{ The Music Industry By Ross Galloway, Will Burden and Dan Wild

Universal Music Group is a global conglomerate 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) 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. Merged with BMG Music Publishing in 2007 Many subsidiary companies including Island Records Group, Decca, Polydor and Mercury Revenue $5.87 billion in 2010

  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?

 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?

 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

 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’?

 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.

  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?

  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?

  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?