Universal Music Group

Your case will study..

OWNERSHIP - is the state or fact of exclusive rights and control over property PRODUCTION – the making of

MARKETING - is the process by which companies determine what products or services may be of interest to companies

DISTRIBUTION – e.g. selling

EXCHANGE – how we access the music e.g. HMV

How many of the artists and bands on 

Radio 1's playlist are signed to your major label?

Choose a few of your favourite artists that are signed to your Major label. Draw a Long Tail for your artists by researching the following: Their PLAYS on Last FM; what similar artists does Last FM recommend and where would you place them on your Last FM Long Tail?

1. AFI - 38,765,971 plays (827,997 listeners)- Recommendations - Rise Against, Alkaline Trio & Aiden2. Blink182- 77,771,193 plays (1,488,519 listeners) - Recommendations - Sum 41, New Found Glory & +443. Lady Gaga- 52,847,045 plays (1,301,974 listeners)- Recommendations - Ke$ha, Rihanna & Katy Perry4. Rise Against - 58,315,923 plays (820,876 listeners) - Recommendations - Anti Flag

Signed to - Universal Music Group                  Daughter record label of UMG

BBC1 Playlist.

Festivals.Reading 2010 Blink 182KlaxonsWeezer Guns ‘n’ Roses

In your opinion, why have music festivals had a renaissance over the last few years?

The music culture has progressed greatly, and even though fans have always been eager to see their musicians live, the demand has increased greatly. This may be due to the new generations of social groups formed around music. Emo, indie and chav are all hybrids of the well known goths, punks and townies which had a small foundation based around music, however, these new generations of social groups are much more music based. This younger, more music obsessed generation are the main reason festivals have had a revolutionary change in demand.

Latitude 2010Florence and The Machine

Noah and The Whale

The Maccabees

Drawing it all together!OWNERSHIP:What other companies does the parent company own? Draw an organisational chart that illustrates all

of the companies owned.

PRODUCTION:Does your label produce physical CDs or vinyl?http://new.umusic.com/News.aspx?NewsId=182In what ways has media technology helped your MAJOR labels to find and recruit talented artists?

Websites such as Myspace, are an easy way for musicians to get their sound out to the public. It’s services are free and easy to set-up. This freedom to produce music has increased creativity and has produced many new musicians. These musicians are unsigned and only have to pay a small fee to advertise themselves on the Myspace main page. This is a brilliant example of how media technology has helped labels to find, and recruit, new talented artists easily. Other examples are those such as local radio stations, which are small stations who focus mainly on unsigned, local talent. If Universal were to listen to one of these stations, they would pick up masses of talented artists.

MARKETING: What marketing techniques does your Major label use to promote a new CD album or single launch? (e.g. web site, Myspace, press coverage, advertising, viral online campaigns etc.)Universal uses a range of techniques. They advertise singles launches on the Myspace front page and the artists Myspace blog, as well as on Facebook and the artists’ Twitter pages. Universal has also picked up on the new ‘digital age’ as it uses techniques such as creating iPhone apps .

How does the label use Myspace to promote their artists?Advertisements on the main pages

Does the label use online forums, message boards, gig reviews etc to promote the band?These are all available, but whether they have been set up by the label itself or the fans is not clear.

Does the label have a You Tube account? If so what is featured (music videos, interviews etc)

Music videos!

Universal also has a shared partnership with Vevo – a music video and entertainment website.

What press, TV coverage can you find about the bands signed to the label?http://www.umusic.co.uk/News/

http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/01/umg-digital-sales/

DISTRIBUTION and EXCHANGE: Does HMV stock CDs from your Major label? Do Tesco’s or Morrison’s? If so how much are the CDs?HMV – Yes, examples such as Lady Gaga, Blink 182, GnR – no higher than £13.99Tesco & Morrisons – Yes for around the same prices.

Can you download tracks from the major label’s web site? If so, how much per download?Yes. It has an application download where you can quickly and easily download music for around the same prices as stocked in HMV.

Does iTunes stock tracks from your label? Yes, of course!!

How has new media technology effected the distribution of your Major label’s artists?iTunes is a much more convenient way to stock music, even though the artists signed to the label are at the top end of the Long Tail, and have their physical music stocked in retailers, other new media technology, such as Myspace, helps promote the music, thus benefitting the distribution. Other media technology, such as gaming has also benefitted the distribution. It is another platform for artists to get their sound out! e.g. Guitar Hero which features Block Party, The Killers & Kaiserchiefs – all signed to Universal. Streaming sites such as Spotify dramatically effect the sales of records.Last year Spotify was accused of paying Lady GaGa just £108 in return for one million plays of her song Poker Face! However, a recent news story states that streaming site We7 has ‘finally broken even after three years after being set up in the UK by co-founder Peter Gabriel, it claims that ad-funded online music can work by paying all its running costs’This is a breakthrough for record companies, as it now means the music royalty collection agency, and costs to music publishers are paid off!

In what ways has media technology radically altered the way music fans access music?It has altered It dramatically!Fans now have the easy, free option of file sharing. A simple Google search and you can have your artists album in seconds. Free. No strings attached. If you are not the illegal music downloading type, it is still just as easy to listen to the music for free! Sites such as Project Playlist and LastFM let you stream music online for free -It is so easy for fans to access music in this new media generation.

Discuss the importance of media convergence in the industry you have studied.

Convergence industry

Conglomerate - A combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses together into one corporate structure.

Oligopoly - A market form in which a market or industry is dominated by a small number of sellers

Synergy - A synergy is where different entities cooperate advantageously for a final outcome

Vertical integration - A style of management control. Vertically integrated companies in a supply chain are united through a common owner.

Hardware and software - Hardware -  A general term for the physical parts of technology Software -  A general term primarily used for digitally stored data such as computer programs and other kinds of information read and written by computers.

Media convergence is the key to exploiting artists as much as possible!

As already mentioned, Universal have made their music available on the internet, mobile phones, films, games and of course, TV. This is very important, as without the other forms of media, the artists would definitely not be where they are today. People like to be interactive, which is another reason why media convergence is important – people don’t go out and buy physical music anymore, they just ‘happen to come across it’ in a film, game or Myspace advert.

Extra info.The Boat That Rocked is an example of a Universal synergy.

It was distributed by Universal Pictures and the soundtrack includes current or previous artists signed to Universal.

Lady Gaga is the perfect example of record labels exploiting artists as much as possible! Universal have produced a massive variety of merchandise for Lady Gaga.

Examples are - a limited edition USB drive, t-shirts, jackets, posters, programmes, hats, bags, headphones, iPhone applications and covers.