The Record Label Vs. Music - Research into the Music Industry

In recent years, it has become easier for unsigned artists to make a name for themselves in the music industry. Although chart success may not be apparent, bands and artists make a name for themselves through almost incessant touring, and creating a real link between them and their fanbase. With the aid of technologies like YouTube that create a platform for music to reach a global audience, as well as Social Networks like Twitter and Facebook to connect with fans, and music sharing services like SoundCloud, Spotify, ReverbNation, PureVolume and so on, artists can get their music out to the public easily, and develop from there. It is this sense of community about music that has led to increasing amounts of unsigned artists making waves in the industry. Although some bands are then recognised and choose to join a label to increase their profile, or move labels in order to progress as a musical unit, record labels have many disadvantages, with law disputes frequenting the history of many household name artists, leading to manipulation, dishonesty and a loss of identity- often causing these names to go their own way. In this essay, I will explore the constant battle being fought between Music and what it stands for, and the corporate, business side to do with the music industry.

"How an Unsigned White Rapper Changed Music"

"The Heist" sold 78,000 copies in a week

This was the headline for an article discussing how and unsigned artist had huge chart success, winning multiple awards and securing headline slots at festivals across the globe. Ben Haggerty, better known by the pseudonym Macklemore, is an american rapper, who since 2000, has released three EPs and two albums- independently. "The Heist", 2012, sold 78,000 copies in its first week, and circa May 2014, has sold 1.3 Million copies. The album was independently produced, recorded and released, alongside Ryan Lewis, and reached #1 in the US Billboard and won the Grammy for best rap album. This was all the success of one man, his lyrical content and ideologies, and fans- without the support of a big record label which surely would happily house such a talent. His success has ultimately made a large amount of acts realise that with hard work, they too can be "famous", within the industry.

 Macklemore is no exception. American rapper Hoodie Allen has also been operating in the underground for several years, releasing 5 mixtapes, 3 EP's and his debut album "People Keep Talking" in 2014. Hoodie, another independent artist, puts a strong emphasis on his fanbase, dubbed the "Hoodie Mob", which he interacts with through social media and meeting at the merch desk at shows. In his record "People Keep Talking", he calls out rappers who are so focused on making money "step on the back of your favourite fan, charge them like fifty to take a quick picture, you scummy a** rappers are not in demand", and also proclaims how he "did it on [my] own with no management" , both obvious "disses" to record labels and how these acts often charge for "VIP" packages for people to meet their favourite artists. In a previous track, he simply states that "Fame is for A*******". Hoodie's latest single saw him alongside the world famous Singer/Songwriter Ed Sheeran for "All About It". This has brought him a huge influx of fans, who heard of him through Ed Sheeran on social networks, as Hoodie admits himself: "now my fan base is full of Megan's and Ashley's".

However, the flip side of this argument is simply that unsigned artists that are successful do not sign to labels because, if they have the funds, they make more money- less money goes to record representatives, managers, and so on down the chain. A prime example of this was highlighted in "Bartholomew Cubbins" (Jared Leto) film, "Artifact".

Firstly, I would like to state what an incredible documentary this is, and urge whoever is reading this, even if you are not a fan of the band, to watch it. The documentary followed the giant Rock band Thirty Seconds To Mars during the production of the 2009 record, during their law dispute with record label EMI. The album, following the dispute, was aptly named "This Is War." with a lot of the lyrical content referencing a metaphorical war- Vox Populi, namely, the latin for "Voice of the People", beckons the Echelon, the fanbase, "this is a call to arms, gather soldiers, it's time to go to war". During the documentary, Leto discusses the facts and figures related to the dispute and the amount of money an artist actually earns when signed to a big label. The band were sued for $30,000,000 over a hidden contract in EMI, after they tried to sign to a different label, when EMI stated they had failed to produce the amount of music they needed to within the set time of the contract. Despite selling millions of albums worldwide, Mars were over $1 Million in debt to EMI, the parent label of Virgin Records, whilst simultaneously the band had made no profit from album sales, all profits came from merchandise, etc - hence why Artifact was screened on their VyRT. They tried to resign in 2008 causing EMI to file the suit stating the band had failed to produce 3 of the 5 albums they were obligated to deliver under their 1999 contract. Mars responded by stating that under California Law, where the band originally signed, one cannot be bound to a contract for more than 7 years- the band had been with them for 9 years, and so exercised their legal right to terminate the "old, out of data contract, which, according to the law, is null and void." Another interesting thing is the amount of cameos in the film, namely one Chester Bennington, who toured with Mars as a support, Nu-Metal titans Linkin Park.

The following is a clip taken from Artifact that I have edited myself to illustrate both the effects of the lawsuit and what record labels do to bands in general to exploit them - it is a summary of how the music industry works at the top end.

The history of distrust with the record label spans as far back as the Sex Pistols in 1977, when the band recieved negative publicity and were subsequently fired from the label, due to the anarchy that the band hoped to instill with their lyrics. The song "EMI" followed. Throughout history, larger acts have turned to going their own ways to make their own independent record labels- Led Zeppelin, Oasis and The Beatles being the most famous examples, but more recently, Jay-Z has firmly established "ROC Nation", his partner Kanye West runs "GOOD Music", and Eminem and Dr Dre own Shady Records and Aftermath, all of which accommodate a large amount of upcoming rappers in the USA. Having an independent label in this sense means there is a lot more focus on the music, rather than the business aspect, and gives the owner artist especially much more freedom.

As perhaps a Case Study, another recent dispute involved that of Ocala rockers A Day To Remember.

ADTR suffered a similar lawsuit to Mars, but by Victory Records- In this case however, it was the band taking matters into their own hands, and filing the lawsuit against their label. Jeremy McKinnon and co sued the label for $75,000 worth of Royalties, and filed the suit under breach of contract. The label stated that, like with Thirty Seconds to Mars, the band had not fulfilled their album contractual commitment, and were not allowed to leave to a larger label- the jury ruled in favour of A Day To Remember, and the band were allowed to release their 4th studio album, "Common Courtesy", on "ADTR Records", as an independently released digital download, supported by the bands large fanbase, until over a month later, the jewel case CD became available.

The lyrical content of Common Courtesy includes songs like "City of Ocala", which opens with a much awaited "F*** YEAH!", and moves into "Right Back At It Again", the first single from Common Courtesy, opening with a perhaps belated "We're coming out swinging!", a massive "screw you" to Victory, where McKinnon says to all the people that said that the band couldn't be where they are today that he "[doesn't] wanna hear about it". The single was released on October 7th 2013 on the Radio 1 Rock Show, after Victory stated that "the End begins 8th October 2013", the date of the self release of Common Courtesy. "Right Back At It Again" was also a rather apt way to announce, in the title alone, that they were back, fighting against the record label.

Once you've digested this memorable conceptual video, the most notable inclusion on Common Courtesy is that of the penultimate track of the digital version, "The Document Speaks for Itself". Some stand-out lyrics include "I gotta get out, I gotta get out", in reference to the label, and then perhaps more strikingly, the hardcore section that shouts "Even when your worst surrounds me, you'll never get the best of us", and as the final lyric, "No f****** respect!". Which, simply, speaks for itself.

The band are even more firmly estbalished than even before, after playing slots at Reading and Leeds Festival and being set to be sub-headliners at this years Download Festival. Lead singer Jeremy McKinnon has recently completed production of the upcoming album for rising pop punk stars from Wales, Neck Deep, and the band organise the annual "Self-Help" Festival in America, this year headlined by Pierce the Veil and Sleeping With Sirens.

As a retaliation, and form of "trolling" the band, Victory Records flew a plane over the ADTR organised Self Help Fest in the States this month, after being banned from entering by organisers.

"Visit Victory Records .com" ... At least they have a sense of humour,..

As highlighted in the Artifact documentary, another band to undergo a lawsuit with EMI are Smashing Pumpkins, where the band sued Virgin Records for Digital Royalties, saying the label shut them out of the profits of their digital sales. In Artifact, Jared Leto states how the label can actually charge for the packaging costs, artwork, and damages for digital records, where of course there is actually no packaging, no way they can be damaged and no physical artwork.

This begs the question, why do bands continually seek the status that comes with being signed to a large label? In some instances, fans interpret what the band see as progression as "selling out", and only being it in for the money, yet as shown by the documentary, this is not necessarily true. From what I have seen within the genres my artist, Abandoning Sunday, fits, rock and pop punk, being signed to a label that is recognised within a genre brings about increased awareness and ultimately broadens the fanbase. For this section, my case study is Neck Deep.

Founded in 2012 by Ben Barlow and Lloyd Roberts as a bedroom project, they released two tracks which recieved a huge online response, encouraging them to produce more as a band, ultimately leading to the release of the "Rain in July" EP a few months later. They attracted musicians Matt West and Fil-Thorpe Evans, previously of Climates, to release "A History of Bad Decisions" in 2013.

The flasgship track, "A Part of Me", caused massive waves when the band played some shows in America, supporting We Are The In Crowd, and subsequently lead to them moving from a small independent label to one of the biggest labels in America, Hopeless Records, which has an impressive roster including All Time Low and The Wonder Years. This threw the band into the limelight as the band to know, and after the release of 2014's "Wishful Thinking", the band played a full UK headline tour, before a tour in America with Knuckle Puck and Light Years. This incessant touring as well as backing from a well known label within the genre meant that on 2014's Vans Warped Tour, they were the band to see, and had quite literally blown up in popularity.

This was illustrated when, as a warm up to their Reading & Leeds return, and ultimately one of their final UK shows, Blink-182 played the O2 Academy- not two years before, Neck Deep was a bedroom project, and over that space of time the band increased in popularity so much that they actually opened this show. As expected, they are returning to the Warped Tour for 2015 and have just come off the back of the "Intercontinental Championship Tour" in the UK with Knuckle Puck (USA), Trophy Eyes (AUS) and Seaway (CAN)- which I actually attended. As mentioned earlier, the band have just finished recording a 2nd album with Jeremy McKinnon.

These big labels ultimately have helped the success of the band- within two years the band were turned around and sky rocketed in popularity, as the label hosted bands of a similar genre and subsequently has a huge audience- Hopeless have 230,000 followers on Twitter, and have a dedicated street team that promote bands on the label. Being a part of a "Clique Label", such as Hopeless Records, does give artists a platform to which they are accessible, and ultimately increase the speed at which they become known. For instance, I followed Neck Deep on Twitter when they had under 10,000 followers, in late 2013, and now they have 82,000.

This is no rarity, bands are snapped up by clique labels as they grow in popularity and are associated with a genre. Another UK example is As It Is, who only very recently signed to Fearless Records, as the band had grown such a relatively large following due to lead man Patty Walters' YouTube channel- now, the band from Brighton have the ability to play shows in America, they are currently on the Glamour Kills Tour, and reach an even larger audience, and follow the same footsteps as Neck Deep did with Hopeless. Sometimes, a band switches labels due to the direction the band is taking- for instance, Knuckle Puck moved to Rise Records in 2014 for the release of their 2015 EP "While I Stay Secluded", again to access a new clique of fans who listen to a different sub-genre. The impact touring has is also notable, as the more a band puts themselves out there, even as support acts, they become more and more known, and as supports they are saying that fans of the main act will likely enjoy their music as they are similar- for instance, the supports on Neck Deep's UK tour. Bands that are dedicated to touring will ultimately reap the rewards of this as their name becomes more recognisable.

To conclude, most record labels help to provide a platform on which artists can reach a wide range of fans, but larger ones are proven to be more trouble than they are worth, from the cases detailed in this research. The extent to which they are actually needed is still arguable, with the success of Macklemore and Hoodie Allen going alone, and also some of the bands we are working with for our coursework- Cartel, for example, used to be signed, and are now unsigned, yet still have a large enough following for a huge 10 year anniversary tour of their first album to take place across America as well as a slot at this years Slam Dunk festival, and even my artist, Abandoning Sunday, has a small but dedicated following without being signed, enough so for him to have put out 2 albums and several EPs, from the response he has received online from fans of the genre. As long as the big, corporate Record Label exists, music will be restricted, but music will always find a way to reach the people, as shown in Artifact.

Bibliography:
Macklemore - https://silentattraction.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/how-an-unsigned-white-rapper-changed-music/
Smashing Pumpkins Lawsuit - http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1044671/ex-pumpkins-members-sue-for-digital-royalties
A Day to Remember Lawsuit - http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/a_day_to_remember_victory_records
"Artifact" - 2013, Directed by Bartholomew Cubbins / Jared Leto.
Neck Deep - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neck_Deep
Twitter
Victory Records Trolling ADTR - http://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/whatever-you-think-of-victory-records-their-adtr-trolling-game-is-on-point