record label: the decision

we chose Atlantic Records as they seemed to have less big artists, which means they would have time to develop the ones they do have.

Atlantic Records' parent company is Warner Music Group, whom are widely seen as the second biggest record label in the world and are constantly in contention with the other major labels: Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and EMI who prior to late 2011 would be regarded as one of the major labels.

Atlantic Records is an American label founded in 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. It was in 1967 that Warner became their parent company. The label are most famous for being host to many major rock acts over the years such as Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones, and also helping the evolution of African-American music, as they held such talents as Ben E. King (best known for 'Stand By Me') and Ray Charles (best known for 'Hit The Road, Jack') in the prime of their careers. Currently their most popular artists are of the urban genre, as their website mainly promotes rappers; Wiz Khalifa (similar style to our artist) and T.I as well as RnB star Trey Songz. With such a convincing range of talent we were sure that Iceburg would fit in nicely at Atlantic records.

label research

After the creation of Iceburg it was time to find an appropriate label to enter talks with about possible promotion and this meant going into depth on searching for the right label. As the rap hybrid genre was becoming more popular it was a good idea to start looking at some of the more commercial labels that would possibly sign him.

The label we looked at was 'Atlantic Records' because of its success and fame for producing successful artists's such as 'Wiz Khalifa' and 'Lupe Fiasco'. "Over its first 20 years of operation Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most important American independent recording labels, specializing in jazz, R&B and soul recordings by African-American artists, " With credentials such as these and with their market expanding to the UK this seemed like a sensible label to use for the purpose of this task. As Lupe Fiasco showed with his debut album it was possible to mix the idea of rap with rock beats, The potential was spotted and Atlantic records chose to distribute this artist's music and with Iceburg being of a similar mould in a generally new market this gave him the opportunity to follow a similar pathway.

As Atlantic Records is a predominantly American label with UK links we thought it would make sense to look at other labels closer to home. This lead to the attraction of 'Island Records' which "is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group. The label now operates as a division of The Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the United States (where it is now a largely rock-oriented label, much like in its heyday) and as a standalone label in the United Kingdom (also known as Island Records Group or Universal Island).Since 2007, there is also a frontline local artist and repertoire label in Australia known as Island Records Australia, run by Universal Music Australia. Island Records was also the founding company behind the highly influential Anime licensor Manga Entertainment, which has changed hands numerous times during the 90's and early 2000's" and  has a more recent record of producing UK artists. With success stories such as 'Rizzle Kicks' on their books this was the logical path if we were to try and tackle the UK market. However as it was a rock based label we were not sure that it would such a great idea. This was still a possibility however. 

The avenue of looking at a UK grime label was also explored as the new interest and commercialisation of this genre meant that the market was fast growing and contained our target audience. With Wiley and Skepta becoming growingly popular the idea of singing with 'Boy Better Know' became more appetising. "The band and label were established by Jamie Adenuga (born 4 May 1985). "Boy Better Know" is a registered trademark, clothing line and Boy Better Know sim cards.In 2008, they pioneered a short-lived dance fad called the "Rolex Sweep" which accompanied the song of the same name by Skepta. The song and dance was later referenced by Chris Martin of Coldplay during a rendition of "In My Place" at Brixton Academy". With an advertising plan and commodity ideas already in place this label had a strong appeal as with a pioneering label in place this made a strong point for being considered as being a debut artist on a label surrounded by newly found success the fan base would have already been in place. This could have been a risky move as the general hype around the label could have died quickly and this would mean our artist would have a limited opportunity and may not make it. Similarly Professor Green's first record contract fell through when the label went bust meaning he could not legally release anything that he recorded with them and had to start his career effectively from scratch.

All three of these labels made a strong point for consideration which we would late have to address for our artist's journey to progress.