CASE STUDY- Major record labels

There are three major record labels in the world:

• Sony
• Warner
• Universal

There are 1000's of independent record labels.
There are many subsidiary labels owned by one of the major record company, EG. Def jam is owned by universal

My task is to choose one of the three major record labels to research and write about.- Include a couple of artists that belong to the record label.
and a UK independant record company

The record label I have chosen to study about is the Universal music group, the artist I have researched on in Lana Del Rey, she is currently signed to "Interscope records" which is a subsidiary label of Universal. Universal is an American record label and is has become one of the three major record labels in the world due to its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations.
The UK independent record label i will be researching about is "Monotreme records"-  http://www.monotremerecords.com/

Institutions and audiences

Institutions
Record label, promoters

Audiences
Consume music, physical sales, download- Mp3, merchandise, tour tickets

Past questions

January 2009: Production and distrobution methods.
June 2009: Importance of technological convergence to audiences and institutions.
January 2010: Domination of global institution setting to national audiences- agree/disagree.
June 2010: Significane of continuing development of digital technology for audience and institution.
January 2011: Issues raised by media ownership in production and exchange of texts.

music industry terminology

• Convergence of technology- The change from analogue to digital
• Convergence of industrial activity- Things that used to come from different companies but now can be found from the same.
• Synergy- Two or more industries combine to produce a result that they can't achieve by themselves. EG. Morrisons advert-take that, Tony Hawks pro skater 4- AC/DC
• Conglomerate- A company made up of companies, Eg. Sony
• Globalisation- A record label that sells products worldwide (across the globe)
• Analogue music- A vinyl or a tape from before the 1980s
• Digitisation- The conversion of analogue (vinyl) to digital (MP3, CD) which came around 1984
• Vertical integration - The merger or takeover of companies operating at different stages of the production/distribution process.
• Horizontal integration- A record label like sony music owns a number of other music labels, for example Sony owns subsidiary labels like; Legacy, Epic, Arista and Columbia
• Major record label- A large well known record label that owns subsidiary labels, There are only three major record labels in the world; Sony, Universal and Warner
• Subsidiary label- A subsidiary label is a record label owned by a major record label Sony
• Independent label- An independent record label is a record label operating without the help and funding of others out of the organisation
• niche audience- A niche audience is a small fragment of a specialist audience
• mainstream audience-The uncontroversial, generally accepted attitudes, believes and values of the majority populations 
• fans- An individual with a strong interest or admiration for an in particular entertainment form.
• active audiences- Individuals who promote an artist or a band just for the "thrills", they're not getting paid from any artist, band or company.
• Audiophiles- Early adopters of music technology, sometimes paying large amounts for the top of the range technology.
• Early adopters- Very responsive to new technology
• Consumption- Purchasing products of the music industry; music, tour tickets, t-shirts etc.
• web 2.0- The second generation of computing, an interactive use of the Internet.
• meta-tags/ personalisation- The information within the file- Genre-Album-Artist-Rating.
• download-  To be able to copy data from one computer system/ website to another or a disk. 
• streaming-  Streaming is commonly a term used when a multimedia file such as an audio or a video can be played back without being completely downloaded. Most files like shareware and software updates that are downloaded from the internet are not streaming data but certain files like "real audio" and "QuickTime"documents can be streaming files meaning that they can be watched or listened to whilst it is being downloaded to the computer. Faster internet connections mean that audio or video files can be streamed live to a computer. 
• Peer to peer- Sharing music or other media files to individuals through the Internet.
• piracy- The act of downloading files from unauthorized sources and illegal radio or television station download. 
• portability/ miniaturisation- The act of something being made on a greatly reduced scale.
• multi-track- A device which is capable of recording several parallel parts of tracks which may then be mixed or re-recorded independently. 
• sampling- The technique of digitally encoding music or sound and reusing it as part of a composition or recording 
• Digital audio workstation (DAW)- A computer based set-up used for editing material.
• A&R- Artists and repertoire- The division of a record label company that is responsible for scouting and overseeing the artists. The A&R also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.
• record deal- contract- royalties- A legal agreement between a record label or recording artist/s. The artist/s make a record or album for the label to sell and promote.
• distribution- The way something is shared among groups and recipients, eg. How an album is sold- Shops, Itunes ect. 
• plugging/ marketing- The promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.