Music Matters

Running Head: Music Matters

Music Matters

Dory Younes

American University of Beirut

Music Matters

Abstract

The major key players in the music industry have shifted our views of what we call music today. From the struggles of independent record labels to the price wars of major record labels we find that not every industry is perfect. The essay is a critical evaluation of the current quality, content, and value of the music industry.

 

 

 

 

SONY BMG ENTERTAINMENT	EMI	Universal Music Group
Dance of Death- Iron Maiden   Columbia Records*	X&Y – Coldplay   Capitol**	Have a nice Day- Bon Jovi   The Island Def Jam Music Group***
How to Save  A Life- The Fray*	Meds- Placebo   Virgin Records Limited**	Tha Carter III- Lil Wayne   Cash Money Records***
Falling Away-Crossfade*		Relapse- Eminem   Shady Records***
Hypnotize-System of A Down*
Here I Stand- Usher*

* (List of Sony Music Entertianment Labels, 2009)

* (List of Sony Music Entertainment Artists, 2009)

** (List of EMI Labels, 2009)

** (List of musicians signed to EMI)

*** (List of Universal Music Group labels, 2009)

Based on the breakdown form the article Wal-Mart wants $10 Cds in the Rolling Stones website, the total cost of the collection of music I listed above is approximately $159.9. (COHEN, 2004)

The music industry is a money gateway, and when you look at all the places your money goes to when buying a music CD, you stop and ask yourself, is it worth it? The music I listen to, or anyone else, is directed and approved by the same major record companies. Most profits are heading to them and only some of the artists are getting a fair cut. However, the bad part comes with the independent record labels that are finding it harder and harder to survive the competition that major record labels present. It’s tough resisting the dominance of the big players in the music industry since most the authoritative power is coming from the same people. If you look at the table, 50% of my music is owned by Sony BMG Entertainment. So, am I a serious supporter of the artists? Let’s dig into the quality of the music first to find out.

There are multiple differences when it comes to comparing the music from an independent record label company versus a major label company. First off, the content of the music becomes more main-stream when you are under the major record label companies. Independent record labels have more control of what they want to produce and most the records they produce are not commercialized like the major record labels. The quality of music also differs in that you get more quality but less quantity when you deal with independent record labels. Major record labels aim for making more money. Independent record companies might be big corporations too, but they keep their quality and practice their traditions. It’s hard to find an independent record company that doesn’t entertain the people by setting the quality of content standards pretty high. “Some prefer to use the term indie label to refer to only those independent labels that adhere to an arbitrary, ill-defined criteria of corporate structure and size, and some consider an indie label to be almost any label that releases non-mainstream music, regardless of its corporate structure.” (Record label, 2009)

Since there are a select handful of major companies that dominate the music industry, an artist is going to have to weigh all pros and cons of joining a major record label. For starters, having a bunch of major record labels means that every one of those record labels is going to do everything to hire anyone just to have a greater pool of artists. The question becomes, are those record labels doing it for the money or are they doing it because they actually like the music. Honestly, I believe that they do it for the money, and I say that because you can literally find over 50 artists that are signed under each major record label. Basically, to them a single artist means nothing, and their aim is to make records that sell millions, so in turn they can make millions. Another negative in having a major record labels controlling everything is that they don’t work for the artists, instead, the artist works for them. The point is that artists start to make music to please the record labels. The more the album sells, the better off the artist becomes. (McDonald)

The positives of having major record labels dominate are that the artists benefit from more money opposed to being independent, have more connections, and benefit from the size of the record label companies. More money comes handy with promotion and advertising for the album, which is a huge benefit for the artist. This is an advantage over independent record labels because they have greater buying power and a greater audience. Multibillion dollar record labels have the purchasing power to produce and market millions of albums, especially the ones that they find profitable. To the consumer, whether an artist chooses to produce his/her albums independently or with a major record label determines the quality of content in the music, more independent artists have the advantage of passion for music rather than passion for the money. (McDonald)

When discussing trends, you find very similar characteristics about certain mainstream music. The first is that most the music I have are highly commercialized, and that is one of the main objectives of a major record label; getting the music out there. However, this makes it extremely hard for the independent labels to make it mainstream, since they are practically competing against giants. The second trend involves production. Many albums I listen to have millions of copies produced and distributed around the world. The music styles are different, but in some sense they are made to be put on radios; liked by the majority of people. That the difference between underground music and commercial music, not everyone enjoys underground unless they are true fans of the genre itself. (McDonald)

“”We’re in such a competitive world, and you can’t reach consumers if you’re not in Wal-Mart,” admits another label executive.” (COHEN, 2004) Wal-Marts dominance in the music industry has affected all types of companies. From the local music store to the major record label, everyone felt threatened by Wal-Marts entry into the music industry. Selling music only totals to 2% of Wal-Marts total sales, however, it sells about 20% of major record label sales. (COHEN, 2004) With that in mind, Wal-Mart demanded that record labels sell their CD’s at cheaper prices so that Wal-Mart could sell them at $9.72. (COHEN, 2004) As this price war evolved, record label companies began finding it difficult to compete against Wal-Marts power in the music industry. In some sense, I find that to be the cause of Wal-Marts decline in leadership, along with the fact that Wal-Mart wants everything their way. However, I also believe that Wal-Mart lost interest in music sales because only a few of the major record labels agreed on lowering the prices for Wal-Mart.  Wal-Marts plan was to sell CD’s for a price cheaper than they originally bought it for, hoping that someone would buy complementary items such as stereos. (COHEN, 2004) Therefore, the artist had to look for alternatives to sell their music, and one of the most popular ways to sell became online (ex. iTunes). From a consumer’s perspective, music became so much cheaper now that you can download single tracks or albums at low prices.

To sum up, the music industry is a money chugging industry that has multiple twists and turns. From the major record labels to the independent ones, money is somehow involved, either by having an excess of it or not having it at all. However, the fine line between making good music and making excellent music differentiates the passionate artists from the ones who are just trying to make money. Nowadays, the main goal of most major music industries is to make the most profits, and they achieve that by acquiring more artists to add to their pool. Personally, I find that to be a negative since it takes away from the quality of the music, the quality of the content, and the passion of the artists themselves. The only thing added is money to the pockets of the giants. So am I a serious supporter? Yes and no. Yes because I enjoy the music the artists make and I respect their dedication to the music industry. No because the artists are controlled by too many factors, the main being the cooperation’s they work for.

References

COHEN, W. (2004, October 12). Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 1, 2009, from Walmart wants $10 CDs: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6558540/walmart_wants_10_cds

List of EMI Labels. (2009, October 18). Retrieved November 1, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_EMI_labels

List of musicians signed to EMI. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_musicians_signed_to_EMI

List of Sony Music Entertainment Artists. (2009, October 30). Retrieved November 1, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sony_Music_Entertainment_artists#P

List of Sony Music Entertianment Labels. (2009, October 28). Retrieved November 1, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sony_Music_Entertainment_labels

List of Universal Music Group labels. (2009, October 31). Retrieved Novemer 1, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Universal_Music_Group_labels

McDonald, H. (n.d.). Major Record Label Deals: Pros and Cons. Retrieved November 3, 2009, from About.com: http://musicians.about.com/od/beingamusician/a/majorlabelpandc.htm

Record label. (2009, October 25). Retrieved November 2, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Record_label#Major_vs._Independent_record_labels

~ by younesdory on November 8, 2009.