Record Labels

The Big Four

A record label is the marketing and distribution of a music records and videos

There are four main record labels.

Each record company owns many different companies which allow them to dominate the music industry.

Universal Music Group

• Founded in 1934 as Decca Records USA

• Established in 1998 as Universal Music Group

• The world’s number one record label.

• Headquarters in Santa Monica, California, USA

• Universal Music Group owns a music publisher, Universal Music Publishing Group, which became the world's largest following the 2007 acquisition of BMG Music Publishing.

• "Universal Music" was once the music company attached to film studio Universal Pictures.

• UMG helped to co-design Vevo, the equivalent of YouTube.

• Artists include; Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Florence and the Machines, Taylor Swift

Sony Music Entertainment

• Was founded in 1929 as American Record Corporation which is the equivalent to Japan’s – Sony Corporation.

• Named in 2008 as Sony Music Entertainment.

• Headquarters in New York, USA

• On the night of 8 August 2011, the Sony music distribution centre in Enfield, London was destroyed in an arson attack during the 2011 England riots.

• Artists include; One Direction, Chris Brown, Avril Lavigne, Michael Jackson.

Warner Music Group

• Founded in 1958 as Warner Bros. Records.

• Established as Warner Music Group in 2004.

• Headquarters in New York USA.

• WMG also has a music publishing arm called Warner/Chappell Music which is one of the world's largest music-publishing companies.

• In February 2010, CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. said that Warner Music Group will stop licensing its songs to free music streaming services. He said that the focus will be on services that require payment. However, this has only created an increase of the corporation's boycott and lack of respect

• Artists Include; Cee Lo Green, Bruno Mars, Michael Buble, Paramore, Estelle

EMI Group

• Formed in March 1931 by the merger of the Columbia GraphophoneCompany and the Gramophone Company

• Name “EMI” established in 1974.

• Headquarters in London, UK

• First Websites were launched in 1993/1994

• Coldplay is the first artist to see more than one million digital albums in the US and two million worldwide which boosts EMI market share.

• 2011 Open EMI is launched which allows tech developers to create apps and digital music concepts for EMI’s artists

• Artists Include; Coldplay, The Beatles, Katy Perry, Pet Shop Boys, Tina Turner, Kylie Minogue, Gorillaz