Portfolio Essay Title: How Major Labels Shape the Careers of Pop Artists

Abstract

Major record labels play important roles in the careers of artists in the music industry, especially the pop stars, who depend on them for production, publicity and sales of sound recordings and music videos. As opposed to other genres of music, pop music has gained a global face, due to the effects of modernization, Americanization, globalization, homogenization, creative appropriation, and cultural imperialism. In this regard, local and national pop music productions have little chances in the global market, since they have been distinctively marginalized by their global counterparts. Due to the constitution of a common stylistic denominator in the field, pop musicians do not have any other choice, but to seek the assistance of major record labels. This paper looks at the effect of major labels on shaping careers of these artists, and how this relationship has changed over time.

Major labels have existed since 1988, though some minor, undistinguished record labels had been instituted as early as the wake of 1980s, and have reduced in number since then, through agglomeration or attrition. Currently, there are three major labels that control the music industry. These are: Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and Universal Music Group. In order to work together, artists enter into contracts with the record labels, which take care of the recording process, production, marketing, distribution, and publicity. In return, they take the highest percentage of the sales, and give cheques to artists in terms of royalties, ranging between 10-20% of the total sales, especially for CDs. (Wikstrom, 2009). This arrangement usually translates into artists reaping fewer benefits from their albums than expected, and more often than not, coming out with barely anything. It is only those artists whose albums strike gold that get to count some substantial benefits.

Major labels’ influence in shaping the careers of pop artists is realized from the initial stages of entry into the music industry. Through the process of auditioning and talent shows, pure and deserving artists according to the labels, are chosen; while a majority is left, thereby thwarting their dreams of ever expressing themselves to the public audience. Once in a contract, the success of one’s career still lies with the major labels, as they dictate what to produce, and when. Since they are also in charge of publicity and distribution, the sales of these albums as well as the display of the artist in the public limelight is under their control. Moreover, the amount of returns received from the sales passes through them, and then partly to the artist. Through these pillars, the major labels can decide to either frustrate or promote one’s career, depending on the nature of the relationship, as exemplified by the case of Michael Jackson. This relationship is, however, changing rapidly due to technological advancement which simplifies the process of music production, recording, marketing and distribution, as well as file sharing and piracy across the internet.

Keywords: major labels, pop artists, career, music industry.

Introduction

In the music industry, there is overreliance of most recording artists upon major record labels, with the primary purpose of broadening the consumer base, producing quality music, promotion to gain wide popularity and due to the need to be heard over the radio, television, mp3, and over the internet (Adorno & Simpson, 1998). These artists receive assistance from publicists, who make public positive media reports about them and their developments, providing information on their new and upcoming albums, so as to market their merchandize successfully. They also assist in making their copies available in all music stores and major media outlets.

A record label is defined as any brand or simply a trademark that is associated with the business of marketing various music recordings as well as music videos (Osborne, 2007). More often than not, a record label is also a company that deals with the management of such mentioned brands or trademarks; they organize and spearhead the manufacture, production, promotion, distribution, marketing and safeguarding of music copyright for all artists who sign up with them. In addition, these companies also conduct talent searches through screening, developing them and entering into binding contracts with them as well as their managers. As such, most music videos and sound recordings feature prominently the names and several other details about the label (Osborne, 2007). This paper champions the thesis that life, career, success and failure of music artist, especially the pop artists, is largely determined by the major labels that exist in the music industry, which has brought an overwhelming reliance on these corporations.

Understanding Record Labels

The importance and contribution of major labels in the music industry, especially to pop artists, is overarching, and plainly insurmountable. In order to understand and appreciate the crucial nature of these music giants, a deeper look into their nature is absolutely necessary. Record labels may either be small, independent and localized; or they may conglomerate to form a major cartel of international media group. In reality, there are only three major labels that can be appreciated as such, though there exists a plethora of other smaller entities, which operate as ‘sublabels’ under the big giants. Since the year 1988, major labels have emerged, which tend to take control of the music industry, though some of them have either coalesced into larger bodies, or have technically become extinct due to excessive and stiff competition in the music industry; or due to the rapid advancement in technology. Between the years 1988-1998, six major labels commanded the music industry, including the Warner Music Group, EMI, Sony Music, BMG Music, Universal Music Group, and Polygram (Adorno & Simpson, 1998). Later, Polygram was thrown out of the market, and the remaining five competed for the artists and their music. Between 2004-2008, BMG and Sony Music joined together, and the list reduced to four. More recently, EMI was partly absorbed into Sony and Universal Music Group, thereby leaving only three big giants to control the market (Bryan-Wilson, Kester & Elkins, 2009).

Even so, these labels do not work out of complete autonomy, but under the umbrella of international conglomerates called ‘music groups’, which may not be exclusively into music; but which has massive influence on the consumer market. This music group exercises control over major music production companies, recording, distribution, and manufacturing as well as record labels. The big three labels control well over 70% of all music production and distribution around the globe (Wikstrom, 2009). They thus possess immense influence on the success of an artist, in addition to the sales of a given album. However, some record companies are not under the control of the major record labels, and these are considered as independent, commonly represented by the term Indie labels (Music Week, 2013). Moreover, there are some other labels known as Vanity labels, which bear an imprint that impresses the ownership and control of an artist over an album, though discretely represents an artist-label arrangement (Wikstrom, 2009). In such a relationship, the artist enjoys greater say on the packaging of the final work, but has little mandate on the number of copies produced, place of distribution and marketing. For instance, the Neutron label which is under the ownership of ABC is a perfect example of such an arrangement (Trappey et al, 2012).

The diverse and overarching relationship between artists and labels notwithstanding, it is worth mentioning that not all labels which are dedicated to a given artists have absolutely superficial origins. Some artists, especially in their early lives as musicians, can decide to create and host their own labels, but later sell them to a major label. This type or arrangement is sometimes more beneficial to the artist than the previously discussed, and can give them more control and say over their productions, especially if they are signed directly into the agreement. Regardless of the kind of relationship that exists between artists and record labels, the effect that the latter have over them is great, and more often than not, artists can barely survive without this arrangement (Trappey et al, 2012). This is however, not to imply that these artists are total beneficiaries in this relationship; there exist a number of glitches, which can sometimes translate into absolute failure of an upcoming artist.

Reviewing the Relationship between Artists and Major Labels

As aforementioned, record labels typically enter into binding recording contracts with artists, with an aim of marketing their recordings, and as a result, receive royalties charged on the selling price of the music videos and sound recordings. These contracts do not have a specific duration, thus may take either a short or a long time, depending on the relationship of the two, regardless of the types of recordings being dealt with. Usually, more famous and outstanding artists stand a better chance of renegotiating their contracts with the major labels, so as to receive better royalties for their recordings, but in some cases this does not come to pass. An example is the claim launched by Roger McGuinn before the senate that they never received any royalties for the Byrds, as promised by the record label (Cooper, 2006).

Sometimes, an artist may just deliver a fully complete recording to a record label, or the label may undertake the entire process of recording with the artist (Silvey, 2009). The level of involvement of a record label in the recording process is reliant on whether the artist has a recording history or not. In the latter, the label would have to be involved in choosing extra singers and participants in the recording, selecting producers, choosing the songs to be recorded, recording studios, and decide on the specific number of production copies (Imhorst, 2004). The former, however, seeks less involvement from the labels. Irrespective of what level of involvement, record labels have a profound effect on the success of all artists.

How Major Labels Shape Careers of Pop Artists

Pop music is actually a segment of popular music that has its origins in its modern form in the 1950s, from the category of rock and roll (Brackett, 1995). Usually, pop music is very electric, clearly distinguishable from jazz, popular, and folk music, and is currently regarded as a branch of critical musicology that has tended to interest itself in one particular area more than others (Scamman, 2009). The development of pop music has been rapid, attracting performances from most famous artists and involvement of major labels (Brackett, 1995). Technological advancements have been crucial to this revolutionary process of pop music, as well as the proliferation of television channels. As early as 1980s, the spread of pop music had heightened, with the emergence of major music television channels, for instance, MTV (Bryan-Wilson, Kester & Elkins, 2009). Michael Jackson and Madonna are some of the forces to reckon with among the early artists of pop music, which became an international monoculture. Though most regions and nations around the world have their own form of pop, the western-derived forms have had much attention and gained wide popularity, thereby spreading all over the world. They have thus marginalized the local productions, and in the process constituting a rather common denominator in the global pop music industry.

These descriptions of a short development of pop music provide a very clear insight into the influence major labels have on artists. Though the path that has been taken by pop music can be blamed on processes of globalization, Americanization, cultural imperialism, creative appropriation, homogenization, and modernization, it still gets down to the same thing: record labels. As this paper argues, pop music is not a local thing, but a genre with a global face. This means that for an artist to be successful, one must be able to sign deals with major record labels, for the production, marketing, publicity, distribution and sale of the sound recordings and music videos (Krasilovsky, ShemelGross, & Feinstein, 2009). It is not a one-man effort that can enable an artist to go global, but a combined effort from the major giants in the music industry. This implies that the careers of pop artists are more controlled by the major labels than those of other artists of different genres, whose music and videos can be played locally.

Firstly, it is the major labels who are involve in the actual process of auditioning upcoming artists. This process filters fresh talents, and identifies potential stars for the music industry. Since this is the initial stage in the career of a musician, one’s success all depends on the outcome of the auditioning process (Cooper, 2006). Some auditions have options for public involvement in form of voting for their most favourite artist, but most of them are carried out by expert judges who grill the styles and talents of a performing artist. The artists that emerge victorious usually have a bright start in their music career, and become world-renowned performers, by the help of music labels. As above mentioned, these labels can take the form of multinational corporations which might not be fully involved in music, but possess exclusive powers and autonomy over the music industry.

Just like any fresh graduate seeking employment, pop artists seek acceptance from the major labels into the music industry. The initial stage is a crucial one, as it determines who enters into contracts with the giants. This process has served to greatly regulate the number of artists venturing into the pop music industry, and the few that manage to succeed enjoy wide audience from across the globe. This implies that an artist’s career dream can be thwarted even at the very beginning, causing either intermittent delay to an individual, or ultimately denying one the opportunity to put one’s talent into action (Krasilovsky, ShemelGross, & Feinstein, 2009). This overdependence of artists on major record labels has an impeding effect on their life career, which might not be the case in other music genres that can be played and produced locally.

Gaining entry into the pop music industry is one thing; maintaining undisturbed success is yet another. A successful career would be characterized by sustainability and upward growth, especially in terms of increased sales, popularity and quality of production. Denying focus on the fiscal bit of this arrangement, it is worth noting that in a contract signed between an artist and a major record label, it is the latter, which stands to gain a lot (Middleton, 2002). Disagreements that occur between artists in a contract and the record labels can be fatal, as the major labels operate in the music industry as cartels. All of them, the Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group have a neat and well-designed framework that operates like a conglomerate to control the entry and exit of artists from the music industry. It is therefore an uphill task for a single artist to move between one label to another, unless the same has an outstanding performance, and is wooed by another label. The relationship, from the argument above, is thus restrictive, and the exit of an artist may lead to performance demise of the same. Even within the contract, there are major glitches that occur that may impede the success of an artist.

However, most contracts have seen many artists walk up to the helm of music production. For example, Michael Jackson was in a contract with the Sony Music Entertainment, which promoted him greatly and made him one of the most applauded pop stars. Since the signing of the contract with Sony, Michael Jackson managed to sell well over 350, 000 copies within the first months of signing the deal. Even before that, since the beginning of his music career until, he managed to sell over 750 million copies of his productions with several major labels. However, it is purported that at his death, Michael Jackson sold more copies than he had cumulatively done when alive (Scamman, 2009). At the time of his death, he was in a contract with Sony Music Entertainment, which was signed in 2010. This shows the influence a major label has on the success of an artist.

Another vivid example is the contribution of MTV to the wide popularity of Madonna and Michael Jackson in the early 1980s. Most people complained that MTV favoured the two artists, and true to their words, they became overly famous and forces to reckon with in the global pop music industry. However, when Michael Jackson made a public announcement that he was ditching Sony Music Entertainment, he did not last long in the industry, because he died in a rather controversial way, (Trappey et al, 2012) and his sales later went down to the bottom. The inference from this case study is that a major label can either promote or kill an artist’s career, depending on the nature of the relationship.

Similarly, major labels, as mentioned above, have exclusive rights over the production, marketing, distribution, publicity and sales of both sound record and music videos of artists with which they are in contract. Usually, these giant bodies receive returns from the sales, as a percentage greater than that given to the actual artist, referred to as royalties (Marcello, 2000). Furthermore, they control and dictate the number of copies produced, and they may be in control of this exclusive knowledge as well, making the artist a mere dependent. In the above case study, Michael Jackson is stated to have sold about 750 million copies, but one would not expect to multiply that number with a proximate value for each copy, and give him all that cash. Instead, the logical thing would be to find between 10 to 20% of the total amount, and count that as Michael Jackson’s. Even with this small amount, some artists end up not getting royalty cheques from their record labels, more often than not leading to their collapse. Since the record labels take care of the recording process, pay for the publicity and the production, they end up taking the largest amount of the share. However, the figures vary from who the record label is and who the artist is and what contract they sign. In addition, about 25% of the sales return is usually withheld by the label for packaging charges (Krasilovsky, ShemelGross, & Feinstein, 2009). This implies that bands and artists get much less from having their recordings sold through a record label. The effect of this is slow progression in the career life of an artist or even a band.

In this kind of arrangement, the amount of money left for the artist is usually dismal, and plainly difficult to manage. There is a common concept of getting advance payments before the actual royalties are paid. These advance payments are meant to keep the band going as the production and sales continue. When the final returns are received, the amount paid as advance is recouped from the royalties, further thinning the final share of the band. Upon receiving the final share, the manager of the band, or the main artist usually takes about 20% of the total amount, and divides the rest equally among band members (Tschmuck, 2006). This means that only artists whose albums strike gold in the consumer market get some substantial pay out of the label-artist relationship. Smaller artists barely get something to take home, thus affecting their upward movement in their career path grossly (Krasilovsky, ShemelGross, & Feinstein, 2009). Pop artists are usually the greatest bearers of this hit, owing to the nature of their dependence on major labels. Since they can barely gain publicity in the global music face, they have little choice by to sell their productions through the one unfavorable channel – the major labels.

Some bands and music artists have succeeded without the help of record labels. It is an odd thing, and a rather difficult adventure, owing to the dominance that record labels enjoy. The internet has created a platform where musicians and bands can market themselves, therefore not requiring the help of record labels. Amanda Palmer, who raises over 100,000 in just six hours, was dropped from a record label two years ago, but has since proved to be a formidable fighter, and unrelenting artist who can do without help (Furgason, 2008). Several other bands have made it without being signed up with record labels, and without having to seek a global face, including the Darkness, the Hamsters, Arctic Monkeys, Tom Williams and the Boat, Cardiacs, and Radiohead among others (Ulrich, 2011). This brings in a new discussion on the importance of record labels in the career of artists, a topic which has drawn heated debates.

How this Relationship is changing

Technological advancement has had an overarching impact on both the economic life and the social aspect of human survival. The music industry is one of the most affected segments of the economy, with rapid changes in production styles, forms of file sharing and entry into the music industry (Furgason, 2008). Over the past years, major labels have been seen as filters in the music industry, saving the consumers from the difficulty of maneuvering among the millions of artists who struggle to be heard. They have largely controlled entry and exit into the industry, making sure that only those deserving pop artists get the chance to express themselves. While this has been the order of the day, distribution and economic sales of recordings can now be done more easily, thanks to the emergence of cloud computing. Google, Amazon, YouTube or any other interface provide easy forums for sharing and purchase of files, either directly from the artist, or through a franchise (Bryan-Wilson, Kester & Elkins, 2009).

One obvious change of events in the relationship between these two parties is the localization of music, and increase in live performances and merchandise. In the past, pop music had a global face, having achieved a kind of international denominator in the music industry. Influences of social imperialism, modernization, globalization and the like has since been on the decline, as people embrace more localized music structures and forms (Bryan-Wilson, Kester & Elkins, 2009). Moreover, due to increase in live performances, artists are able to promote and market themselves, making the role 360 deals between artists and record labels null and void. It therefore means that an artist does not have to entirely depend on a major label to attain the publicity that one deserves. Instead, there are various channels through which this can be possible, especially the social media, the proliferation of Internet interphase, where individuals can seamlessly share files, and existence of numerous media centers (Furgason, 2008). Instead of signing pacts with major models, agreements are more common between media houses and artists than in the past, and these bodies carry out the promotional and publicity work on behalf of the artists. This is far much cheaper than the previous channel, which only saw artists getting away with about 10-20% of the total sales.

Technology is changing the ability to create, distribute, market, consume, pay and make modifications to music. With these in place, the role of music labels is slowly diminishing, and a greater intimacy is developing between the two major actors in the music industry – the fan and the artist (Scamman, 2008). Major labels’ role as intermediaries is losing grip, and soon a massive attrition will be witnessed as artists fall out of contracts signed between the labels and them. Though some scholars argue that labels may still play an important as filters in the infiltrated music industry, most critics view this as misconstrued focus into the future (Furgason, 2008). They argue that most major labels will lose their jobs and businesses in the next five years, since there exists no influential entity in the industry (Furgason, 2008).

Most artists are in the pursuit of saving their cents from the grip of the labels. Apart from this, piracy and online file sharing is stealing both from the artists and the major labels. Sales of recordings through major store outlets are fading, as consumers can conveniently buy or share audios and videos through the Internet (Ulrich, 2011). Through social media and other public sites like Youtube, music and videos are freely posted and shared among individuals, and people would rather download them from these sites than buy them from outlets. In the current system, most consumers do not view music and videos as commodities that should be paid for, while in real sense they spend unseen charges to acquire them. Internet charges have been found to surpass that of buying files directly from the stores, but it is regrettable that this money does not fall in the hands of either the major labels, nor the on the artists. It, instead, goes to other multinational corporations who control virtually everything in the Internet world, like the Google, Amazon, and Yahoo! Recently, this trend is changing with royalty agreements being made with these sites. For example on iTunes and YouTube, people who hear legally music are paying to hear a song so artists and labels actually get money from that. Their incomes are not so much but they still get paid for every view. The audience is wide and it works as an advantage to the artists. This system is thus changing the relationship that once existed between the major labels and pop artists.

Conclusion

In lieu of the arguments presented above, it suffices to conclude that major labels have a profound influence on the careers of artists, especially the pop stars. They can decide to thwart or promote one’s dreams, though from any kind of engagement, they stand to gain more. On the basis of promoting one’s dreams, it has been realized that the major models have the power to make one rise from the grassroots, to the helm of the music industry, through the processes of auditioning, offering financial support, carrying out massive publicity in favour of a particular pop artist, and ensuring intensive marketing of the sound and video recordings. On the other hand, these giant bodies can influence an artist’s career to the negative especially when there is fallout between the two and the relationship has turned sour. Even at the very beginning of one’s career, failure of support by these corporations could stamp an artist’s dreams on the ground. This autonomy is, however, on the decline due to effects of technological advancement.

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