Capitalism, creativity and the crisis in the music industry (de-commodification)

The music industry is changing rapidly; the big changes are, all largely the consequences of the development of the internet and of digital media formats which can be reproduced and distributed by anyone, effectively cost free. The losers are those musicians and corporations who have traditionally made their living through selling various types of musical commodity; most obviously recordings in physical format such as vinyl records, cassettes, CDs, etc. The winners are those at the extreme ends of the distribution chain; consumers or users at the button, such as; Apple iTunes store, Google (through YouTube), etc- they are at the top.

One of the central features of this transformation in the music industry is the effective

de-commodification of music. In the 19^th century, with the development of a market for sheet music, and the spread of the public concerts, music became something which could be bought and sold for profit. One of the key effects of the technological changes which I have already mentioned has been severely to weaken the commodity status of these recordings. A commodity always depends for its status and its value on the its relative scarcity; once the reproduction and distribution of that commodity became effectively free, then it means that they suddenly have nothing value to sell.

The aim for musicians is to generate enough income for a decent standard of living which will enable them to keep making music. This may be the same for independent record companies which have never generated large profits above those which are reinvested in support for new music. In the case of large record companies, however, the aim is not simply the generation of acceptable income for their employees, but the long term, uninhibited, and unlimited accumulation of capital.

Independent record labels in the uk

Audiobulb Records: is a Sheffield based independent record label holding a global artist roster – brought together under the banner of ‘exploratory electronic music’. The label was founded in 2003 by David Newman with the aim of promoting a new generation of innovative electronic artists. Audiobulb Records has promoted artists by releasing physical CDs, digital download albums, online multi-media pieces and custom audio software and hardware. The work of the label has been featured on various known publications, from XLR8R to The Wire magazine. Audiobulb Records is also the home of open access projects including "Root of Sine" & "Endless Endless".

Parlophone: is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which later became EMI. George Martin joined in 1950 as assistant label manager, taking over as manager in 1955. Martin produced and released a mix of product including comedy recordings of The Goons, the pianist Mrs Mills, and teen idol Adam Faith. In 1962 Martin signed rising new Liverpool band The Beatles. With Cilla Black, Billy J. Kramer, the Fourmost, and contemporary Mancunian band The Hollies also signed to the label, Parlophone in the 1960s became one of the world's most famous and prestigious record labels.
For a long time Parlophone claimed the best selling UK single "She Loves You", and the best selling UK album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The label also achieved placement of seven singles at #1 during 1964, when it also claimed top spot in the album charts for 40 of the 52 weeks during that year.

The Rocket Record Company: is a record label founded by Elton John, with Bernie Taupin, Gus Dudgeon and Steve Brown among others, in 1972. The name is from the hit, "Rocket Man". The label was originally distributed in the UK by Island and in the US by MCA Records, both of which Elton John was also signed to (after 1976). The first artists signed to the label were Stackridge, who completed two albums for Rocket after moving from MCA. It also became the home of Cliff Richard, Neil Sedaka (whose three most successful U.S. mid-1970s albums were on Rocket), Colin Blunstone, The Foster Brothers, The Hudson Brothers, Blue, Kiki Dee, Judie Tzuke, The Lambrettas, Junior Campbell, Brian & Brenda Russell (who had an early, rare-to-find disco hit "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do"), and the Dutch band Solution. John offered Iggy Pop & The Stooges to sign to the label, but they declined. After John left his British label, DJM, in 1976, his records were also released on Rocket on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Big Three

Sony Music Entertainment (also called SME or Sony Music) is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation. The company, which evolved into Sony Music, was founded in 1929 as the American Record Corporation (ARC) through the merger of several smaller record companies.[3] In the depths of the Great Depression, the Columbia Phonograph Company (founded in 1888) in the U.S. (including its Okeh Records subsidiary) was acquired by ARC in 1934.

Warner Music Group (WMG) is a US-based business group and family of record labels. The largest American-owned music corporation, it is the third largest in the recording industry and one of the big four record companies. For three decades the conglomerate was known as WEA, which stood for Warner Bros.-Elektra-Atlantic Records; three major record companies that signed and developed musical acts and, in turn, distributed product for subsidiaries and other record labels.

The current incarnation of the company as Warner Music Group was formed in 2004 when it was spun off and made completely separate from Time Warner; as a result Time Warner no longer retains any ownership whatsoever in the Warner Music Group, despite its name. WMG also has a music publishing arm called Warner/Chappell Music, which is one of the world's largest music-publishing companies.

In May 2011, the company announced its sale to Access Industries Inc. The purchase of the company was completed on July 20, 2011; Atlantic, is a subsidiary Acto records, and stax records.

Universal Music Group (UMG) is an American multinational music company. It is the largest of the "big four" record companies by its leading market share and its multitude of global operations. Universal Music Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of French media conglomerate Vivendi.

Universal Music Group owns a music publisher, Universal Music Publishing Group, which became the world's largest following the 2007 acquisition of BMG Music Publishing.

The UMG corporate headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California, United States; EMI has become (taken over) a subsidiary company to universal music group.

Major vs 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 largest four record labels are called "major labels". A "sub-label" is a label that is part of a larger record company, but it trades under a different name.

The major record labels are called ‘The Big Three’, they include;

1. Sony Music Entertainment

2. Warner Music Group

3.     Universal Music Group

The boundaries between major and independent labels, and the definitions of each, differ from commentator to commentator. In practice, however, the traditional definition of a 'major' record label is one that owns its own distribution channel. Some independent record labels, in particular those with successful performing artists, sign dual-release agreements (and make other deals) with major labels and may rely to some extent on international licensing deals, distribution agreements, and other arrangements with major record labels. Major labels may also wholly or partially acquire independent labels, they usually support mainstream music; whereas independent record labels normally promote ‘indie’ music, which usually are not mainstream.

Other nominally "independent" labels are started (and sometimes run) by major label artists but are still owned at least in part by the major label parent. These spin-off labels are also frequently referred to as vanity labels or "boutique labels" and are intended to appease established, powerful artists and/or to give them latitude in discovering and promoting new talent.

According to Association of Independent Music, An "major" is defined in AIM's constitution 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 and/or music videos. The majors are (currently) Sony, Warner and the Universal Music Group (which incorporates Polygram). If a major owns 50% or more of the total shares in your company, you would (usually) be owned or controlled by that major."

Some independent record labels are;

1.     Chrysalis Records

2.     Apple Records

3.     The Rocket Record Company

4.     Rolling Stones Records

Lesson 1- Adorno and Horkheimer's theory

Adorno and Horkheimer adopted the team ‘culture industry’ to argue that the way in which cultural items were produced was analogous (comparable) to how other industries manufactured vast quantities of consumer goods. They argued that the culture industry exhibited an ‘assembly line character’ which could be observed in the synthetic, planned method of turning out its products. Adorno and Horkeimer linked the idea of the ‘culture industry’ to model of ‘mass culture’ in which cultural production had become a routine, standardized repetitive operation that produced undemanding cultural commodities which in turn resulted in type of consumption that was also standardized, distracted and passive. An artist that fits Adorno and Horkeimers theory is, ‘One Direction’, ‘JLS’ etc. This means that eventually the audience/viewers will reject everything that isn’t familiar; for example and artist that goes against Adorno and Horkeimers theory is ‘Ellie Goulding’, ‘Tracy chapman’ etc.

Music video brief

David Fincher case study

David fincher from Yazmin Ahmed

Micheal Jackson case study

Michael jackson case study from Yazmin Ahmed

Coldplay; Paradise, music video analysis

·         Tells a journey of an elephant.

·         A montage of sunsets, at the start of the music video.

·         Fast cuts.

·         Focus pull; on the other elephants.

·         Zooms into the airport sign.

·         Long shot, to show the landscape.

·         Time lap clip of the clouds.

·         Slow motion effect when all the elephants are dancing.

·         In the end fades back to the footage of them in paradise. Also the clip of them playing live on stage could be paradise.

·         The lyrics are connected with the visuals.

·         Intertextual reference to Bob Dillon.

·         Intertextual reference to a movie.

·         The dream could be reality, instead of paradise.

·         Light hearted, fun video, not taking music seriously.

·         There is no girl in the video- amplifying the song, then being illustrated.

·         Rock/Pop

·         Don’t need close up of the band, as they are well known.

·         Can’t see their faces.

·         The main vocalist, taking his elephant head off, could suggest that he wants to show off his riding skills, on the unicycle.

·         As a band they want to include live footage of them on stage, performing.