WARNER MUSIC GROUP

A STUDY OF THE MAJOR MUSIC LABEL, INCLUDING A CLOSE STUDY OF TWO SUB-

LABELS

WARNER MUSIC GROUP

• Owned by Time Warner

• One of the ‘BIG THREE’

• Founded in 1958 as WB (Warner Bros.) Records

• New York, US based major

• Responsible for ownership of various bands, artists and songs; including Prince, Oasis, Taylor Swift, Gnarls Barkley and The Prodigy

• WMG is one of the music industry’s biggest companies and has been an industry leader for nearly 40 years and has helped artists and labels grow their careers and businesses.

SUB LABELS - WMG

• Full Frequency Range Recordings is a dance music sub label of Warner Music Group originally established in 1986 by Pete Tong. In 2011, FFRR was relaunched under Warner Music UK and today is a dance imprint for Parlophone, with Tong at the helm of A&R for the label. The label’s roster includes Paper Crows, Blonde, Oliver Heldens, Disciples, and Icarus. The original incarnation of FFRR featured releases from such groundbreaking artists as Orbital, The Brand New Heavies, Shakespear’s Sister, Salt ‘N’ Pepa, Lil Louis, LTJ Bukem, All Saints, Jay-Z, Smith & Mighty, Armand Van Helden, Carl Cox, and Tong himself. The name FFRR originally stood for Full Frequency Range Recording, an improved high-fidelity recording technique.

• Source - http://www.wmg.com/services#artists-services

SUB LABELS - WMG

• ATLANTIC• The Atlantic sub-label is considered ‘one of the most iconic and enduring labels in music history’. Atlantic is

over 70 years old and continues to produce and release a broad and diverse range of chart-topping music. • Artists including Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, and Wiz Khalifa. Atlantic was founded in New York City in 1947 by

Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson.• Atlantic began as an ‘independent, one-room operation dedicated to finding, recording, and promoting R&B

and jazz’. Names such as Jerry Wexler, Nesuhi Ertegun, Tom Dowd, and Arif Mardin soon joined the duo.• ‘A rarity in the music industry, the Atlantic of today can trace its legacy in an unbroken line back to its very first

days, its rich history distinguished by an array of legendary artists who broke new ground and set new musical standards – from Ray Charles to Led Zeppelin, from John Coltrane to Aretha Franklin, from Otis Redding to Genesis. Today, the Atlantic Records Group encompasses the Atlantic, Asylum, Big Beat, Elektra, Fueled By Ramen, and Roadrunner labels.’

•Source - http://www.wmg.com/services#artists-services