What is a record label?
Record labels are the companies that provide support to artists from writing and recording music to distributing it to the masses.
Record labels for Majors vs. Indies:
Majors
Large corporations own subsidiary companies that include music publishers, record labels, and other service providers. Some of the record labels specialize in certain genres or territories, under the umbrella of the larger music company.
“The Big Three”
Sony Music Entertainment
Universal Music Group
Warner Music Group
Pros to working with a Major Record Label
Big budgets for recording, artist development, and marketing
Large distribution network
Cons
Less creative freedom
Control some of the rights to your music for long periods of time, or forever
Try to take a cut from every revenue stream
Indies
Indie labels operate without corporate backing or funding from major record labels.
Pros
First to know about upcoming trends
Give chances to lesser known artists
More artist-friendly deals
Cons
Smaller distribution network
Less money and time to spend on artist development, recording and marketing