Major Label Global Market Shares 09/10

Past Questions

January 2009 - Discuss production and distribution methods.

June 2009 - Importance of technological convergence to audiences and institutions.

January 2010 - Domination of global institution selling to national audiences: agree/disagree.

June 2010 - Significance of continuing development of digital technology for audience and institutions.

January 2011 - Issues raised by media ownership in production and exchange of textsz

Music Industry Terminology

Convergence of Technology - This is the move from anologue to digital.

Convergence of Industrial Activity - This is when a company moves from selling one thing to another. For example sony moved from selling hardware to music.

Synergy - The coming together of two or more seperate sources that produces a result that benefits both, but one that they can not acheive by themselves. Eg. The marks and spencers and morrisons adverts and the Tony Hawks Pro Skater 4 advert.

Conglomerate - A company of companies. For example sony, this company ranges from hardware to music.

Globalisation - A record label that sells it's products across the globe.

Analogue Music - A methord of recording sound, which is now being replaced with digital systems.

Digitalisation - This happened around 1984. MP3 used to be WAV files which are much bigger, these files are now getting smaller. CD's are also digital which consist of using binary numbers.

Vertical Integration - when a company expands its arease that are at different points of the same productive path.

Horizontal Integration - The merge of competing companies from the same line of business and involved at the same level of activity.

Major Record Label - the music industry sells compositions, recordin g and performance music.

Subsidiary Label - a record label which is owned by the major label, dont represent the entire group.

Independent Label - a record label operating without the funding of outside organisation of the major record label.

Niche Audience -  the targeting of a small but significant group of consumers with a media product directed specifically at their interests.

Mainstream Audience - Mainstream is, generally, the common current of thought of the majority, meaning most people like the type of music which has come out. An example would be chart.

Fans - This is short for fanatic. People who support and admire an artist.

Active Audience - Audience memebers who already are interested in an organisation, issue, or cause. Instead of waiting to recieve information on it, they seek it out from many sources and when doing so, they speak as well as listen.

Audiophiles - earlier poepple who are interesting in high quality products.

Early Adopters - A person who starts using a product or technology as soon as it becomes available.

Consumption - The using up of a resource.

Web 2.0 - The internet viewed as a medium in which interactive experience, in the form of blogs, wikis, forums, etc, plays a more important role than simple accessing information.


Meta-tags/personalisation - HTML or XHTML elements.

Download - The process of copying data.

Streaming - Relating to or making use of a form of tape transport, in which data may be transferred in bulk while the tape is in motion.

Peer to Peer - Computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or work loads between peers.

Piracy - The unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright owner's exclusive rights.

Portability/Miniaturisation - Easily or conveniently transported, small and portable objects.

Multi-track - An audio tape which holds more than one track of audio information.

Sampling - The selection of a suitable sample for study.

Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) - A computer, sound card, and editing software that allows you to record, edit and mix audio programs entirely in digital form.

A&R – Artists and Repertoire.

Record Deal – contract – royalties - A legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist, where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote. 

Distribution - The action of sharing something out among a number of recipients.

Plugging/Marketing - The action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.