#ukrecords

[luckisnotathing]

So glad to be back in the.... JK. #fadgadget #onemansmeat #franktovey #ukrecords #roughtradeuk (at Rough Trade East) https://www.instagram.com/p/BohO1arFto0gNcAbM1A3t7SKhMe3De1x-N1Abo0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=eherh08b5smh

[chazamabobablog]

The UK Record Industry.

In 1925 the first documented Record Company, Oriole Records was established in London as a subsidiary of a family owned Record Shop of which also sold Bicycles and Sewing Machines. Oriole Records, however, was discontinued and taken over in 1965 by the American CBS Records. 

In the Present day, the UK record industry is made up, predominantly, of mainstream Labels, with independent labels such as London’s Rough Trade Records and Manchester’s Lab Records giving smaller bands chances with a DIY approach.

The Music industry changed dramatically in 2000, with the implement of Apple’s iTunes and Internet Streaming.

With the evolution of the internet came the reinvention of music consumption, iTunes was created by Apple to allow music to be put onto a portable device much easier, from CD's or bought direct from their 'iTunes store'. Not only this, but companies such as Spotify and Deezer were created, enabling people to listen to Music for free or a subscription. However, the effect of this is that the Music Industry is effected greatly by these 'new-age' formats financially, with just over 500 billion streamers, the money most made is in in the percentage income for the streaming company and not to the artist. This of course causes financial problems and means artists need to do more and worker harder and faster in order to make enough money for sustainability, especially in the independent music industry. 

As much as the internet has created difficulties for the artists it has it’s benefits. The internet of course used for interconnectivity, internationally. Smaller independent bands and artists are becoming extremely more relevant worldwide. For Example, back in the 90′s, pre-internet, bands such as Joy Division and the Happy Mondays had to ‘break-america’, meaning they had to physically go and perform in America to try and create a fanbase in the USA. The difference between the 90′s and the present day is the fact that bands can perform from the comfort of their own country and start to make a fan base across the Pacific. This does cut down on the work load and financials for bands with free internet utilities such as YouTube and Soundcloud.

One thing the definitely support Bands and Artists are Festivals. Especially in the UK. There are around 396 Music Festivals, ranging from Folk to Dance & Electronic. In the present day, it isn’t uncommon for Bands to integrate Festivals onto their list of performance dates. For Example, Kasabian for their 2014-15 tour not only did Arena dates in cities such as Manchester, Berlin and Paris; but they also performed at both dates of the Virgin Festival.

Festivals allow artists to show people what their music is and what music they create, which in turn creates more fans. Major Music Festivals in the UK Generate a lot of money, however the loss of money is also rather large. Gareth Cooper, Co-founder of ‘Festival No.6′, explains that “For a 10,000-capacity festival, your power will cost you between £60,000 and £100,000, we would spend up to £30,000 taking the waste away.” This is around £130,000 just for 2 aspects, Power and waste, to only support 100,000 in attendance, this doesn’t even include Headliners or the Stages. Geoff Ellis, Festival Director of T in the Park said for 18 years at Balado, Scotland was £1million as an average for running costs per year. Festivals, although brings in thousands, generates enough money to run another one the year after, and occasionally expand depending on the festivals popularity, hence the reason why Glastonbury went from this...

to this...

From 1970 to 2015 Glastonbury has gained popularity due to acts like Led Zeppelin being the first to play in the early years of the festival. This just shows how band popularity increases after Festivals, due to the fact that many fans have a taste of other bands styles and still get to listen to their favourite, and that is just as relevant today as it was in 1970. The income then reflects on bands performing, year by year, the pay off for the bands have increased, and so Bands look to perform and strive to perform at large festivals. In fact the Music industry in the present day support bands and help them to get to large festivals, due to the fact that this is where the most money is at other than Record Sales.