Research into record labels - Miss Georgiou

Major record labels are large companies within the music industry that may also own smaller record labels. The three major record labels in the UK are Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music, who represent many well known and unknown artist from all over the world from all different genres. 
Universal Music manage artists such as;

• Ariana Grande
• Chase and Status
• Duke Dumont
• Drake
• Ellie Goulding
• Justin Bieber
• Kanye West

Sony Music manage artist such as;

• Adele
• Bruno Mars
• Jennifer Lopez
• JLS
• Justin Timberlake
• Kid Ink
• One Direction

Warner Music manage artists such as;

• Birdy
• Coldplay
• Jason Derulo
• Flo Rida
• Katy Perry
• Wiz Khalifa
• Madonna

Universal Music own or have part share in many other record labels such as Interscope Records, Republic Records, Island Records, Def Jam Records, Capitol Music Group and many other music groups. These labels manage artists such as;

• Frank Ocean 
• Big Sean
• Eminem
• Lady Gaga
• Disclosure
• John Newman

Sony Music own or have part share in only a few other record labels such as Columbia Records, RCA Records and Epic Records, which manage artists such as;

• Example
• Olly Murs
• Sean Kingston
• Kelly Clarkson
• Andre 3000
• Avril Lavigne
• Paloma Faith

Warner Music own labels such as Atlantic Records, Warner Bros. Records, Parlophone Label, Rhino Entertainment and may other international record labels, they manage artists such as;

• Becky Hill
• Tinie Tempah
• Led Zeppelin
• Gabrielle Aplin
• Kylie Minogue
• Lily Allen 
• Conor Maynard

4.    Are there any links within Media e.g TV/Film/Magazines etc

Independent labels are labels that operate one or few music labels, they 

can be just as successful but operate from a smaller company base. They are traditionally known as offering more ‘organic’ music rather than manufactured mainstream and there are many different independent record labels within the UK.

Boy Better Know     

Boy Better Know is an English grime music collective; a group of musicians, a grime record label and a brand. The collective was formed in North London by JME, his brother Skepta and Wiley. The band and label were established by Jamie Adenuga, also known as JME, in 2005. "Boy Better Know" is also a clothing line, sweet shop and a line of mobile sim cards. Members of the label include;

• Skepta
• JME
• Wiley
• Jammer
• Frisco
• DJ Maximum
• Short
• Solo 45
• DJ Preditah

Warp

Warp commonly referred to as Warp Records, is an independent British record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, specialising in electronic music. It was founded in 1989 by Steve Beckett and the late Rob Mitchell from their experiences working at the FON record shop, alongside record producer Robert Gordon, the label soon became home to artists who would be influential in electronic music. They manage many artists such as;

• Aphex Twin
• Darkstar
• Red Snapper
• Seefeel
• TNGHT

Tempa

Tempa is a dubstep, 2-step garage and UK garage record label run by Ammunition Promotions, out of the Truman Brewery, East London. Created in 1999, Tempa is now widely considered to be one of the founding labels of the dubstep sound. They have managed many different artists such as;

• Skream
• Benga
• Truth
• Kode9
• DJ Hatcha

I believe that having 4 companies dominating the music industry is not right in terms of the music view, as within these 4 companies there is a clear bias towards specific genres of music, which are known to be most popular. It does not allow other sub genres or non mainstream genres to be as recognised towards a larger audience for example genres such as Grime, Garage and Dubstep, who belong to independent record labels.  This effects the industry by causing there to be a drop in the quality of the artists and music produced by the 4 main companies as they focus more on selling the songs than making them. 

I believe from the industry point of view, having 4 main companies dominating the music industry is most likely to be positive, considering the 4 main companies can take advantage of the power they have over audiences and find it easier to create new artists and music. Independent companies have to work harder to appeal to people however because of their niche market they only have to aim to please a small sector therefore can focus most of their attention on the quality of the music. However there is still a large demand for these kinds of genres because of the different kinds of cultures developing across the UK and because of the increase of music artists creating a wider variety of songs to listen to. This effects the industry by causing an increase in competition between and in genres, artists from different labels will compete against each other to gain the most profit and have better/more reputation. 

Independent labels are not particularly as successful as major labels because of the difference of population within their target audiences, however there is a majority of artists from independent companies that will be more recognisable and possibly sell more singles/albums. This is because of the better quality of music produced by independent companies and because of the vast amount of different sounds they offer.