The Big 3 Record Labels

The 3 main Record Labels

Warner Music Group

It was established in 1958 in New York city.  It is the third largest global label in the world

The current CEO is Stephen Cooper and has a Revenue of $2.87 billion as of 2013.  It has around 3,550 employees working for them, including producers, agents and different artists.

The Main labels they own are Atlantic Records, Warner Bros Records and Parlophone Records. Though there are many different smaller companies that they own that fall within these 3 larger companies.

Some of the most famous artists signed to Warner includes-

• ACDC
• ABBA
• Beyonce  
• Ed Sheeran
• Blur
• Michael Buble
• Johnny Cash
• Clean Bandit
• Madonna
• Cold Play
• Daft Punk
• Phil Collins
• David Bowie
• Prince

Universal

It was founded in 1933 and has been called different names throughout the years, such as Decca Records, MCA Records, MCA music entertainment group.

The current CEO is Lucian Grainge and it currently has a Revenue of $1.552 billion.  In 2012, the other major music label EMI was bought by Universal which raised both the number of artists and labels that they owned. Furthermore, due to this recent integration, Universal Music Group (UMG) is now the largest global music record label.

Some of the more well-known labels are Interscope Geffena and A&M records, Capitol Music Group, Republic Records, Island Records and Def Jam Recordings.

Due to the influence of this record label, there are many well-known artists who are signed to Universal. 

Some of these are-

•       The Beatles
•       Taylor Swift
•       Lorde
•       Lady Gaga
•       Lana Del Rey
•       Kanye West
•       Amy Winehouse
•       Lil Wayne
•       Elton John
•       Mariah Carey
•       Queen
•       Adele
•       Pink Floyd
•       Mick Jagger
•       Gorillaz

Sony

This record label was initial founded as American Record Corporation in 1929, making it the oldest of the 3 largest labels. Over the years its name has changed several times, these were Colombia/CBS records, Sony music entertainment, Sony BMG Music entertainment and finally Sony Music entertainment in 2009. The current CEO is Robert Stringer whilst the current chairman is Doug Morris. It is the second largest music label globally and has a revenue of $4.89 billion as of 2014.

Due to it being the 2 largest global music labels, there are many different smaller companies that it owns. These are Columbia Records, Epic Records, RCA records, Provident Label Group and the various other Sony music groups such as Sony music Nashville and Sony masterworks.

Furthermore due to this large inbfluence within the industry, there are also many artist who are signed to Sony Music group. 

Some of the more well known ones are-

·    

•       Michael Jackson
•       Shakira
•       Celine Dion
•       Britney Spears
•       Alan Walker
•       Whitney Houston
•       George Michael
•       Calvin Harris
•       Kesha
•       Robbie Williams
•       Alicia Keys
•       John Legend
•       Frank Sinatra
•       Oasis