Major Vs Independent:

The 4 Major Labels are:


-Sony-BMG
-Universal Music Group
-EMI
-Warner Music Group. 

Sony-BMG subsidiaries:

-Columbia
-Arista
- Epic
-Provident
-RCA

Universal Music Group subsidiaries:

-Interscope records
-Def Jam Recordings
-Republic Records
-Island Records
-Polydor Records
-Mercury Records
-Virgin Records

EMI subsidaries:

-EMI Music Publishing
-Minos EMI
-Gold Typhoon
-EMI Blackwood Music Inc.
-Jobete Music
-Rover Music N.V

Warner Music Group subsidiaries:

-Atlantic Records
-Warner Bros. Records
-Parlophone
-Warner/ Chappell Music
- Rhino Entertainment
-Reprise Records

Independent Record Labels:

-Rhymesayers Entertainment.
-4AD
-Matador Records.
-Mad Decent.
-XL Recordings
-Sub Pop Records
-Jagjaguwar.

Major Labels:

 Major labels have a large budget. Therefore, they can provide the artist with more money then and indie label. This means the artist can have high quality recordings of their songs, lots of money into the production of the music, Major Distribution of the singles and albums, successful well shot Music Videos, Pro-Photography for album covers and magazine shoots, Pro-Advertising of their products and Merchandise.

However, it all comes at a price because When an artists sign onto a major Label, they own that artist for the duration of the contract. They will have complete creative control over the music and the image. They will tell them where and when to be somewhere and if you want to make this work. Furthermore, they will own your music forever or until you or someone else buys the ownership ‘rights’ to your songs. A major label invests all that time and money into  an artist because they believe they could get a bigger return on investment. Which  means that they are in debt to the label.  Having said that, there is money to be made for the artist if they do well. 

Independent Labels:

 Indie labels are usually genuine-honest fans of the bands/artists that they sign. They truly enjoy the music on a personal level and therefore they have more personal passion and drive in promoting the music.  Indie labels usually have smaller amounts of bands/artists means that the artist gets a lot more attention and more communication access with the label to talk and plan Furthermore, because they are smaller, there are benefits that come with a personal close-working business relationship. The artist will have a lot more input into the overall planning stages and so forth and the relationship can be less rigid and more personable.

The types of Indie label contracts can vary greatly. Some contracts resemble Major label contracts on a smaller scale and Some are simply Distribution and Promotion deals. A lot depends on the label and the band/artist and the situation. One advantage for bands/artists is that Indie label contracts usually give the artist most of the creative control concerning their music. There might be some quality-production requirements or some other minimum requirements but the song writing usually stays in the artist’s control. Also, another major plus is that the contracts usually give the artists back the ‘ownership rights’ to their music/album after a short period of time determined in the negations.

Due to the Smaller size of the label it tends to equal smaller budgets which means there are limitations to what an Indie label can do. Therefore the artist is less likely to have high production of their music and much investment into the distribution of it unless they can afford to pay for it themselves. It will be harder for the musician to  make contacts with famous successful producers and other successful artists that they are wanting to collaborate with. In addition to this without the financial support it becomes largely more difficult to get the music noticed.