A Guide to the Music Industry

MAJOR/MINOR

Major Institutions; There are four major institutions that dominate the music industry, these include – Warner/Universal/Sony/EMI. This means that they may have lots of smaller institutions which are dependent on one of the four major institutions. These institutions are concerned with profits and appealing to a mass audience therefore you would find that most chart music can be traced back to one of these institutions.

Minor Institutions; These are smaller and are likely to have a smaller budget and therefore cannot take as many risks with new artists. They are much more independent companies which also mean that they receive no extra funding since they are not dependant on receiving funding from major institutions. Furthermore they are more likely to appeal to a niche audience.

DROWNED IN SOUND

What media/companies does it own? Is this significant?

Drowned in Sound (DiS) do not own any of its own media/companies. This is significant because it means that it is a minor institution. This means that artists are more likely to start out in institutions like this and grow if they begin to appeal to a mass audience. Also if the company is independent then it can be much more focused towards the audience that it wants to target. This may perhaps indicate that they are a better equipped institution for dealing with artists of a specific genre that appeal to a more niche audience.

Does it have a production and distribution element?

The history behind DiS shows that it began as an internet website that involved getting people to interact with anything to do with music. For example what their views are on an interview or getting discussions going. Therefore the means of distributing the music and promoting artists seems to be through the use of the internet. This is significant because through being a popular well known website (was rated 9^th out of 25 music websites) means that the younger generations who are more familiar with the internet are exposed to these new artists. Also the marketing of this is effective because the age group it appeals to is teens – and many like to consider themselves indie and make a statement by moving away from the more mainstream music and artists.

What artists are signed by them?

 Kaiser Chiefs/The Stills/Bat for Lashes/Metric

Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby - Music Video

Metric - Eclipse (All Yours) - Music Video

 The Stills

Bat For Lashes



As shown by some of the examples of artists above they have all been marketed in different ways. The Kaiser Chiefs music, as shown in the music video is more indie rock and was able to reach the charts especially with the song Ruby. 

The marketing for Metric was cleverly done by DiS, they used the song in the music video in the third Twlight Film Eclipse - they also did this with one of Bat for Lashes songs. With the mass appeal that the Twilight Saga has especially amongst teenagers, by getting this music on the soundtrack both introduced masses of people to the music indirectly. Plus since the music was on the soundtrack it was promoted and more likely to be sought out by the Twilight fans. The use of clips from the film throughout the video keep the link between the endorsement of Twilight and the music.

The Stills seem to be a much more typical indie band. They are not particularly well known and appeal to a much more niche audience.

What do you notice about the genre of music?

The genre of music that DiS embraces seems to be more of the indie genre – yet it ranges from more indie rock to more electronic sounds. This is a popular genre for people who are moving away from the mainstream music as it often provides a much fresher and different type of music.

Would they be a suitable organisation to work with for this project?

I feel that DiS would be very suitable in all of the aspects that we need to consider. Or chosen genre is indie, leaning towards indie rock and as shown by bands like the Kaiser Chiefs they sign successful indie rock bands. Therefore the label is much more reliable because it has experience with indie music and the company know what they are doing.  Furthermore the distribution and promotion of the bands through the internet/website is interactive and engaging for an audience. And this is important for us as our target audience also should have a level of passion for this music that goes outside of mainstream chart options. Plus by utilising the internet we are instantly bridging the gap much more easily between the artists/music and the target audience, especially as the internet is everywhere and is now accessible anytime due to mobile phones for example.