Organisations In The Music Industry

By: Shanann Thompson

What is a Recording Company?• A recording company is a company that finances

and produces CD’s. The company takes care of the recording, the marketing, and the enforcement of copyright of the CD’s as well as the music videos for songs. Recording companies also hold contracts with artists and their managers and at the same time act as talent scouts by finding and developing new artists.

Departments in a Recording Company?• Legal- This department has a team of attorneys who

handle all of the Label’s legal issues.• Accounting- This department takes care of the

accounting, banking, taxes, and the handling of all artist royalties. They report directly to the CEO.

• A&R Dept.-This department is responsible for finding new talent and developing the artist into something big. The JR A&R reps go to parties and clubs to find something fresh and new. They report directly to the A&R Department.

Departments in a Recording Company?• Marketing- The marketing department consists

of the Street Teams, Online SEO Experts, Social Networking Staff, and Traditional Broadcasting and Online Broadcasting and it is also in charge of art.

• Art-The art dept. handles all of the Graphics, Audio Clips, Video Promos, Flats, Fliers, Posters, One Sheets and more.

Departments in a Recording Company?• Publicity- This department is responsible for

the media coverage. They are in charge of making sure that the press is only putting up this that will boost the artist’s career and not bring it down. Publicity Video is in charge of finding and exploiting all the news and media coverage of the artist. Publicity Radio is in charge of making sure that what is being said about the artist on the radio is good.

Departments in a Recording Company?• Street Team- This department is responsible for

putting up posters, passing out fliers, talking to people about the artist, calling in on radio stations to request songs and obtain guest appearance slots on local radio. They also host parties for the artist in local clubs.

• Online- This department is in charge of keeping up the artist’s online appearance. This is done by making websites, search engine optimizations, banner ads, site reskinning(changing the look of a site), and basic marketing on the web.

Departments in a Recording Company?• Sales- The sales department is responsible for

selling the artist’s CDs, DVD videos, merchandise, or appearances. They also brokers deals with manufacturers, distributors, and vendors. They work with the Marketing Department. The Sales Distribution ensures that the products are in stores.

Examples of a Recoding CompanyThere are many different recording companies but the top five major recoding labels are

1. Universal Music Group2. Sony BMG Music Entertainment3. EMI Group4. Warner Music Group5. Atlantic Records UK

Why is the Recording Company Needed?• Recording Companies are needed because they know

the Industry and they know about all the work that is needed to create a record. The label has many different people working for the artist. This makes the work load a lot easier than if the artist were to do all the work his/herself and this frees up the artist’s time so that they are able to write their music in a calm, stress-free mood. They have connections and have been in the business a lot longer than most artists so they know a lot more people that could help in the artist’s cause. At the same time the label would finance the whole project making it easier on the artist’s pocket.

Example

• Ed Sheeran is signed to Atlantic Records. If Ed got some bad press Atlantic Record’s publicity team would search it out and any other bad comments. They would then work to make sure that the news is either not shown or is kept on a low profile.

What is an Artists’ Representative?• An artists’ representative is a person who works in

an agency that finds jobs and books shows for the artist. The representative must know what type of work the artist does so that he/she is able to get the artist suitable jobs. In addition, the representative fights for the artist’s interests and promotes them. The agency puts similar artists together so that they bring more appeal to the studios and artists who are less talented than others are able to get more jobs.

Examples of Agencies• In Hollywood the UTA is one of the top

talent agencies.

Why are Agencies Needed?• Agencies are needed because they give the artist

breathing space. The artists’ representative will be the one who is finding the artist jobs so that the artist is able to compose his/her music. At the same time the artist will be confident that their interest are protected while the representative is finding work for him/her.

Example• An artist representative for Ed Sheeran would

know the type of music that he composes and would work to find him jobs in places that cater to his type of music. They would also put him with people like Taylor Swift and Pharrell Williams who can not only help him with the writing process but can also make and perform songs with him. This helps to boost his popularity.

What is a Music Professional Organization?

• The people in a Union make sure that the interests of a musician is protected and if needed assist and attend to the problems of the artist during live shows, the recording and/ composing of the writing of the music.

Example of a Music Professional Organization

• The Musician’s Union (MU) represent over 30,000 artist that are working in all areas of the UK.

Why are Music Professional Organizations Needed?

• Unions are needed because they allow the musician to write/ compose their music without disturbance. Also if the musicians needs help the union provides help for the musician during the composing and recording of the music as well as live shows.

Example

• The Union that works with Ed Sheeran take care of any problems he has during live shows as well as any problems during the writing and composing of his music. During one of Ed’s live shows a fan had an asthma attack. Since Ed cares a lot about his fans, he stopped the concert for a bit to make sure that she was ok and taken care of. This is one problem that would be taken care of by the Union.

Why do Labels, Agencies and Unions Need to work Together?

• Labels, agencies and unions all have different jobs and responsibilities, but in all they need to work together to get the entire project in all done properly. Their main purpose is to help the artist they are working with/for. They help in producing and marketing the artist’s product, getting the artist jobs and being there to help the artist with composing and recording their music.

My Opinion

• I think that if the labels, agencies and unions all work together they would do a better job in supporting the artist. Where one cannot help the other pitches in. If they don’t work together they would not be as organized and everyone would be a lot more stressed, especially the artist.

References• http://voices.yahoo.com/breaking-down-recor

d-label-department-1442393.html• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Record_label• http://top40.about.com/od/popmusic101/tp/

majorlabels.htm• http://musicians.about.com/od/beingamusicia

n/tp/whyyouneedadeal.htm• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artists_and_repe

rtoire#Responsibilities

References

• http://www.simplemusiccontracts.com/ar-directory

• http://www.independentartistreps.com/