracts that
allow a record company to participate in income
streams traditionally reserved for the artist.
Rather than simply sharing in the income earned
from record sales, under 360° deals (also called
multiple rights deals) record companies share in the
income received from non-record streams such as
touring, merchandise and endorsement.
While some 360° deals simply involve the label
getting a percentage of all income streams, others
also provide for the record company to be heavily
involved in all areas of the artist's career
development.
Under this more interventionist model the record
label basically takes on the role of the artist-manager
and becomes involved in decision making in relation
to touring, merchandise, endorsement and so on.
What is involved in a
record deal?
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Universal includes marketing and distribution branches which
exist in order to
aggressively maximize catalogue repertoire
according to their website.
This means that branches of the company work hard to make
sure that as much money is made from each artist as possible.
A vertically integrated company
Vivendi: stakes in music, film, TV, mobile, gaming and
advertising.
Universal Music Publishing Group - A music publisher owns
the copyright for music and lyrics and can licence them for
use in film, TV, advertising, mobiles etc. as well as for other
artists to cover.
Sony has a franchise in the music and film and game console
industry.
It is easier for them to use synergistic practices to promote and
sell their products because they are vertically integrated.
How are musicians
promoted?
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Quantum of Solace (Sony Pictures 2008)
Soundtrack by Sony:
‘Another Way to Die’ Alicia Keys’ and Jack
White – distributed by J Records (a subsidiary
of Sony Records)
DVD and BlueRay Disk released film in HD
Console Game available on Sony Playstation 3
- Funded by ‘Sony Entertainment’
Internal Synergy
The music is more saleable because the
audience is attracted to elements they recognise
from the films.
The film is advertised by the music.
Promotion Case Study
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NMT’s have broadened the ways artists can reach audiences.
Social media sites such as Twitter have allowed artists to directly
promote their content to their followers first hand.
Artists can utilise the new pluralistic media landscape and can
avoid mass spending of money if needed by promoting everything
virally.
This therefore differs from the traditional promotional practise
which consists of Billboards, Posters, TV Commercials, and Radio
Ads.
Online advertising also can be quite costly and therefore certain
forms such as, Banner Ads, Floating Ads, Pop-Up and Pop-Under
Ads, Pull-Down Ads, Streaming Sidebar Ads, Text Ads, and
Unicast Ads, can only be used by the more successful group of
artists.
This is to an extent an example of ‘we media’ as the industry have
shaped the way they approach promoting their products and
audiences have become accustom to these new techniques.
What role do NMT’s now play in promoting artists?
How has this changed traditional practise? To what
extent id this an example of ‘we media’?
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The music press play a pivotal role in promoting artists and their
content.
If an artist is quite successful, they become news worthy in the
eyes of the press. The press then will release stories about that
targeted artist, ultimately promoting the performers. However, it
can often be a negative image that is portrayed.
For example, Miley Cyrus, a very controversial figure, has been
slated by the American and British press alike. She has quite a bit
of negative press due to her ‘new style’ along with her continued
drug and sex related themes within her songs and performances.
Nevertheless, the negative press she has ultimately benefited her
as an artist, as everyone knows who she is, whether they love or
hate her.
This being a recent example, I would therefore say that the press
are still relevant in promoting artists even with this new digital
age.
Digital technology has meant that artists do not need to rely on the
press in order to become a star, but as it can be seen, pretty much
all of the major stars do utilise the press in order to promote
themselves to some extent.
What role does the music press play in promoting
artists in digital media age? Are they still relevant?
Give specific examples from the UK press.
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A brand manager or product manager are
usually employed by a large or well established
record label or music company to be
responsible for managing the campaigns for a
specific artist, product or group of artists. It is
their responsibility to brand and market a band
or artist, for their full promo package.
Who is responsible for
branding/marketing decisions?
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The production process of a music video can be
broken down into steps...
- Research and analysis
- Genre codes and conventions
- Artist treatment / storyline
- Story boarding
- Casting
- Location reccies
- Filming
- Editing (Post production)
What is the production process
of a music video?
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The combination of music and video has
helped launch the careers of many well-known
artists, giving them a platform for branding
and establishing a unique, stand-out (star)
image.
Why is a music video so
significant?