Remember that nowadays, many record companies are huge corporations that own a variety of record labels. For the most part, these companies are located in Lagos, Nigeria. These corporations usually consist of a parent company that owns more than one record label. In today’s economy, most large record companies are huge conglomerates that own a variety of subsidiary record labels. Often, the subsidiary labels are each mini-companies operating under the umbrella of the larger corporation.
To describe the hierarchy of a record company, it’s best to start at the top. The CEO (chief executive officer) is in charge of the business of the whole company. In addition, each label also has its president. Under the president of the individual label, there are vice presidents in charge of different departments. Let’s take a look at the departments that make up a significant record label:
The A&R (artists and repertoire) department is often considered the most glamorous department at a record label. This is because A&R is in charge of discovering new talent. A&R people work very hands-on with the artists that they “sign.” (When a record label “signs” an artist, it simply means that the artist makes an exclusive contract with that record label.) They do everything from assisting with song selection to choosing the people that will produce the album to deciding where the album will be recorded. The people in this department work as the link between the recording artist and all the other departments of the record company.
This department is in charge of all the artwork that goes along with producing an album. This includes CD cover art, advertisements, and displays at music stores.
This department is responsible for planning the careers of the artists who are signed to the record label. It promotes and publicizes the artists throughout their careers. According to Music Biz Academy, many labels no longer have artist development departments. As record labels have come to see artists as products in recent years, some artist development departments have been renamed “Product Development.” Many insist that this is because the emphasis in the current music business is to promote artists very heavily at the beginning of their career, as opposed to long-term planning. *If you don’t want to be a “one-hit-wonder,” pay close attention to how the record label views this aspect of career planning.
This department deals with the business side of things. It takes care of bookkeeping, payroll, and general finances.
This is usually one person, or a small group of people, who serves as the liaison between the record company’s distribution company (either an entirely separate division under the huge corporate umbrella or an outside company responsible for getting the CDs into the stores) and the record company. The label liaison also helps decide when to release an album (when the album goes on sale to the public) and makes sure it doesn’t conflict with any of the other labels the record company owns.
This department is responsible for all the contracts that are made between the company and the artist, as well as contracts between the record label and other companies. Any legal issues that arise (such as lawsuits between an artist and the company) go through this department.
This department creates the overall marketing plan for every album that the record company will release. It helps coordinate the plans of the promotion, sales, and publicity departments.
This department is in charge of dealing with the newer aspects of the music business, including producing and promoting music videos for the artist. In addition, this department is often responsible for helping an artist create a presence on the Internet. It deals with the new technologies in which artists can stream music and music videos through the Internet.
This department’s main purpose is to make sure that an artist is being played on the radio. It must get an artist’s new songs on the radio to ensure the future success of the record company. This department makes sure that all the other departments are communicating about the best way to sell the artist to the public. The promotion department may also try to get videos played on MTV or VH1 channels. This can be the responsibility of this department or in conjunction with the New Media department.
This group is responsible for getting the word out about a new or established artist. It arranges for articles to be written in newspapers and magazines. They also deal with radio and television coverage of an artist. Many artists also have independent publicists who help coordinate publicity with this department as well.
This department oversees the retail aspect of the record business. It works with record store chains and other music stores to get new albums onto retailers’ shelves. The sales department often coordinates these efforts with the promotion and publicity departments.
Remember that any given record label may have a slightly different organization. As large companies buy up smaller record labels, the organization of record companies changes a great deal. Most record companies have their Websites where you can find what labels the company owns and what artists the company is promoting.
Independent musicians are always looking to establish a fan base and promote their original songs/tracks. To do this, they must first become familiar with branding and marketing.
This is because for the business to grow, establishing the specific areas within your business that include things such as colour schemes, logos, and consistent posts across social media platforms are important when making music your full-time career.
Another aspect of marketing your music that should be a top priority is to get yourself an established email list set up. This is owned by you and gives you direct contact with your fanbase so that you can keep your audience up-to-date with upcoming gigs or live performances, or when new music is going to be launched.
The end goal for musicians is to create a solid fan base that you (the musician) can keep in touch with regularly so that they (the fans) know what you’re up to.
This helps you as an artist because you can keep track of your fans by monitoring the lists. It also allows you to reach out to them easily. There are free resources online you can use to do this, but this can also become a lot of work on your part that you might not have the time (or expertise) to do.
Musicians tend to want to focus on their craft – making and performing music – and not on all that goes along with it.
With digital platforms in the online world becoming more of a means to distribute and get noticed, there are multiple opportunities with companies that will allow music submissions by independent music artists. Many of these can take the guesswork out of how to get your music shared and noticed, without you having to do much of the leg work.
Utilizing online music submission software is a way to get your music directly in the thick of things. This site, in particular, called Share Pro, will immediately allow your original music submission to be viewed within a 48-hour window and get back to you if they are going to share your music on their platforms, maybe even work with you or offer a record deal.
It’s a fast-track way of getting your music heard by professionals and can be helpful when you want some feedback to see if your music can truly make “the cut.”
If you’re confident that your music is mixed and mastered and ready for the big leagues, this is a great step for you to take as a musician – you never know who might be looking for your specific sound.
A music licensing company is ultimately one of the best platforms for you to submit your music to, and Marmoset is a great licensing company to start with that cares about giving indie artists new opportunities.
The music licensing process is taken care of by the company, so you don’t have to worry about all of the legalities, allowing you to be more focused on making the music rather than selling it.
The company not only accepts your original music and tracks, but they have a wide range of networks that have already utilized their services to find music. This means that you don’t have to do any networking or submitting directly to professionals, since the consensus is that many music supervisors, filmmakers, or other creatives don’t tend to “try out” new music if they are unfamiliar.
But, when a musician is accepted and part of a bigger library of tracks that creatives already go to find their perfect fit, your chances of being noticed (even on a larger platform) are much better. Plus, when your music is chosen there is an even bigger chance that you may be contacted from that point forward to produce more music for specific projects.
Believe it or not, many music-centred blogs and websites out there want your music to be promoted. One of the main reasons for this is that a lot of times with independent musicians you want your music to be heard in any capacity. There are also no royalty fees necessary as long as your music is copyrighted.
There are multiple music blogs like Indiepulse and Emerging Indie Bands blogs and articles where you can submit to have your music featured. They tend to prefer it to be unsigned and unknown, so newer and emerging music artists should consider this route.
This may now seem almost like a very old-school way of doing things, but this is always an option as a musician. You would simply send out demos of your music to multiple record labels through the mail and/or email.
This method can be a long, uphill battle, and many times your music probably won’t even be listened to (or might be listened to by a lowly intern who doesn’t push it up the chain of command).
One thing you should keep in mind if you submit directly to a record label is that many of them do not accept any unsolicited materials. This can mean two different things: the main one being that the record label themselves is not inviting you to send – which means, unless you were asked to send a demo, don’t do it.
The second thing is almost the same as the first – you have to have had some sort of business association with the record label for them to accept your music submission.
Whether you decide to submit your music is up to you. Still, the insight you gain here points to the idea that as an independent musician, you need to be sure to network and establish relations within the industry as much as possible. There are some easier and more difficult ways to do so, depending on how hard you want to work for it.
After creating the music you’re wanting to share with the public, your next priority should be marketing that music and gaining more visibility. Once you can start establishing relations with others in the business and they start to approach you for new music demos, then you have a shot at an actual record label.