The 4 Main Areas Of The Music Industry
The music industry is an enormous industry that is ever growing and changing with every day that passes. Despite this constant change, however, there are 4 main areas of the industry that tend to stick around. These are live performance, record companies, music publishing and artist management. Each plays as important a role as the other, and the music industry would not function the same way without them. This essay will take a look into what makes up these different areas, and will give a good understanding of the music industry works.
Live performance is a huge part of the music industry, and a lot goes into it. It is currently over a £1 billion sector of the industry and is ever growing. Live performance covers anything from someone playing at a local pub, to a world-famous band performing in front of tens of thousands, and everything in between. Performing live is a great way for artists to get started establishing their style, whilst also gaining exposure. Performing live is also a way for artists to connect with their fans in person, and offers a different experience for both the artist and their audience, that can’t be achieved any other way. Live performances also have the effect of bringing people with different backgrounds and hobbies who have never met before, together under the same interest, connecting people from potentially all over the world. There are many components that have to be considered when talking about live performance, the most important of which is health and safety. Many potential risks come with live performances, so there tends to be a dedicated team to making sure that everything runs smoothly and that nobody gets hurt. The first big potential risk is sound damage. Too high a volume could cause serious damage to somebody, so this has to be considered. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Noise at Work Regulations 2005 both require that planners take measures to ensure the health of both audience and staff.
Another big potential risk is that of overcrowding. If the correct preparations are not made during planning, there may be the issue of going over capacity. This is extremely dangerous, as it poses the risk of people getting physically injured while at the show. Event organisation should ensure they have an emergency plan in the case of this, as well as stewards at the venue to assist audience members. Setting up and promoting a live event can be a big task, depending on the size of the event, for example a small event might just require booking at a local venue and promoting on social media, whereas a major event like V-Fest would require much more planning, consideration and money. The first thing to think about is usually your venue. Finding a venue is very important as the artist needs somewhere to perform that can accommodate their fans. Care should be taken, however, to properly research available venues and pick the best one for your show. A small band just starting out isn’t going to fill out a venue with 20, 000 seats on their first show. The same applies the other way around, a massively famous artist usually isn’t going to book out a small venue with a capacity of only 100, as they know they will sell more tickets than there is space. When thinking about live performance, there is somebody who is often forgotten, the live sound engineer. The live sound engineer plays a very important role in any live performance, it is their job to mix all sound live top ensure the audience is getting the best sound quality they can. They are usually situated in the middle of the audience, or at the back few rows. Although they go by with little recognition, you could argue that they are just as important as the artist themselves. Within the UK there are many different venues to suit all different kinds of artists and events. You have the smallest venues like local bars and pubs, then you have dedicated small music venues like Café Oto and The Sebright Arms in London. Then you have larger venues like the O2 Academy Brixton in London, with a capacity of 4921 people. This kind of venue would be much more suited toward a successful, established band looking for a venue for a gig. At the very top end of venues you have stadiums and parks suited to massive concerts and festivals, like Wembley Stadium, with a capacity of 68, 000, and the Download Festival at Donington Park, with a capacity of 110, 000. Although these massive venues may be able to hold a much larger amount of people, they’re not strictly a better option, as when playing on that scale, the artist loses a lot of interaction with the audience.
The live performance industry has been caught in somewhat of a dilemma lately regarding ticket sales. When tickets are sold the artist will get a cut of that money, but when tickets are being bought and then later sold on second-hand at a higher price the artist is getting nothing of that marked-up price. An example of one of these ticket resale companies is Viagogo. Viagogo are selling tickets for a ridiculously high price, it is not rare for them to be selling tickets at 600% the original cost. Now this seems bad enough as it is already, but when you find out that Ticketmaster owns Viagogo, and is selling Viagogo tickets, just for them to sell them at a much higher price, it is almost unbelievable. Because of this tickets prices are getting higher and higher, and this means that less people are buying tickets for live music. This scam operated by Viagogo and Ticketmaster is having a massive impact on the live performance sector of the music industry, and sooner or later something needs to be done to combat this. Record companies are a very important part of the music industry, as they are responsible for the majority of many artists’ income. Record labels do a wide variety of things, this includes artist recruitment and developing, enforcing copyright, and music publishing. Signing to a record label can be very beneficial for an artist, as, not only can they start earning revenue through royalties, but the record company will usually invest a sum of money in the artist, to tide them over until they start earning from record sales. Arguably the most important part of signing to a label, however, is the exposure the artist will gain. The record label will make efforts to promote the artist, and handle a lot of the marketing for them. This is a great way to get your name out there and start gathering a fanbase. Record companies make money through selling records and taking a percentage of the royalties earned.
The majority of record labels will be able to provide a recording studio for their signed artists, this means that the artist will have use of high quality equipment to develop their compositions, without all the cost of setting up their own studio, or having to rent a studio. This is a big advantage for smaller artists who don’t have the money to afford their own recording equipment.
Artists tend not to turn up on a label’s doorstep one day and get signed, rather record companies tend to have a dedicated division called A&R, whose job is to scout and sign talent to their label. People working in A&R need to have a good understanding of the current state of the market to be able to sign successful artists. For this reason, many of those working in A&R are musicians or producers themselves. Music journalists are also a great fit for this position as they should have a good grasp on the market, and what is popular at the time.
Once a record has been produced, there is still the matter of distributing the record to the public. Record distribution can be handled in a variety of ways, the most common of which is for the label to sign a contract with the distribution company, allowing them to sell the record. With this method the distributor will take a percentage of the revenue made from selling the product to cover manufacturing costs and enable them to make profit, and the rest of the revenue will go to the record label. This method is common when dealing with a finished product, but in the case that the product is unfinished, the distribution company may offer to pay for all manufacturing costs in advance. In this case, the distributors will take all revenue from record sales, until their advance payment has been paid. This method allows the record label to work with their artist to finish the product, without having to worry about finding the money to pay for manufacturing costs. Record labels are split into different categories, the main two are major labels and independent labels. Major labels are usually owned by a parent company, such as Universal or Sony. This means they have the funds and resources needed to give an artist a large amount of exposure, and supply them with valuable guidance and advice. Independent labels, as the name suggests, don’t have corporate backing. This means that they have much fewer resources than a major label, but independent labels do have their advantages over major labels too. An artist signing to an independent label may be able to keep the full rights to their composition, which is something that rarely occurs when signed with a major record label. This means the artists can do whatever they want with their composition, without any complications. Signing with an independent label also has another advantage in that they take a much lower percentage of an artist’s royalties than a major label does. In conclusion, signing with a major label will likely bring an artist much more exposure and provide more guidance, whereas an independent label gives an artist much more freedom over their work. Both are very viable options, and will help an artist grow in different ways. A major label is probably a better choice for an artist who wants to grow their fanbase quickly. An independent label is likely the better option for artists who want to have as much control over their work as possible, while still wanting to sign to a label. Artist management is the area of the music industry that focuses on giving expert guidance to musicians, to maintain their brand image over the course of their professional career. This covers many different aspects, the first of which is administration. Artists may find it difficult to handle all of their own administrative work, as they are busy with recording and live performances, so having an artist manager benefits them greatly. In the case that an artist plans to do a gig, their manager will be responsible for finding and booking a relevant venue, and handling all the costs associated with this. This gives the artists more time to focus on their performance. Artist managers also handle any record deals or publishing contracts for the artist. This is much easier than it would be if the artist did not have an artist management team, as they would still have to pay an extortionate amount of money for a lawyer to handle these affairs, without the additional guidance they get from having an artist manager. The guidance an artist manager provides can be extremely useful for making sure an artist grows and establishes the brand properly, and also make sure that they don’t get into any trouble. More specifically, this includes managing media relations and making links in the industry, such as what producer to collaborate with or what record label to sign with. Artist managers also give guidance on how to maintain an artist’s brand image outside of their professional life. This is because managers will want an artist to keep their brand as real as possible and reinforce it in their everyday life. For example, if an artist whose target audience is children, their manager will not want them doing anything that could be seen in a negative light, as that would reflect negatively on their brand image, and they could face repercussions. Music publishing companies are another area that focuses on working with artists to develop their brand, and ensure that they are getting paid what they deserve. Although at first, music publishers sound very similar to record companies, they differ in a multitude of ways. Whereas record companies focus more on producing the record itself and then working on sales, music publishers tend to work more on the legal side of things, dealing with copyright issues and licensing, as well as promotion and marketing.
Overall, I think we have learned that each area of the music industry plays a significant role in developing and maintaining artists, each one as important as the other, and all are necessary for keeping the music industry functioning as well as it can. Without record companies it would be harder for artists to get their name out initially, music publishers ensure that artists are compensated for their work, artist managers help artists manage their heavy workload and legal aspects, and live performance is a way to keep music fresh and new, while also unite fans from all over the world.
