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major label

A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. A record label can also be a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos, while also conducting talent scouting and development of new artists, artist financing and maintaining contracts with recording artists and their managers. The term "record label" derives from the circular label in the center of a vinyl recor

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Within the mainstream music industry, recording artists have traditionally been reliant upon record labels to broaden their consumer base, market their albums, and promote their singles on streaming services, radio, and television. Record labels also provide publicists, who assist performers in gaining positive media coverage, and arrange for their merchandise to be available via stores and other media outlets.

Major versus independent record labels

Record labels may be small, localized and "independent" ("indie"), or they may be part of a large international media group, or somewhere in between. The Association of Independent Music (AIM) defines a "major" as "a multinational company which (together with the companies in its group) has more than 5% of the world market(s) for the sale of records or music videos". As of 2026, only three labels are "major labels": Sony Music Group, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group. In 2014, AIM estimated that the majors had a collective global market share of some 65–70%.

Major labels

Major record labels are often under the control of a corporate umbrella organization called a "music group". A music group is usually affiliated to an international conglomerate "holding company", which often has non-music divisions as well. A music group controls and consists of music-publishing companies, record (sound recording) manufacturers, record distributors, and record labels. Record companies (manufacturers, distributors, and labels) may also constitute a "record group" which is, in turn, controlled by a music group. The constituent companies in a music group or record group are sometimes marketed as being "divisions" of the group.

Present major labels

From 1929 to 1998, there were six major record labels, known as the Big Six:

Warner Music Group

EMI

Sony Music (known as CBS Records until January 1988)

BMG (formed in 1985 as RCA/Ariola International)

Universal Music Group (known as MCA Records until 1996)

PolyGram

PolyGram was merged into Universal Music Group (UMG) in 1999, leaving the remaining record labels to be known as the Big Five.

Independent

Record labels and music publishers that are not under the control of the Big Four are generally considered to be independent (indie), even if they are large corporations with complex structures. The term indie label is sometimes used to refer to only those independent labels that adhere to independent 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.

Independent labels are often considered more artist-friendly. Though they may have less sales power, indie labels typically offer larger artist royalty with a 50% profit-share agreement, aka 50–50 deal, not uncommon. In addition, independent labels are often artist-owned (although not always), with a stated intent often being to control the quality of the artist's output. Independent labels usually do not enjoy the resources available to the "big four" and as such will often lag behind them in market shares. However, frequently independent artists manage a return by recording for a much smaller production cost of a typical big label release. Sometimes they are able to recoup their initial advance even with much lower sales numbers.

출처: Record label (CC BY-SA)

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2012년
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major label 구성 EMI
2012년
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major label 구성 EMI

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Major versus independent record labels

Major labels

Present major labels

From 1929 to 1998, there were six major record labels, known as the Big Six:

Warner Music Group

EMI

Sony Music (known as CBS Records until January 1988)

BMG (formed in 1985 as RCA/Ariola International)

Universal Music Group (known as MCA Records until 1996)

PolyGram

PolyGram was merged into Universal Music Group (UMG) in 1999, leaving the remaining record labels to be known as the Big Five.

Independent

출처: Record label (CC BY-SA)

확인된 구조화 정보, 사용자 의견, AI가 찾은 관계를 구분해 표시해요.

개요

Major versus independent record labels

Major labels

Present major labels

Independent

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문서 토론

변화의 기록

Major versus independent record labels

Major labels

Present major labels

Independent