14. Record Label Research

Island Records:

History: Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell and Graeme Goodall in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group. The company relocated to the UK in May 1962. Graeme Goodall left to start Doctor Bird (another record label) in 1965. Until Blackwell sold the label to PolyGram in 1989, Island was the largest indie record label in history. Island had a major influence on the progressive music scene of the UK in the early 1970s.
Artists: Jessie J, Amy Winehouse, Stevie Wonder, The Wanted, Disclosure and McFly. 

Promotional material: Island Records uses various promotional advertisement materials to ensure their consistent success, this is even more important since they have grown in size and media publicity over the last decade. 

Location: Kensington High Street (London) and New York (America). 

Division: Island Def Jam Music Group. 

Year established: 1959

Parent company: Universal Music. 

Island Records would be a good choice for my artist because they are a well established and popular record label that musicians aspire to be signed too. Because Island Records are not specific to genre, a pop artist would be good for them to broaden their horizons and they would definitely do well being signed to Island Records.

XL Recordings:

History: XL Recordings is a British independent record label owned by Richard Russell. It originated as a 1989 offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records. The label was released in 1989 mainly to work with rave, dance and rock music. 

Artists: Adele, The XX, Friendly Fires, Radiohead, Jack Penate and Vampire Weekend. 

Promotional material: As they are an independent label they do not really feel the need to advertise, however they have become more well-known due to the success of Adele which has led to widespread publication in the media. Adele is their most well known and successful artist to this date.

Location: They have bases in both London and New York. 

Year established: 1989

Parent company: Independent. 

XL Recordings would be a good choice of record label for my artist because they are independent, which means they know that they have to work hard to get artists out there and correctly publicised. Furthermore, XL Recordings have had dealings with Adele, one of the most successful pop artists in the world.

Syco Entertainment:

History: Syco Entertainment is a joint venture between Simon Cowell and Sony Music. It does not only focus on music, but television, film and digital content. Cowell and Sony each own 50% of the business. Syco Entertainment is primarily operate in the United Kingdom and feeds from artists off of The X Factor and Got Talent, which are two of the largest television formats in the world. Key people behind Syco are Simon Cowell, Charles Garland and Nigel Hall. 

Artists: Olly Murs, JLS, One Direction, Cher Lloyd and Labrinth. 

Promotional material: As the majority of their artists are already well known when they are signed because of either The X Factor or Got Talent. Syco choose to promote their artists when their careers have developed and people need to be reminded of the material that they are releasing. 

Location: They are mainly based in London but have bases in Los Angeles as well. 

Year established: 2002 

Parent company: Sony

Syco Entertainment would be a good choice of record label for my artist because most of their artists work revolve around the pop genre therefore they are experts on target audiences and what makes an artist individual yet successful.