Independent Label- StonesThrowRecords

Founded by Chris Manak (aka DJ Peanut Butter Wolf) in 1996.
They have over 40 artists signed to them, one of these artists is Aloe Blacc who has become successful over the past few years. 
At the beginning of the label, their way of distributing their artists was by handing out tapes with previews of the songs on. So the label would have benefited from new technology as it means they now can use their own website to sell and preview their songs. Soundcloud, Facebook and Twitter are sites listed on the labels website which shows this is what they now use to distribute and exhibit their artists.

Case Study 1- Syco, One Direction

·      Production- One Direction is funded by the voting costs, which X Factor has in place. The profit made from the show was greatly influenced by advertisement and promotion as it gave it a larger audience.

·      Distribution & Marketing- The bands fan base was created throughout their time on the show, as constant viewers who voted for them continued to follow them once the show ended. The merchandise of the band is aimed at their main audience, which are young girls. Their appearance and songs was therefore moulded around the target audience.

·      Exchange- By using the back catalogue of Sony, it creates advertisement and profit for the original artists. By doing this they are creating benefits for other people.  The x Factor’s voting system allowed the audience to give their opinion on what they like listening to and what songs, so the Sony label can then use this information on future artists.

·      Ownership/back catalogue- The whole of X Factor back catalogues songs throughout the show, which is what devalues the original songs. This is because once the songs have been performed it takes away the original meaning to the song as it is adapted to suit the audiences choice instead of what the song writer meant. For example One Direction performed ‘One way or another’ as a pop song where as it was originally a punk song.

·      Synergy- Syco is the company, which is owned by Simon Cowell and Sony. They are split between film, TV and music. One Direction are signed to the label as they were founded through X Factor, and have continued to release music and a film through Syco.

·      Vertical integration- Syco is apart of production, distribution and exhibition however as they do not own all they ways in which their films are shown for example cinema.

·      Horizontal Integration- Syco use their own companies facilities which means that they are horizontally integrated in production and distribution.

·      Global vs Niche Audience- Sony is related to very mainstream music and this is why One Direction are apart of the global audience because they have adapted to fit the majority of audiences rather than the niche few. This again devalues music due to the fact they do not make music, which means something, but instead I is just for the profit.  

Beck Songreader

Demise In The Music Industry

• Illegal downloads are apparently ruining the music industry
• Music singles have increased 
• Music albums have decreased
•  Easier ways of payment- (online rather than shop bought)

Domino Records

This record studio is an independent company.  To market their artists they use "Record store days", this is when they bring their artists music to outlet stores to increase their popularity and fan base. Social networking is a large part of their marketing as well, as they will not have as much money as large studios. They are taking risks with new alternative artists, which is the reason for not having as many successes as people like Simon Cowell who manages One Direction. The more popular the artist is the less marketing needs to be done, for example Beyonce released her album without an marketing and it still managed to get to number 1 on the charts.

Demise of the music industry

"Now there is an easy payment system, itunes, on the web they are starting to pay again. If the big music companies had spent their energies dreaming up a payments mechanism for web downloads instead of suing their customers they could have swept all before them. Instead they were like the crew of a sinking boat that blames the sea instead of trying to mend the leak."- This article is blaming the music companies that did not think of a easy accessible way for the customers to pay for their online music meaning that illegally downloading it was a much easier option. They were suing people for downloading illegally but not making it any easier for people to buy and pay for their music legally. 

Music interview