Music Entertainment : The Most Influential Label Essay

Every music artist begins somewhere. Every artist had to do something to get their music out there. No one just automatically becomes famous. Then everyone wants to listen to your music. You start out new and anonymous and become more popular over time. Artist become famous by advertising. Every music artist should be able to advertise.

Sony Corporation is a Japanese owned company, created in 1946 based in Tokyo, Japan. The company competes in the technology market with diversity. This includes video games, computers and computer hardware, television, media players, etc. With that being said, Sony has had their ups and downs over the past few years, just like everyone else in this industry. Things such as the U.S. economy can really affect the future of this company. Now that the economy is on the downfall, things such as entertainment are not as important as paying for food, gas, and other bills. It is important to realize these things as you analyze the company due to the fact that the company

I propose that all unsigned rising artist should target the business side of the music industry to be successful in the entertainment business because it allows the artist to be taken seriously and make solid connections that can further his/her career. Learning the works of the music industry also enables a new artist to be further successful and profitable. Recent studies show that most new artists without professional representation and a business mindset have a slimmer chance in getting signed to major or independent labels (Lowry, 2011). Overall, the specific change needed is that unsigned artists should be concentrating on their careers as professionals and not amateurs, thus focusing on the ins and outs of the music business and

Sony have been known worldwide as a Japanese multinational company, its efforts trying to expanding business in United States, have made that Sony acquires CBS Records and Columbia Pictures. Thus, creating Sony Music and Sony Pictures, which represent Sony entertainment. This involved to the company in $1.2 billion of debt, and assigned goodwill assets for $3.8 billion.

The music industry is made of companies which produce and sell music. The music industry as we know it was solidified in the mid-twentieth century, where records succeeded sheet music as the primary product in the music business. Record companies were established, but did not last very long until the late 1980s when the “Big Six”, a group of multinational corporations consisting of Sony, MCA, WEA, Polygram, EMI, and BMG controlled most of the market. Initially there were five corporations (CBS and RCA (both now belonging to Sony), WEA, EMI, and Polygram) that had emerged in 1978 to own 60 per cent of the market. (Wallis and Malm, 1984, p. 81)

Sony must reposition its “growth driven” and “stable profit generator” sectors in their markets to increase its audience, achieve sales growth, profit expansion and maximization, and capture market shares.

The popular music industry in the late 1990s was dominated by a small number of integrated corporations with headquarters in Europe, the United States and Japan. This music market starts simply with an artist and moves along through many steps to the consumer. Everything has its start when a musician presents his music to a music manager, and if he/she finds the music promising, a contract is signed between the two, recordings are made and a marketing plan is drafted for the

In this article, Peterson and Berger show how the organization of the popular music industry affects the music that America hears.

When musicians produce albums, they want people to listen to the albums. There is not one specific way for a band or single musician to gain an audience and promote their music. Musicians use many different kinds of media to promote their music. They use visual media as well as strictly listening media. The radio, television, and the internet are all different types of media musicians use to promote their music.

Over the past decade, the use of CDs has been replaced with online streaming and retailing. This has eliminated much of the record companies revenues as they were used to making most of their profit off of distribution and promotion of physical copies of artists albums (Niemen). This has caused for a major shift and remodeling of major players in the music industries business models. Companies such Sony, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group have started to completely rethink the way they conduct business (Forbes). In the past record labels were not only responsible for production, distribution and promotion of an artist and his/her music, but they also acted as a bank (Forbes), funding the artists tours and recording sessions. Recently, these music giants have been moving towards becoming more of a modular network organization. What this means is that they are less occupied with the nitty gritty, and more focused on what they do best which is distribution and promotion. This also allows for more freedom of creativity for the artist as well as fairer split of profits (Forbes). This adaption of new business models clearly shows the versatility of the music industry in adapting to new times and technologies.

Their vision is thus to provide music for every moment. To become the number one operating system for the music of the future, and to attract more users to their premium services in order to generate more profit.

Originally launched as American Record Company in 1929, Sony Music Entertainment Inc. has since established itself as a leading manufacturer of video, audio, communications, and information technology products.

Sony has many products and started to branch out. Sony has mostly started to manufacture appliances and electronics. Even thou many new different products may arise, Sony can manage and maintain their quality.

The evolution of the music industry follows the familiar pattern of digitization. Innovation began with the introduction of the vinyl record, transitioned from the cassette tape to the compact disc and landed us in an era of digital downloads. The emergence of music streaming services like Spotify has progressed the industry even further, giving consumers the ability to access music on demand using download-free online platforms. Spotify faces criticism from artists as a result of the overlap of creativity and commerce. They argue that business activities corrupt creativity, transforming it into a tool for profitability rather than an outlet for expression. Artists insist that Spotify deters album sales, favors established artists and fails to support them financially. However, Spotify was created for consumers. It delivers an accessible alternative to purchasing and downloading music. The interplay between creativity and commerce is changing the nature of the music industry. Spotify has adapted to this change, providing a platform that supports both artists and consumers. Through analysis of the market, artist’s revenue, record labels and consumers, I will argue that artists should accept the evolution of the industry and support Spotify.

Sony has a strong reputation on the domain of digital and audio technology. However, Sony was a marginal player in the handset industry with 2% of market share. Previous attempts to enter the US and European markets both failed due to poor knowledge on mobile technology. Sony was too slow to move away from its traditional businesses such as music stereos, televisions, VCR and DVD, hence a partner who could provide expertise knowledge was needed.