Remake, Remodel: The Evolution Of The Record Label

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This pre-draft version is strictly for review purposes only and is not for general dissemination or sharing. digital channels – not to mention online video sites such as YouTube, Vevo, Muzu, Vimeo and Dailymotion. Radio in the UK is less affected due to the presence of the BBC and its main music stations – Radios 1, 2, 3, 6Music and 1Xtra. Despite the presence of many online stations covering new music in various niches, these BBC stations are, as Andy Parfitt , controller of BBC Radio 1, points out, ‘the only players in the pack with scale’. He adds, ‘The fact that you need scale in the market, despite the fact that the barriers have come down, is the paradox in all this.’ This role of ‘trusted guides’ has made these radio brands ‘stronger than ever’, in Parfitt’s opinion. In a world where millions of tracks are available at the touch of a button, consumers are looking for guidance and recommendations from online sources such as Last.fm, mflow, Pandora in the US and iTunes Genius all provide this in increasingly sophisticated ways. But the power of a recommendation from Radio 1’s Zane Lowe, or Tim Westwood supports Parfitt’s claim on their importance to the radio brand. Print media gives exposure to music more widely than ever, with broadsheets, tabloids and monthlies all covering music in their wildly different ways. But it is online where it is easiest to get lost in the clutter, with millions of tracks available for streaming through Myspace, YouTube and other social networking sites 8 . Assessing the impact of an artist has never been more complex with statistics being used from a myriad of areas of to gauge the level of demand for an artist or record: demand via Shazam, friends on Myspace, followers on Twitter, pre-orders on Amazon, YouTube and Google metrics, Hype Machine rankings and so on. All of these factors can determine whether a record is supported by radio or by retailers. These are the ‘pre-success’ indicators that simply did not exist for record labels or media outlets a decade ago. It is no longer as simple as assessing a record’s potential from radio stats, video play and TV appearances. As one label head said, ‘We are still trying to figure out the “artist dashboard”. It used to be about looking at around four things for an act – now it’s a dozen or more.’ However, David Joseph, stresses the importance of certain fundamentals. ‘The currency is changing but the one currency that hasn’t changed in analytics is how many people have gone to the gigs.’ If a band plays one week and 50 people are there and the next week there are 100, ‘something is going on.’ Parfitt recognises the ‘quasi-scientific approach’ to both selection of music by radio for playlists as well as the modern approach to marketing employed by labels. He describes the BBC’s playlist meetings as more ‘sophisticated’ than ever – employing data, specialist knowledge and research presentations. But, ultimately all this is used to 8 Too Much Choice? Oct 2007 – MusicTank – last accessed 09.05.11 14
This pre-draft version is strictly for review purposes only and is not for general dissemination or sharing. support the decisions around quality and creative judgement; it is simply more ‘audience-focused’ now. Increasingly, science and data play an important part in the marketing of music. The act that can optimise this data and these indicators will, in turn, get to the next stage with radio support, press coverage, TV appearances and so on. The marketing ability of a record label is clearly a key consideration for an act with aspirations for success. Labels that are able to collect data and use it meaningfully to benefit their artists will attract new talent. The data that labels use and analyse to inform their marketing campaigns will also provide an act with invaluable intelligence in other areas of its business. The work that labels do in social media 9 in particular can help an artist plan their live work and bring focus to the right areas. The traffic to James Blunt’s Facebook page from Turkey was surprisingly high and the artist added dates in the country on his tour as a result. Likewise, a significant percentage of Plan B’s UK fans were found to be Polish – information that would never have been previously available before the age of social media. Obviously a record label doesn’t have the monopoly on this kind of data; however, increasingly the label is able to provide expertise in data analysis alongside its more established marketing services. ‘A label invests, provides skill, provides contacts and provides context.’ Martin Mills, Chairman of Beggars Group Record company as brand: the importance of the label kite mark Often the label that an act signs to provides the context which immediately ‘puts them in a frame and shapes how people see them,’ according to Martin Mills. This very quickly provides a shortcut for artists to draw attention to themselves if they are on the right kind of label. Some music consumers will make a point of checking out an artist’s music if they are on, say, independents like XL, Domino or Bella Union – or even major label imprints such as Island or Parlophone amongst others. Effectively, a good label generates a kind of trust around itself – working like a kite mark to attract both consumers and prospective artists. In my own experience of running Parlophone, there were many occasions when artists were attracted to becoming part of the label roster by simple dint of the fact that it used to be home to The Beatles. Radiohead were certainly influenced in this way. In turn, the presence of Radiohead on the roster was influential in the signing of Coldplay. For labels to work effectively in this way, they need to be mindful of the image that their label projects to the creative community, which is itself a form of self-marketing. 9 Millennials & The Social Media Explosion Jul 2009 – MusicTank – last accessed 09.05.11 15
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