Columbia Records
Columbia Records
What is a record label and what do they do?
A record label is a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos, while also searching for new talent and development of new artists, and maintaining contracts with recording artists and their managers.
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment. It was founded in 1887, evolving from the American Graphophone Company, the successor to the Volta Graphophone Company. Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the recorded sound business, and the second major company to produce records. Like many other record labels, they have evolved with the time in terms of the musicians they have signed to their record label, it branched off with various different genres of music (such as rock, rap, RnB, pop). Due to its variety of genres, this record label has many different target demographics, which are all reached from all the different artists and bands they have.
Columbia Records became a leader in pop music in the 1940s with the popularity of Frank Sinatra. In the 1940s Columbia Records also began experimenting with longer playing, higher fidelity discs to replace 78 rpm records. The first pop LP officially released was a reissue of Frank Sinatra's The Voice Of Frank Sinatra in 1946. The single 10 inch disc replaced four 78 rpm records. In 1948 Columbia Records introduced the standard 33 1/3 rpm LP that would become a music industry standard for nearly 50 years.
In 1951 Columbia Records began issuing 45 rpm records. The format had been introduced by RCA two years earlier. It became the standard way to issue recordings of individual hit songs. for decades to come. In recent years Columbia Records has seen a resurgence as a major force in mainstream pop music. The current chairman is Rob Stringer and co-presidents are producer Rick Rubin and Steve Barnett. A major reorganization (an attempt to extend the life of a company facing bankruptcy through special arrangements and restructuring to minimize the possibility of past situations reoccurring) of Sony Music Entertainment in 2009 made Columbia Records one of three main labels in the conglomerate. Columbia Records has sold over 10 million albums and 33 million songs recorded by the cast of the TV show Glee. In addition the label has seen its investment in Adele result in sales of over six million copies of her album 21 in its first year of release in 2011-2012 and sales of more than three million copies of her follow up 25 in just one week.
A record label is a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos, while also searching for new talent and development of new artists, and maintaining contracts with recording artists and their managers.
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment. It was founded in 1887, evolving from the American Graphophone Company, the successor to the Volta Graphophone Company. Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the recorded sound business, and the second major company to produce records. Like many other record labels, they have evolved with the time in terms of the musicians they have signed to their record label, it branched off with various different genres of music (such as rock, rap, RnB, pop). Due to its variety of genres, this record label has many different target demographics, which are all reached from all the different artists and bands they have.
Columbia Records became a leader in pop music in the 1940s with the popularity of Frank Sinatra. In the 1940s Columbia Records also began experimenting with longer playing, higher fidelity discs to replace 78 rpm records. The first pop LP officially released was a reissue of Frank Sinatra's The Voice Of Frank Sinatra in 1946. The single 10 inch disc replaced four 78 rpm records. In 1948 Columbia Records introduced the standard 33 1/3 rpm LP that would become a music industry standard for nearly 50 years.
In 1951 Columbia Records began issuing 45 rpm records. The format had been introduced by RCA two years earlier. It became the standard way to issue recordings of individual hit songs. for decades to come. In recent years Columbia Records has seen a resurgence as a major force in mainstream pop music. The current chairman is Rob Stringer and co-presidents are producer Rick Rubin and Steve Barnett. A major reorganization (an attempt to extend the life of a company facing bankruptcy through special arrangements and restructuring to minimize the possibility of past situations reoccurring) of Sony Music Entertainment in 2009 made Columbia Records one of three main labels in the conglomerate. Columbia Records has sold over 10 million albums and 33 million songs recorded by the cast of the TV show Glee. In addition the label has seen its investment in Adele result in sales of over six million copies of her album 21 in its first year of release in 2011-2012 and sales of more than three million copies of her follow up 25 in just one week.
Band name: Pink Floyd
Song name: Another brick in the wall
Genre: Rock
This music video seems to have the highest budget out of the rest of the songs I have talked about so far, this is shown through the use of the amount of actors that are used in the video, the use of professional props (such as the masks) and the professional setting of the music video with the setting being set on fire for the final shot.
This links to how the band is a very well established with a strong fan base, having created 15 studio albums, and also links to their mainstream record label with them being able to give a music video a very high budget.
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| The video begins with a lot of war imagery, with the teacher speaking like a war general, with the violent and sharp music accompanied with screaming. Also, quick cuts establish a violent tone in the song. This whole song is an attack at the school system, and therefore the director is comparing school to what it is like to be in the army. |
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| The teacher in this scene disrespects the child's poem, expressing to the audience how school does not help people's creativity flourish. In addition, the poem was an intertextual reference to one of Pink Floyd's other songs "money". The children in this video has been represented as victims of the unfair school system which seemingly tarnishes their personal image and does not let their creativity flourish. |
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| The images in the video are in sync with the music. We see children in masks marching (linking back to war imagery). The children wearing masks and all wearing similar clothes expresses the lack of freedom and individuality for students. The colours used here are all dark and melancholy setting a meaningful dark tone through out the video. |
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| As the lyrics
are repeated,
the tone seems
to shift from
lack of hope to anger. The pictures Become more dramatic, violent, and out of the ordinary. |
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| The visual climax of the video has been reached, now the guitar solo begins and we see all the kids begin to rebel against the school system, expressing their individuality and freedom in which the school tried to hide away. |
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| The freedom
represented by the
guitar solo, is
accompanied visually, by the children Throwing off their masks and rebelling. The fire could represent to the audience a new beginning from the ashes of the past, with the kids beginning a new life without the boundaries school made. |
Band name: AC/DC
Song name: You shook me all night long
Genre: rock
AC/DC are also a very well established band with having 16 studio albums, so similar to Pink Floyd their music video will also have a high budget. This is expressed through the use of different actors in the video and the setting and props used.
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| In this music video, the narrative is distinguished from the performance as it is in black and white where the performance is in colour. There are many instances of humour in the narrative, for example the man sitting in a tiny bath. This ties to the band's brand identity and gives the audience what they expect from the band. |
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| The performance sections also maintain the bands brand identity by giving an impression of their energetic and chaotic live shows as they feature very quick and sharp cuts. |
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The song of course has sexual connotations and the visuals back this up.
For example: at around 0:35 when lead singer Brian Johnson
sings "the best damn woman that I’ve ever seen" we see a shot
of a woman and the camera pans down, objectifying her,
linking to voyeurism. This is
also an example of the video illustrating the music and is also a
convention of the genre.
Bell Hooks feminist theory could be used here to explore
how women are being objectified for male pleasure.
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The narrative elements of the video are presented in black and
films such as Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’.
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There are many close ups of the members of the band,
for example; lead singer, Brian Johnson and rhythm guitarist
Angus Young. This helps to meet the demand
of the record label.
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