Mainstream Vs Indie (One Direction Vs Lanterns On The Lake)

The music industry are made up of two different parts you have mainstream where artist such as one direction get signed to a major record company and are flooded with resources, and then you have artists such as Lanterns on the lake where they are signed to a small company with not a lot to go by.

One direction are known as a manufactured pop group. They were formed on the XFactor by Simon Cowell and were taught how to dress, how to act, and how to interact with their specific fan base teenage girls. One direction have a large ‘machine’ behind them which brings both advantages and disadvantages. Where as Lanterns who are a self made ground who are signed to an independent label do not have this ‘machine’.

                                                                                             

Importance Of Picking The Right Record Label: 

Picking the right record label is important to an artist. It can build their image but can trap the artist within a specific market. The factors to look at when an artist is picking its record label are:

Target Audience

Being Manufactures Vs. Authenticity 

Independent Vs. Major Label

Target audience

Target audience is important to think about when picking because the age range of labels are different for example Hollywood Records are mostly based around young girls to teenagers (9- 17). Choosing the wrong label can leave you stuck within a market that may not be for the artist. Especially in a label such as Hollywood Records there is always going to be a new teenage recording potential star and fans in this age bracket will always move on. So in a dynamic market its important to keep up or the record label may drop the artist if sales are continuing to fall therefore picking the right label according to target audience is essential.

Another reason is growth. Growth is important to an artist being stuck in a age bracket that does not allow you to expand is dangerous as the fans may not grow with you. A good example is Ashley Tisdale and Vanessa Hudgens from the hit movie High School Musical. After High School Musical both Ashley and Vanessa got signed to Hollywood Records as they were in High School Musical their target audience was very clear however she moved on to Warner Bros. Records as she wanted to expand and grow as an artist and her audience whereas Vanessa Hudgens stayed on to Hollywood Records however she was not able to turn her image and sound around because of their target audience bracket.

Being Manufactures Vs. Authenticity and Independent Vs. Major 
Some record label manufacture their artists so that they are able to sell more records. This may mean having a bigger budget in terms of production and image as this is usual done by major record labels.  However there isnt much freedom when it comes to music and image. They teach you how to act what to wear and sing because everything the artist does is targeted to their audience. Authenticity matters to more artists than others because they just want to make music. Whereas smaller independent labels let artists to true to their music which is often quite simple mainly because of the budget however the artist is fine with it as they are focusing on music.