Major labels 2004–2008 (Big Four)

1. Warner Music Group
2. EMI
3. Sony BMG (Sony and BMG joint-venture)
4. Universal Music Group

Major labels since 2009 (Big Four)

1. Sony Music Entertainment
2. EMI Group
3. Warner Music Group
4. Universal Music Group

As of 2005, the "big four" music groups control about 70% of the world music market, and about 80% of the United States music market.

Record companies and music publishers that are not under the control of the big four are generally considered to be independent (indie), even if they are large corporations with complex structures. The term indie label is sometimes used to refer to only those independent labels that adhere to an arbitrary, ill-defined criteria of corporate structure and size, and some consider an indie label to be almost any label that releases non-mainstream music, regardless of its corporate structure.

With the Internet now being a viable source for obtaining music, netlabels have emerged. Depending on the ideals of the net label, music files from the artists may be downloaded free of charge or for a fee that is paid via Paypal or an online payment system. Some of these labels also offer hard copy CDs in addition to direct download. Most net labels acknowledge the Creative Commonslicensing system thus reserving certain rights for the artist. Digital Labels are the latest version of a 'net' label. Whereas 'net' labels were started as a free site, digital labels seek to give the major record industry a real run for their money.

Elektra Records (Elektra Entertainment Group Inc.^[1]) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009. Elektra is currently celebrating its 60th anniversary.

Finished :)

I have completed my media coursework :)
My blog is offically closed!

Bye bye :) x

Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I have learnt loads since I've started this music magazine. I've learnt loads about the magazine industry and how to attract your audience. You have to look at tasks like this from a profesional level and do everything you can at the highest quality to make it look great. I have progessed further in photo editing and making pages so they look attractive. Research is a benfical thing to do for it opens to eyes to what audiences like and what they don't like. My editing skills have improved and I know how to edit profesionally. I realise there are many programs avaiable for things like this and you can use almost anything to make it profesional.
Overall its been a great experiance, and I've enjoyed doing it. I've learnt new things and improved on skills I had before. I am very happy with my finished product. I am proud of it.

My proud work :) YAAY!

Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Having used a camera before to take pictures, I didn't learn more then I already knew. I just had to get the pictures done in the correct lighting so that they looked more profesional. I used publisher to make my pages, and again I had past experiance with it. So again, I had no trouble using that. But I used Piknic.com to edit my photos and I had never used that before. I learned how to edit my photos and how to use Piknic. I learned how to change the colours, make the lighting and contrast better, how to aibrush somebody and how to put text onto an image without it looking bad.  Its a really good photo edting website and I recommend it. I also used blogger for the first time. I had used polls on blogger and how to post things. I found it really easy to use and again I recommend it.  The photo below what I edited on piknic. I managed to put the person on the right in black and white and the other in colour. I was proud of it. Also I edited the contrast and brightness. I zoomed up to airbrush them too.

Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

I tried to make my front cover as intreging as possible to attract my audience to my magazine. Its the first thing people look at when they pick up a magazine, so it has to be the most attractive thing. Looking at other magazines, I noticed the masthead was a outstanding colour mostly to others. So thats why I made my masthead red. I also thought it went with the black and white theme. I used the front cover picture to make the audience look more into his eyes. They are intense and it makes people wonder and interests them to look inside the magazine. I was told on audience feedback that it looked interesting and that they would buy it if it was being sold. Also I thought the title was attractive and funny. Like I said before its an urban term so thats how it appeals to my generation and target audience.

With the contents and doublepaged spread, I tried to use decent pictures and use different graphics so it attract the audience. I made the pictures so they look profesional and eye catching because black, white and red stand out. I thought using bright colours would make it look for a more younger audience.

Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I want 16 - 20 year olds to read my magazine. I'm aiming particuly at college students, whom are more mature. Like I said in mytreatment sheet, Eargasm is for teenagers who like a mixture of music and don't follow a specific genre. Its a unisex magazine. I havn't tried to make it more femine or masculine, however I had only used men for the pictures because its a jazz music special and there are more male jazz artists than female. I used the black and white colours to symbalise the jazz music feel.

I'd only be charging £2.50 for my magazine so the audience would have to pay much for it. In my audience feedback they told me that its a good price.

Question 3.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The Bauer Media Group publish magazines like Q which I tried to make mine like, so I think they could publish something like my magazine. They publish Q, Mojo and Empire which are very succesful magazines. They have the most sold magazines so far in the UK and thats why I'd choose them to publish my magazine. I researchedc the figures and they are currently the top, Empire magazine being number 1 and Mojo being 2nd and Q being 3rd.They also Kerrang which is a rock magazine that isn't as popular but alot of teenagers read it. My magazine doensn't just focus on one genre but it does contain some. They also run their own music channels so they'd advertise my magazine on televsion too. I'd want my magazine to be sold in Newsagents, Supermarkets and music shops just like any other magazine. Places where people would see them and want to buy them. The publishers Future publish Classic Rock magazine which is popular among older audiences so I wouldn't want them to publish my magazine thats for younger adults.