Record Labels

Major Record Labels:

Examples of some of these major record labels are companies such as : 

• Universal - own record artists such as: Mika, Kanye west, Amy winehouse
• Sony Music - own record artists such as: Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Cristina Aguliera 
• Warner Bros. - own record artists such as: Price, Jason derulo, Miles davis
• EMI - own record artists such as: Paul Mcartney, John Lennon, Robbie Williams 

The majority of these companies are backed conglomerates with stakes in other industries such as ; film, TV, electronics etc.

Major-Independents

Most of these 'Majors' own or license a series of smaller subsidiary companies in order to reach different kinds of audiences in different kinds of genre.

Some examples of these major independent record labels are:

• Columbia - own record artists such as: Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Barbara Streisand 
• Island - own record artists such as: Mariah Carrey, Justin Beiber, Jessie J
• Syco - own record artists such as: Gareth Gates, Paul Potts, Cher Loyd
• RCA - own record artists such as: ABBA, apocalyptica, Funkdoobiest
• Virgin - own record artists such as:Keith Richards, Boy George, Lenny Kravits

Independents

There are a huge number of small record companies with little or no connection to the majors.

These companies often concentrate on a small number of acts, within specialized niches of the industry. 

One example of a highly successful independent label is 'Domino' records.