JOB ROLES WITHIN A RECORD LABEL

Just a small sample of some of the job roles you may find within a record label.

1. JOB ROLES WITHIN RECORD LABELS

2. CEO/PRESIDENT/OWNER Record label CEOs manage their companies with a mix of business skills and skills that are particular to the music industry. The CEO determines the general direction of the marketing, the music distribution and other matters. The CEO must also master basics like improving financial performance and communicating with board members. Many CEOs come from a traditional business school background. H owever , r egardless of background, CEOs must have strong skills in business management and financial analysis. For a CEO, a smaller label with a handful of artists will have less paperwork to handle and tends to be more independent. A big corporation has many divisions and different music genres, and marketing and touring are major operations. CEOs must understand the different kinds of music distribution methods, they also recruit and hire management staff members. CEOs are currently dealing with an industry experiencing rapid changes in digital music distribution and illegal copying issues.

3. VICE PRESIDENT Most record labels have several vice presidents. There are different vice presidents for each department at the record label who manage and oversight their departments. Depending on the size of the label, there may be up to 10 or more vice presidents for a single record label. Examples of departments that have vice presidents and has a different function that works to build the label . The departments include business affairs, legal, art, artist and repertoire, publicity, marketing, sales and label liaison.

4. BUSINESS ACCOUTANT Music Business Accountants advise and work with musicians and music industry companies on financial matters. Some Accountants specialise in copyright, royalties or licensing. An average salary is $65,080 An Accountant may be employed in different roles — as a management accountant, as a specialist account in a particular field. Their tasks will include: monthly financial reporting, support for forecasting and budgeting, including advances and royalties and managing payments. Knowledge and experience of working with music industry clients is required, and will be an asset for any Accountant working within the music industry.

5. LEGAL A record company’s legal department is responsible for all the contracts that are made between the company and the artist. The label’s team of attorneys will draft the recording contracts and do the final negotiations with the artist’s manager or lawyer. Any legal actions, such as lawsuits between musicians and the label, go through this department, such as: licensee queries, issues and disputes; record company membership documentation, queries, issues and disputes; performer registration documentation, queries, issues and disputes; issues relating to facilities and services, carrying out company secretarial duties; dealing with other major issues.

6. A&R DEPARTMENT The A & R department, also known as the Artist and Repertoire, is responsible for finding and signing new talent. The vice president of this department manages scouts who receive hundreds of submissions a day from unsigned artists. These scouts also attend shows and conventions to find the best new talent. Depending on the size and budget of the label, the vice president may choose to only sign a few acts a year out of the thousands that he reviews.

7. ARTIST DEVELOPMENT The vice president in this department is in charge of managing the staff that is in charge of career planning for artists signed to the label, both artistically and financially. This department sets up promotional opportunities and determines how best to market the album and artist to reach the target audience. In this department, they are concerned with making signed artists a hit as quickly as possible to make a profit. They are responsible to stockholders for how fast they see a profit from their investments in artists and albums.

8. MARKETING A Marketing Assistant is responsible for helping to come up with new marketing concepts, working with the creative department on images and advertisements, develop marketing strategies and plans, and present findings to company executives . They are also involved in coordinating all the promotion, publicity, and sales campaigns that the label is committed to. A marketing assistant or manager may be assigned to work on one or several campaigns at any given time, but will usually liaise with the artist and/or their management. Their aim would be to come up with a “plot” for that artist which may include starting with some “viral marketing” activity such as involving fans via fan websites, blogs and social media to create excitement.

9. ART DEPARTMENT This department is responsible for handling all artwork that goes into creating an album and its video . This artwork is the first thing fans and the general public see when purchasing the album, therefore this is crucial that the art department presents the artist/bands image correctly. The music video needs to be exciting and full of a “cool” atmosphere. This is because this is also one of the things new fans or people with an interest will see when looking up the band.

10. PUBLICITY/PROMOTIONS Press/Publicity and Promotions department try to obtain maximum publicity for any appearances/gigs/interviews/arrests leading up to the projected release of a single/album. This is usually when the employee gets involved and uses his/her contacts or calls in favours to ensure that the song is heard on the radio and/or played on TV . In turn, the album would be promoted in the press, on radio, billboards, online and, depending on the budget, on TV. Not all record labels have the funds to follow such a potentially expensive route for all (or any) of their artists and smaller budgets call for greater creativity and, perhaps, a less traditional approach to marketing. This is where certain independent labels, benefiting from strong reputations in specific genres can gain higher success for their artists.

11. SALES Once the song/album has been recorded and the marketing campaign is in place, the sales team will need to ensure that the retailers and wholesalers buy enough stock to cover the anticipated demand . Because of the high cost of warehousing and physically distributing stock to thousands of outlets throughout the country, most of the distribution is from two or three major distributors, co-owned by the larger record companies and a handful of smaller distributors serving the independent labels . The sales team is usually consists of telephone sales staff, who sell new releases direct to the independent record shops and key accounts (or national accounts) salespeople who liaise with the head offices of the large retail chains and supermarkets . The relationship that the sales people build with the buyers is a crucial component in the success of a new album . The distributor may also employ the services of a merchandiser to visit the shops and supply point-of-sale material (posters, cut-outs etc) in support of a particular release.

12. ARTIST MANAGEMENT It is the manager’s job to serve the artist; to deal with all the everyday mundane business affairs so that nothing is left to interfere with the delicate creative process. Many managers find themselves dealing with the personal as well as the professional lives of their artist or band, and grow a strong relationship with one another, as they’ll spend almost every day of the year with this person/ people. Invariably though, any interested record company will suggest, if not insist, that an artist be signed with an experienced, professional manager; recognizing the importance of the role. Certainly they will be involved in any decision that directly concerns the artist’s earning potential. A manager must be prepared to negotiate with record labels, publishers, tour managers, booking agents, promoters, producers, lawyers, accountants, journalists, photographers, merchandisers, fan clubs and often the artist’s friends and family . Whilst it is important for both parties that the manager is a fan of the music, he or she must remain objective about the look, sound and next career moves of their artist(s). In an ideal scenario, everyone will have the same objectives and will trust and respect each other’s decisions and motives . In return for these services, a manager can expect to receive anywhere between 15% and 25% of an artist’s gross earnings.