A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also 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, and maintaining contracts with recording artists and their managers. The term "record label" derives from the circular label in the center of a vinyl record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information.
A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or a fixed price per unit sold of an item of such, but there are also other modes and metrics of compensation. A royalty interest is the right to collect a stream of future royalty payments.
The Orchard is an American music and entertainment company, specializing in media distribution. It is a subsidiary of Sony Music, based in New York City. In 2019, the company sold off its film and television division, which was renamed 1091 Media.
Warner Music Group Corp. is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the global music industry, after Universal Music Group (UMG) and Sony Music Entertainment (SME). Formerly part of Time Warner, WMG was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange from 2005 until 2011, when it announced its privatization and sale to Access Industries. It later had its second IPO on Nasdaq in 2020, once again becoming a public company. With a multibillion-dollar annual turnover, WMG employs more than 3,500 people and has operations in more than 50 countries throughout the world.
Music Canada is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 in Toronto to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It also offers benefits to some of Canada's leading independent record labels and distributors.
eMusic is an online music and audiobook store that operates by subscription. In exchange for a monthly subscription eMusic users can download a fixed number of MP3 tracks per month. eMusic was established in 1998, is headquartered in New York City with an office in London, and is owned by TriPlay.
The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, represent and supply music creators. Among the many individuals and organizations that operate in the industry are: the songwriters and composers who write songs and musical compositions; the singers, musicians, conductors, and bandleaders who perform the music; the record labels, music publishers, recording studios, music producers, audio engineers, retail and digital music stores, and performance rights organizations who create and sell recorded music and sheet music; and the booking agents, promoters, music venues, road crew, and audio engineers who help organize and sell concerts.
Concord Music Group was an American independent music company based in Beverly Hills, California, with worldwide distribution through Universal Music Group. The company specialized in recordings and music publishing. On April 1, 2015, Concord Music Group merged with Bicycle Music Company to become Concord Bicycle Music.
First launched in 1999, Epitonic was a source for independent music across multiple genres from both signed and unsigned artists. Featuring free and legal MP3 downloads, radio streams, and many full album streams, at its peak it amassed content from more than 400 independent labels and represented a diverse array of artists helping them to further awareness and stimulate tour and album revenue.
Downtown Music Holdings is a global independent rights management and music services company. Based in New York City, it has been composed of five divisions: Downtown Music Services, Fuga, Songtrust, Adrev and CD Baby. All divisions live under the Downtown Music Holdings umbrella. In addition to its New York headquarters, Downtown has 20 offices across six continents including Los Angeles, London, Paris, Portland, Amsterdam, Johannesburg and Tokyo.
AWAL is a British music distribution company owned by Sony Music Entertainment. The company serves as an alternative to the traditional music label deal, offering deal structures to artists and independent labels without them giving up ownership or control. In 2021, Sony Music Entertainment purchased AWAL from Kobalt Music Group for $430m.
Larry Rosen was an American entrepreneur, producer, musician, and recording engineer.
Allied Artists Music Group (AAMG) is the U.S. based multinational music focused entertainment and record label arm of Allied Artists International, Inc. (AAI), headquartered in Glendale, California. In 1971, AAI's predecessor Allied Artists Pictures Corporation officially formed subsidiary Allied Artists Records. By 1999, Allied Artists Records encompassed numerous imprint labels, including the flagship Allied Artists Records, Allied Artists Music Co., Monogram Records, Vista Records and Brimstone Records. The record label is known for having released such historic motion picture soundtracks as Elvis Presley's 1965 "Tickle Me" and Liza Minnelli's 1972 "Cabaret." On the traditional recorded music side, the company is recognized for its releases of Latin heavy metal band Renegade's entire catalog, including 1983's "Rock 'n' Roll Crazy!" and Luis Cardenas' 1986 "Animal Instinct," among many others. In the year 2000, with sales of physical records declining in lieu of digital downloads, Allied Artists Records consolidated all of its music related holdings into the newly branded "Allied Artists Music Group," becoming a formal division of its parent, AAI.
Dick Wingate is an American music industry and digital entertainment executive. He currently serves as principal of DEV Advisors, a digital entertainment consultancy that provides expertise to service providers, app developers, content owners and investors. He is a board member and partner in NY-based Big House Music Publishing and a lifetime member of NARAS (Grammys).
Ingrooves Music Group is a global independent music marketing service and distribution company which provides custom services for artists and independent record labels, owned by Universal Music Group. They use proprietary distribution systems and maintain a focus on analytics and reporting technologies, as well as their own platform that artists and labels can use to manage business.
Kobalt Music Group is an independent rights management and music publishing company. Founded in 2000 by CEO Willard Ahdritz, Kobalt acts primarily as an administrative publishing company, not owning any copyrights. Also offering label services and neighboring rights, the company has developed an online portal to provide royalty income and activity to artists and allow them to manage their rights and royalties directly.
Boomplay or Boomplay Music is an Africa-focused media streaming and download service. Developed by Transsnet Music Limited, the platform was first launched in Nigeria in 2015 by TECNO Mobile, Transsion Holdings. Boomplay has a freemium and subscription based service; basic features are free with advertisements or limitations, while additional features, such as download for offline play and ad-free listening are offered via paid subscriptions. The service is currently available for Web via www.boomplay.com, Android and iOS use. As of August 3, 2018, Boomplay Music recorded 10 million installations off the Google Play and App store. It currently has over 95 million monthly users (MAU) with a catalogue of over 100 million songs.
Cinq Music Group is a technology driven, music distribution, record label, and rights management company. Cinq Music earned dozens of RIAA Gold & Platinum certifications, and received a nomination as Billboard Latin Urban Label of the Year. Cinq Music was started as a digital music distribution company in 2012 by Barry Daffurn. Cinq Music Group now provides rights management, content creation and label services for recording artists. Janet Jackson released her "Made For Now" music video in collaboration with Cinq in August 2018, the collaboration with Daddy Yankee, returned Jackson to the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time since 2015, and her 20th number one on the Dance Club Songs chart.
PeopleSound was a British audio streaming platform founded on 22 June 1999 by Ernesto Schmitt. Going live in October 1999, it was the first European music streaming platform and the most visited. At peak, it was amongst the top ten most visited entertainment websites in Europe, with millions of registered users, and one of the highest profile new-age internet startups.
