Video record companies

The music industry consists of four major record companies; Universal, Sony Music, Warner Brothers and EMI. Most of these major record labels own a number of smaller, more independent record labels such as Columbia, Island, Syco, RCA, and Virgin. These companies are known as major-independents'. 

The idea behind larger, more successful record companies is to build up a status online and allow them to make profit through advertising. An example of strategy that does this is Vevo which a music website that is owned and operated by Universal Music Group, Google, Sony Music Entertainment, and Abu Dhabi Media. There are also a huge number of smaller record labels which focus mainly on niche artists and are called 'independents'. An example of a successful independent record label is 'Domino Records'. Often record labels begin as independents and are bought by major companies, which then turns them into 'major-independents'. 

Artists can also be divided into two different categories; Organic and Synthetic. The term organic means that the music comes first and is usually written by the artists themselves. They write the music that they enjoy and that they want to make. The record labels, if signed, then have to try and sell this type of music to the correct market segment. This genre of music generally appeals to niche audiences, but can also appeal to a more larger audience. A famous example of an organic band is The Beatles. Before starting their careers the band had known each other and all shared the same love for music. They then created the band based on the different members abilities.

The second type of artist is Synthetic. The term Synthetic refers to the idea that the artist(s) are almost manufactured and it is the record labels who have to do most of the work. A good example of this is shows such as The X Factor and The Voice. A gap in the industry/market is established and then exploited by the development of music and often the artist to fill this gap. Unlike Organic music, Synthetic music's goal is money rather than identification. Acts such as One Direction and The Spice Girls are manufactured to suit the audience and market gap. 

History of the music video

During the 50's and 60's there were many singers such as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley who were very popular among the audiences of their time. Most of their time consisted of travelling to different studios and appearing in films as this was the only way of making themselves known. For example Elvis Presley made a movie once a year and done a number of concerts in America as he didn't want to leave the country. To make himself known throughout Europe he started making films which were released in a number of countries, thus building his status and making him the King of Rock. Likewise, artists such as Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra also made films but rarely. They mainly appeared on television shows or were known through the release of their records which were bought by thousands.

After some time The Beatles started to emerge and soon enough they were selling out concerts of around 60,000. At the beginning of their career they, like the other artists mentioned, spent the majority of their time travelling and appearing on programs such as 'Top Of The Pops'. However, after some time the noise level of the fans who came to their concerts got so bad that they couldn't handle it anymore. They ultimately decided to travel to a house in Hampstead Heath in London and film a video for their song 'Paperback Writer'. The idea behind this was to limit the number of trips they had to make to different studios and instead they could send out several copies of their video to countries all over the world in order to make it at number one on the charts. The video was shown in many different countries and eventually they became extremely popular among all audiences. This video made by The Beatles became the first known 'Pop Video' and was copied by many other artists over time to achieve what we have now in the 21st Century. 

The video for 'Paperback Writer' starts off with individual close ups of each member of the band and the words 'paperback writer' are sung to introduce the music video. It then cuts to a close up of a statue and the guitar starts to play, then it cuts to another member of the band and finally it pans to a shot of all the members together starting the song. Throughout the video there are a number of close ups of different items and members. This method of editing is still seen in many music videos today but has improved due to better technology. Unlike most videos this one doesn't relate to the lyrics of the song which made it more unique and helped it to become the success it was. 

                                    

Similarly the video for 'Rain' starts off with close up of each individual member also but this is shot in parallel to one member walking towards the camera in time with the beat. However the editing to this video is a lot faster and there are a number of different camera shots showing different things. This video is different from their previous one as it consists of more 'extras' and is done more professionally in some sort of forest/grassland. The majority of the video consists of close up rather than longer or wider shots. This video can be compared to videos of this century as there is more of a story line compared to 'Paperback Writer'.