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MAJOR LABEL – UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUPUniversal Music Group is a music and entertainment company that is the

biggest music label in the world. It was established in 1999 however dates back to 1934 as Decca Records had founded it back in 1934. It has always been a dominant music label as it is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures (one of the largest movie production companies in the world). It proceeded to dominate the market and become the largest music label when they purchased EMI who was formerly part of ‘The Big Four’ in 2012.

As they are the largest music label, they have huge A list artists such as Amy Winehouse, The Weeknd, Kanye West and the list goes on. I believe this music label would be extremely beneficial for our artist as they have the money and resources to support him however necessary. For example, because they have a larger audience and more money they can give my artist more exposure than an independent label could. Also, the fact that they have big artists is a fantastic opportunity for our artist to be on the same roster as them which puts him at the same level. This alone would be exposure for our artist.

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INDEPENDENT LABEL – XL RECORDINGSXL Recordings is an independent label founded in 1989. The label is part of the

Beggars Group which is a British record company that distributes other labels. When the label first began the main focus was rave and dance music however due to artists such as The Prodigy it became more popular. During the 90s they began to branch out and release drum and bass music. In the 2000s XL became extremely popular and their artists won many awards which made a lot of artists leave their labels for them. Radiohead became unhappy with their record label and proceeded to move to XL as they had more freedom and were able to release the music they wanted.

Although they are an independent label they have been known to have A list artists such as Adele, Radiohead, Tyler The Creator, Dizzee Rascal and more. This label could also benefit my artist as they have high end equipment and also their own studio (XL Studio) which means that our artist can produce music at the same quality as an artist from a major label can. Also, they give their artists the freedom to create whatever they want for example, Radiohead’s and Tyler The Creator’s unique styled videos. This is a benefit as a major label may not want their artists to be too explicit or rebellious as it may tarnish their name.

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