5 Questions

What does a record lable do?

• Record compaines are the main investors in, developers of, musical talent in the UK and globally. Record labels enable artists, through advances and marketing/sales support, to treat music making as a full-time career. They reveal the artists' records commercially. Labels pay for the recording and mixing of albums and they often underwrite new acts' touring costs to help raise their profile and sales. Record lables also provide an essential promotional and marketing role, developing and executing ad and marketing campaigns.

This is why artists would want to be signed.
 Give 4 examples of services a record lable might provide for an artist.
- Exploit artists' recordings commercially and collect and pay the resulting royalties on their behalf.
- Pay for the recording and mixing of their albums.
- Provide an essential promotional and marketing role
- Lables can also seek other ways for the recordings to be exploited such as being used in movies and adverts and license rights to global parties in diferent markets.

Give 4 examples of ways in which record labels make money?

• Promotion and marketing.
• They often underwrite new acts' touring cost to help raise their profile and sales.

Name the'big four' record labels and name two well-known artists who are signed to each one

• Song/BMG -
• Universal -
• EMI -
• Warner -

Institutions and Audience - The British Music Industry

G322 Section B: Institutions and Audience
The British Music Industry

One essay question
50 marks (the other 50 marks is for Section B Textual Analysis)

You will use two detailed case studies of record labels in the exam.
We will be studying:
(a) Universal Music Group (a conglomerate record label)
(b) Domino Records (an independent record label)

You are awarded marks for:
Explanation/analysis/argument (20 marks)
Use of examples (20 marks)
Use of terminology (10 marks)

Types of question in the exam:
1. What are the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice?

2. What is the importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing?

3. What are the technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange?

4. What is the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences?

5. What is the importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences?

6. What are the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international or global institutions?

7. What are the ways in which the candidates own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour?

Key Terms for the exam

1. Institution
2. Audience
3. Revenue
4. Proliferation
5. Convergence
6. Synergy
7. Production
8. Distribution
9. Marketing
10. Consumption