Culture is defined as the environment of a particular organization. Teamwork is paramount in achieving goals and objectives for every member of the organization.
There are numerous independent record labels. The more money a label has, the more people they can hire to handle the various responsibilities of a label. Smaller, grassroots or garage labels organize the work of promoting, selling and publicizing their releases by having as many different faces as they can. These smaller labels have a fabulous task marketing their records because there may be only two or three employees, including the label owner, doing the A&R scouting, calling radio stations about airplay, working with a distributor (if they even have one), checking with the music retailers, coordinating the publicity efforts, as well as dealing directly with their artists and bands in helping them find gigs and shows, in addition to constant online marketing efforts in supporting projects.
It is a very expensive and time-consuming job to run a record label. The issues I have outlined above account for some of the reasons very few independent labels succeed. Operating a legitimate record label is financially draining and time consuming. The more research and planning a young label does before launching into the world of music marketing, the higher the likelihood that they will survive and perhaps even excel in a very competitive business.
The chief executive officer (CEO) works on a company’s long-term strategies and strategic partnerships; provides leadership to position the company at the forefront of the industry; develops a strategic plan to advance the company’s mission and objectives; and promotes revenue, profitability and growth of an organization. The CEO’s job is setting strategy and vision, building culture, leading the senior team and allocating capital. Keep in mind the CEO is a visionary and is constantly building a strong coalition of supporters.
The president deals with day-to-day operations and bottom-line performance. This includes:
The legal department handles all contractual issues and other legal responsibilities.
The marketing department is responsible for creating the overall marketing plan for every record the label is releasing. They are also involved in coordinating all the promotion, publicity and sales campaigns that the label is committed to.
The department is responsible for achieving a high growth in visibility, branding the labels and artists official music sites, and digital and music business. Use of online marketing techniques such as SEO, paid search, online advertising, online PR and blogging to drive qualified leads to the labels website is one of the main responsibilities. In addition, the department should create and manage relationships with PR agencies and partnerships with music press and publications to drive musicians and labels to the website from offline communication. They also work closely with sales managers, internal interactive and design teams, and our product development teams. They focus on design and develop channel marketing strategies to recruit partners (including web designers) and agents to resell the label as the cross-promotion solution to their clients’ needs. Usually start-up budgets tend to be low along with limited resources, so the marketing team has to get creative in order to target and acquire customers that deliver a strong lifetime value to the label. Developing and managing customer communication plans to ensure customers refer new business and retention is key.
Other duties include managing (number of live sites), sales per site, traffic per site, retention and target cost of acquisition. Inherit and further develop marketing strategy by developing and implementing quarterly tactical plans. Managing marketing budgets while leading the marketing team to achieve the marketing targets. Responsibilities also include managing relationships with suppliers in the fields of PR, promotion and events managements to achieve targets; building the brand and maintaining brand integrity. The overall goal is always develop and manage key channel marketing programs, customer referrals and customer retention.
The keys to success in staying on path for their marketing objectives are:
The sales and distribution department is the “foundation” of every department of the label in that it is critical in producing overall sales for the company by having a solid sales and distribution platform in place. Key personnel in this department look to add retail support to major chains such as Best Buy, Target, FYE, Barnes & Noble; independent record stores such as Amoeba Music; one-stops, such as Alliance and Super D; rack jobbers, such as Anderson Merchandisers and digital music aggregators such as The Orchard.
The sales department oversees all the digital music distributors/digital aggregators and retail distribution channels and activities of the label, and concentrates on building relationships with the key record store chains and other mass-market retailers. The sales staff coordinates their efforts with the major label’s distribution company, as well as communicates regularly with the promotion and publicity departments at the label.
The label liaison is the person who coordinates the business of the major label’s distribution company with the needs of their parent record labels. Street dates (the date that a new release goes on sale at music retailers) must be approved by the label’s distribution company.
Traditional distribution and new music aggregators/digital distribution to music-related retail and alternative platforms give the label the opportunity to reach music consumers throughout the world. The label should closely coordinate product launches and utilize the distributor’s clout with retailers to design specific strategies for enhancing advertising and marketing presence within retail establishments. These strategies will focus on point-of-sale advertisements, in-store advertising opportunities, print, radio and television co-op opportunities.
Additionally, the label should examine all prospects of distributing products through network marketing channels. The recent explosion of network marketing concepts has produced millions of distributors and consumers worldwide, providing an effective means to reach the public. The distribution breadth of individual companies will be evaluated to determine if access can be gained to selected target markets. Furthermore, the label should distribute its products throughout the distribution networks, one-stops and retail association.
The artist and repertoire (A&R) division of a record label company is responsible for scouting and artist development. It is the link between the recording artist/act and the record label, and generally helps with the artistic and commercial development of the label’s artists. An A&R person is often required to handle contractual negotiations, find songwriters and record producers for the act, schedule recording sessions and locate and sign new talent. They work with the artist in song selection, choice of producers and recording studio selection and they communicate with the label’s business affairs department to make sure all the paperwork and accounting issues involved with the actual recording of an act’s record are set up properly. In short, the A&R department can serve as a liaison between an artist and all the other departments at the label. Duties include:
Promotions is the most important part of any label or artist, which is why this department goal is all about raising awareness to the consumer. The overall goal of this department in promoting music is to show the consumer your music exists, make them aware of the music, artist and label and convince them to buy it. The department utilizes college reps as brand ambassadors, street teams, implement college and commercial radio campaigns, purchase retail co-op advertisements and other sales aids, and look to add tour and show support.
In response to the growing popularity and necessity for a presence on the Internet, online marketing is a must for all labels in maximizing promotional efforts. The key is to utilize the latest web technology in making online marketing efforts effortless.
Support online marketing efforts by maintaining relationships with fans and social networking sites to increase artist exposure as outlined below. To understand this role, you need to be in the forefront of the latest technologies and trends in digital music and entertainment.
Social Networking is key to growing and maintaining your fans. Social Media has become one of the most importance factors in exposing your Internet presence. Consumers today crave for content in every format, which is why the social networking team of the label is a valuable asset.
The creation and origination of all music marketing promotions in multiple commercial formats, both physical and digital, stems from the creative production department of the label. Since labels have access to more resources, the creative production team plays a critical and important role in exposing key marketing promotions for the artists and label. Pro-active involvement, forward-thinking efficiency and the ability to meet deadlines are all part of the culture in this department. Having an understanding of digital files and music technology is a requirement. This department works in conjunction with the marketing department when it comes to various projects and coordination of campaigns.
Manufacturing includes pressing, packaging, shipping and warehousing, and press on demand for back-end support for online retail “seamless integration.”
Media relations involves pitching projects to various editors and web masters to generate editorial features (album reviews, news features, tour press, interview press, etc.).
The publicity department arranges for any feature stories, interviews, record reviews in local and national newspapers, magazines and web zones, as well as broadcast opportunities for such coverage on radio stations and television. They may also coordinate any of these publicity opportunities with an artist’s own publicist.
A key piece in the promotion of new product releases is the “creation of mass interest” in the marketplace. This is done in the motion picture industry with sneak previews, interviews with starring actors/actresses and directors, television commercials and print advertisements. The coordination of these activities is the responsibility of the publicist(s).
Publicists will arrange and promote appearances and interviews (talk shows, industry publications, mainstream magazines) and create written materials and ad copy about the artist to catch public attention. The label’s job is to utilize publicists to create buzz in the marketplace about new projects and artists. Initially, this important function will be outsourced to credible public relations firms until such time that it is feasible to internalize this position at a label.
Combined with concentrated airplay and print advertisements, the impact created from the publicist’s strategy creates the most powerful advertisement: word of mouth. Music buyers who hear the “talk” and hear the music on the radio are more inclined to enter a music store to make a purchase.
Corporate sponsorship is a form of advertisement where companies pay to be associated with an event or cause. Finding the right sponsors helps make the event, and in turn your business, successful. Follow these steps to learn how to find corporate sponsors for your event:
The business affairs administration department of the label includes the accounting office manager, administrator, staff accountant, payroll and accounting.
The artist development department can also be called artist career development. Though this department has primarily phased out with major labels, it has flourish among independent labels.
The artist development department usually oversees the career planning of artists signed to the label. This department coordinates a consistent marketing and promotional presence for an artist throughout their career with the record label. The artist development department has changed over the last decade. Many labels no longer have such a department. Others have changed the name to product development and concentrate more on “breaking” or promoting artists quickly in order to try to speed up the return on their financial investment. The pressure to return a profit to shareholders has changed the face of the music business dramatically in recent years, so the emphasis has been more on product development and securing a hit as quickly as possible.
The merchandising department administrates a label’s merchandising, marketing new and existing artists’ merchandising products with tie-in to all music events, shows, touring, website, etc. as support in boosting overall sales while creating a consistent revenue stream for the label and enhancing “artist and label brand equity.”
The creative services department supervises all product design jobs (CD, digital, vinyl cover art, etc.), trade and consumer press advertising, retail sales posters and flats, and other needs of the print media. The department also is responsible for merchandising concepts, graphic and website designs, artistic production, technological, internal and/or outsourced creative services.