In the music industry there is three major labels (Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group) as well as many subsidary and independent labels. The major labels take up the majority of the music made and sold, as up to as much as 75%of the market.

In these major labels the main genres are R&B, Pop, Rap and Rock. Audiences for these labels are known as the mass audience. For Independent labels, the target audience is known as a niche audience, this is because the genres are more specific and for a more particular audience. As there as so many genres that Independent labels make, the main ones that the labels create are Grime and Electronic music.

In this essay I will be talking about the major label, Universal Music Group. The parent company of this organisation is a French conglomerate called Vivendi. It is based in Santa Monica, California. It is a multinational corperation which has many subsidaries based in different countires, to specify to a more niche audience from the mass audience. For example, there is Universal Music Group Nashville and Universal Music Latin Entertainment, for Nashville the niche audience would be people that listen to country music and for Latin Entertainment it would be people from Latin America that want to litsen to Latin music.

Universal Music Group is the a global music label with a strong market position in the music industry. UMG also owns the Universal Music Publishing Group. This company discovers upcoming songwriters and gives copyright rights to music made for performances films and adverts. Universal also owns a company that sells any artists' products through online sales, retail and live performances. This company is called Bravado and maintains offices in London, Los Angeles, New York, Berlin, Paris, Tokyo and Sydney.

The Independent label that I will be talking about will be Rough Trade, which was founded by Geoff Travis in 1978. Rough Trade Records is a well known independent label famous for being at the heart of the punk movement. The label has since continued to define the genre of 'indie music' through the upcoming artists it produces. It is based in Ladbroke Grove, West London and has branches in New York, Nottingham and Kensington. As they are an independent label they do not have a market share.

Audience and Genre

Universal Music Group has many artists who produce music from different genres. For example, the artists on this label range from Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Kanye West, Iron Maidan and Sam Smith, these artists have different genres like R&B, Pop, Soul, Rock and Rap. As Universal are a major label they have money to take risks such as signing artsits that may not bring in good market sales. Due to all the different artists signed to the label, there is an audience that ranges from 16 to 50 and above, of both male and female. Rough Trade however, as an independent label who promotes a certain genre of music, do not have a variety of artists with a variety of genres. The genres that Rough Trade promote and produce are Punk, Rock and Funk. Artist on this label include The Smiths, The Libertines and Jenny Lee Lindburg. The artists and the music they produce creates a niche target audience through attracting people who would listen to these genres only. The label then continues to keep this niche audience through only signing artists who create these genres. As they are an independent label, they won't have as much funds as a major label, who would have enough to sign lots of different genres and create a mainstream audience. The target for Rough Trade records would be both genders aged between 15 to 25. The interests of this target audience would be going to festivals, watching TV and films, spending time on the internet and reading books. 

Cross Promotion and Distribution

Universal Music Publishing Group is owned by Universal Music Group. Its a leader from music publishing, it also helps that the Universal Music Group represents many different artists and therefore bring in more revenue to the market. This has been the case for the last fifteen years in the USA through the use of sales across formats such as physical, digital, mobile and streaming. As this is in the USA, in many other countries Universal Music Group handle sales distributions on their own as well as having sub-contracted services to third parties in order to handle distributions with other record companies.

Vevo, a mainstream media source that release artists' new music videos through a partnership with YouTube, is owned by Universal Music Group. Vevo gets roughly 5.5 billion views on YouTube monthly across the globe, this shows what a mainstream audience this source of distribution brings in. 

As Rough Trade are an independent label they don't have partnerships with companies like YouTube. However, they have their own website which allows them to distribute their products. They also have shops in London which allow the target audience of the artists to go and physical buy the products. The label mainly promotes their music through social media as the target audience is likely to be on social media looking for updates on the artists. Even though they don't have a partnership with YouTube, they still have their own channel which they use to upload their artists' new music and videos as a form of promotion. 

Marketing and Synergy

The Voice is owned by Universal Music Group. This is a talent TV show that showcases people's singing abilities. The judges on this show are all artists on a subsidary labels of Universal Music Group. For example, Will.I.Am; a judge on the show, is signed to Will.I.Am Music Group, which is a subsidary of Universal. This is an example of horizontal intergration as it uses two different products, from the same parent organisation, to cross promote each other. Universal promotes their artists through promoting them on the TV show, which also promotes the show. 

Kayne West is an artist signed to Universal Music Group. Universal and Adidas used synergy when Kanye West created a footwear range with Adidas called Yeezy's, as this promoted both products but they are from different parent companies, it is classified as an example of synergy not horizontal intergration. Universal also owns Universal Studios which allows horizontal intergration through using artists' music in movies. For example, Fast and Furious is a film producd by Universal Studios and the film features Ludacris, an artist on Universal, whos music also features on the soundtrack. This is an example of horizontal intergration as it cross promotes Ludacris' product of music as well as him as an artist, along with promoting the film through the trailers and adverts.

The three major labels promote their artists through many different types of media. One artist signed to Universal is Rihanna whose genre of music is mainly hip-hop and dance. Her target audience is 16-26 year old females as the target audience can relate to the artist through her use of lyrics and melodies. The interests of her target audience would be going out with friends and shopping.

She uses Twitter and Instagram to promote herself through pictures and inforon of upcoming events and products she is creating, for example music, a new tour, or a perfume. This allows her target audience to get the fastest updates of these products from these social media pages. Universal work alongside Vevo to promote her music, through YouTube adverts promoting her upcoming music and videos.

Universal Music Group promotes her product through sponserships and cross promotion through synergy. For example, the company used synergy when Rihanna collaborated with Puma to come up with a shoe collection as well as being ina Puma advert showcasing Puma clothing. In these adverts her music is also promoted which allows for both products to be cross promoted. Although the target audience for these adverts then becomes increased to both products target audiences, the target audience age range stays the same as both are around 16-26.

Independent labels are unable to show horizontal intergration with different as their labels aren't big enough and don't have as many media platforms or subsidaries to cross promote products. However, they can still use horizontal intergration with different artists, such as featuring on eachs others songs to cross promote each others music. They can also use synergy with other companies. One artist on Rough Trade Records is a band called 'Warpaint'. Their primary target audience would be females aged 15-25 who enjoy using social media and reading books. The label promote the band through updating their facebook and twitter social media pages to keep fans up to date on upcoming events and products. Rough Trade used synergy to promote Warpaint alongside Calvin Klein Jeans when the band featured in an advert in 2013. This allowed cross promotion through both companies coming together to promote their products. As well as a YouTube channel, Rough Trade Records also has a spotify page which allows them to promote their artists' music.

Conclusion

In conclusion, major and independent labels have similarites such as music producing and engireneering their products in the company, as well as promoting artists on social media pages.

However, there are also many differences. For example, major labels have more funds and thus have more means to better publicity and access to better record producers for a global audience, in comparison to independent labels who have limited distributors and have a niche audience in select countries.