Record Labels Research

Rough Trade

Rough Trade Records is a London-based record label, founded in 1978. It is a subsidiary record label of the British record company Beggars Group. It found success promoting and selling records by The Smiths and Buzzcocks and has since grown to become one of the best-known record labels in Britain. There are now 3 shops in London and 1 recently opened shop in New York. More recently, they have worked with many successful artists such as The Libertines, The Strokes, Belle and Sebastian, Arcade Fire, Palma Violets, Mystery Jets and Antony And The Johnsons.

They regularly have live events in their stores to promote new releases. Admissions are very cheap and are often free with the purchase of the record or other material that is being promoted. There is a strong focus on new music and undiscovered artists are always being promoted on the website and in the store. In particular, their 'tracks of the week' and 'album of the month' feature is very good at promoting new music. These subscription services regularly send people exciting new music, often with extra bonus content and sometimes ahead of their general release.

'tracks of the week' and 'album of the month'

XL Recordings

XL Recordings is another subsidiary company of Beggars Group. It has worked with many large artists including Radiohead, Vampire Weekend, Jack White, Jungle, Beck, The XX, Dizzee Rascal, SBTRKT and Adele. The company releases roughly six albums a year across a range of genres.

When it was founded in 1989 it mainly released dance and rave music. Since then they have gained popularity through various artists. In 2008, a studio was built at one the headquarters where artists could record demos or albums or just practice and mess around. After the success of The XX's self-titles debut, which was recorded in this studio, XL Recordings doubled its size. It is now used by XL's artists regularly for practicing and producing songs.

What do record labels do?

Record labels are responsible for finding new artists, helping them produce an album and then distributing that album.

 Record companies have agents who look for new talent either at gigs, open mics, festivals or on websites like Youtube or Soundcloud. Once the record label finds a new artist, they help them to create a unique image and sound. They will create a look for the artist and help them record an album, at a studio either  owned or rented by the company. In order for the artist to be successful on release, the record company needs to create an image and a sound for them that is unique in some way and appeals to a specific target audience or fills a gap in the market.

Once the artist has made a record to be released, the record label will promote the album using all possible resources. Larger companies can afford more platforms for advertising but all companies will rely heavily on the internet. The record label will use the most suitable marketing method for the target audiences that they are trying to reach. The record label is then responsible for making deals with distributors like iTunes and Amazon as well as shops such as HMV or Tesco.

 

Radiohead - In Rainbows

 

Radiohead's six-album contract with EMI ran out in 2003 after the release of 'Hail to the Thief'. Instead of signing a new contract, they decided to record the album independently with the help of Nigel Godrich, their producer since 'The Bends' (1995). Once they had a finished album, they decided to release it online. Thom Yorke, the lead singer, posted on the band's blog, Dead Air Space, that the album would be released in a week. In the post, he put a link to a website where people could preorder the mp3 version of the album.

 

What made this release particularly interesting was that people could pay whatever they wanted for the album. Researchers claimed that 62% of the downloaders chose to pay nothing and that the average price paid for the album was $2.26. Despite being available for free, many people still chose to download it illegally. The album was downloaded 400,000 times on BitTorrent on the day of its release alone.

 

Overall, the album was a huge commercial success for Radiohead. All of the critical acclaim that it received would have helped increase sales but it still raises questions about how necessary a record label is and whether bands should be looking for other ways to release their music.