Skip to main content
Jump to the Larry Miller Report

REBOOTING THE RECORD LABEL

The modern record label consists of dedicated, experienced teams who partner with artists to bring fans the world's best music. While the core functions of finding, developing and breaking the next music star have not changed, how that's done today is dramatically different, thanks in part to the advent of music streaming services. It takes a coordinated global team to support and nurture an artist's vision.

We are #LABELSATWORK.

Artists and Repertoire

A&R managers still scout late night gigs, but modern execs also use data to complement their instinct and judgement. From scouring amateur videos, to sifting through SoundCloud uploads, to pairing new artists with experienced producers and musicians, A&R execs often have the golden ears that know when an artist is ready to take his or her career to the next level.

Artist Services

The modern label now usually offers a suite of one-stop customized support services: digital marketing, merchandising, fan club management, VIP experiences, ticketing and tour support and much more.

Sales & Distribution

The modern music market is multi-faceted, with a diverse range of digital music services. Today's music fan expects music at the touch of a finger, and that's where the modern record label comes in, working with hundreds of digital music services offering fans millions of tracks. That requires constant communication, coordination and expertise.

Data Analysis

As music discovery and listening has shifted to digital platforms, label teams have the herculean task of deciphering the massive amounts of data associated with each song or album. It's data, for example, that assists A&R teams in pinpointing rising talent, determines which singles perform the best in which cities, and helps inform a tour strategy.

Marketing & Promotion

Marketing and promoting today is a yearlong exercise. With more than 20,000 songs uploaded to digital music services each day, finding and developing an audience is harder than ever. Label teams from across the globe collaborate on a variety of marketing and promotion initiatives, from finding appropriate branding opportunities that reflect their creative vision, to support for music videos, touring, publicity, social media content and radio promotion.

REBOOTING THE RECORD LABEL

The modern record label consists of dedicated, experienced teams who partner with artists to bring fans the world's best music. While the core functions of finding, developing and breaking the next music star have not changed, how that's done today is dramatically different, thanks in part to the advent of music streaming services. It takes a coordinated global team to support and nurture an artist's vision.

We are #LABELSATWORK.

Artists and Repertoire

A&R managers still scout late night gigs, but modern execs also use data to complement their instinct and judgement. From scouring amateur videos, to sifting through SoundCloud uploads, to pairing new artists with experienced producers and musicians, A&R execs often have the golden ears that know when an artist is ready to take his or her career to the next level.

Artist Services

The modern label now usually offers a suite of one-stop customized support services: digital marketing, merchandising, fan club management, VIP experiences, ticketing and tour support and much more.

Sales & Distribution

The modern music market is multi-faceted, with a diverse range of digital music services. Today's music fan expects music at the touch of a finger, and that's where the modern record label comes in, working with hundreds of digital music services offering fans millions of tracks. That requires constant communication, coordination and expertise.

Data Analysis

As music discovery and listening has shifted to digital platforms, label teams have the herculean task of deciphering the massive amounts of data associated with each song or album. It's data, for example, that assists A&R teams in pinpointing rising talent, determines which singles perform the best in which cities, and helps inform a tour strategy.

Marketing & Promotion

Marketing and promoting today is a yearlong exercise. With more than 20,000 songs uploaded to digital music services each day, finding and developing an audience is harder than ever. Label teams from across the globe collaborate on a variety of marketing and promotion initiatives, from finding appropriate branding opportunities that reflect their creative vision, to support for music videos, touring, publicity, social media content and radio promotion.

#LABELSATWORK

LABEL NEWS

Coming out of a decade of upheaval, the music business has never been such a challenging — or thrilling — place to work. What does a career in music look like in 2020?

READ MORE

In 2011, less than a year after he was named chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, he led the company into one of the biggest deals in music business history by acquiring EMI’s recorded-music division — home to artists ranging from the Beatles to Katy Perry.

READ MORE

We close out 2019 of the Musonomics podcast with an extended interview with Rob Stringer, Chairman of Sony Music Group and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment.

READ MORE

Universal Music Group has launched a new app on iOS and Android called Universal Music Artists (UMA for short) that will provide analytics to its artists and their management teams from Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and YouTube, as well as social insights Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in one place. UMG says analytics from Deezer will be added in 2020.

READ MORE

Aaron Bay-Schuck talks history, ambitions, Tom Corson, and future plans for his label.

READ MORE

Revenue figures are all very well – but if you really want to get a taste of the music industry’s commercial comeback, you’ve got to take a look at the jobs.

READ MORE

Cindy James is the quiet achiever. The Australian-born label executive is a music streaming pro, a big player in the Big Apple, where she serves as VP of streaming & playlisting strategy for Island Records.

READ MORE

Motown's Ethiopia Habtemariam on hip-hop's explosion, ego in the music business — and Motown's new age.

READ MORE

IFPI has launched a new website titled Powering the Music Ecosystem designed to showcase the role record labels play in today’s global music landscape as a leading investor in music, and partner and collaborator with artists.

READ MORE

In today’s dynamic global music ecosystem, the role of the record label as the leading investor in music and partner and collaborator with artists has never been more important.

READ MORE

LABEL NEWS

Coming out of a decade of upheaval, the music business has never been such a challenging — or thrilling — place to work. What does a career in music look like in 2020?

READ MORE

In 2011, less than a year after he was named chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, he led the company into one of the biggest deals in music business history by acquiring EMI’s recorded-music division — home to artists ranging from the Beatles to Katy Perry.

READ MORE

We close out 2019 of the Musonomics podcast with an extended interview with Rob Stringer, Chairman of Sony Music Group and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment.

READ MORE

Universal Music Group has launched a new app on iOS and Android called Universal Music Artists (UMA for short) that will provide analytics to its artists and their management teams from Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and YouTube, as well as social insights Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in one place. UMG says analytics from Deezer will be added in 2020.

READ MORE

Aaron Bay-Schuck talks history, ambitions, Tom Corson, and future plans for his label.

READ MORE

Revenue figures are all very well – but if you really want to get a taste of the music industry’s commercial comeback, you’ve got to take a look at the jobs.

READ MORE

Cindy James is the quiet achiever. The Australian-born label executive is a music streaming pro, a big player in the Big Apple, where she serves as VP of streaming & playlisting strategy for Island Records.

READ MORE

Motown's Ethiopia Habtemariam on hip-hop's explosion, ego in the music business — and Motown's new age.

READ MORE

IFPI has launched a new website titled Powering the Music Ecosystem designed to showcase the role record labels play in today’s global music landscape as a leading investor in music, and partner and collaborator with artists.

READ MORE

In today’s dynamic global music ecosystem, the role of the record label as the leading investor in music and partner and collaborator with artists has never been more important.

READ MORE

Same Heart. Different Beat.

Despite new DIY tools and the rise of streaming music services, record labels remain a critical player behind popular music in the U.S. and abroad. Based on interviews conducted with nearly fifty executives from across the U.S. recorded music business by NYU Steinhardt Music Business Program Director Larry Miller, this report reveals inside information on how labels have gone beyond their album oriented roots to become entertainment companies that partner with artists to fulfill a broad creative vision, eschewing the old mindset of signing artists to a handful of releases.