Record Labels

Jace Everett is signed to Epic Records.

Background• Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music

Entertainment.• It was founded in 1953 by the Columbia Records unit of CBS • The labels original purpose was to market jazz, pop and classical music that

did not fit the theme of the more mainstream Columbia label.• Pop talent on co-owned Okeh Records were transferred to Epic which made Okeh a

rhythm and blues label.• Epic's bright-yellow, black and blue logo became a familiar trademark for many jazz

and classical releases. This has included such notables as the Berlin Philharmonic, Charles Rosen and the Juilliard String Quartet.

• By 1960, the label's musical base had been expanded to include all genres. This was done in part to prevent the roster of Columbia Records (which, at the time, had a reputation for releasing material by more established acts) from being overstuffed with newer artists.

• By the end of the 1960s, Epic earned its first gold records and had evolved into a formidable hit-making force in rock and roll, R&B and country music.

• Epic's commercial success continued to grow in the 1970s with releases from ABBA, Boston, Cheap Trick, The Clash, The Isley Brothers, The Jacksons, Meat Loaf etc.

• During the 1980s, Epic was arguably the most successful label of the decade. Its 1980s and 1990s mainstream success were fueled by its signing and releasing of albums by such acts as Michael Jackson, Shakin' Stevens, Adam Ant, Living Colour, Ozzy Osbourne, Pearl Jam, and Céline Dion among others.

• The label's greatest pay-dirt achievement came with the release Thriller, the 1982 album by Michael Jackson, which went on to achieve approximately one hundred million in worldwide sales, becoming the biggest selling album in history.

• More recently, other successful acts on the label have included Anastacia, Jennifer Lopez, The Fray, Jessica Simpson, Shakira, JLS, and Rage Against the Machine.

• In February 2009, singer/songwriter Amanda Ghost was appointed president of Epic Records.

• In July 2011, L.A. Reid became the head of the Epic Records which also includes various former Jive Records artists. Reid has already begun a new "era" in signing artists, having signed up YouTube sensation Karmin.

• Epic will sign the winners of The X Factor.

Artists

• The artists signed to Epic Records are diverse as the label includes all genres.

• Artists similar to Jace Everett who are signed to Epic Records:- Kings of Leon- Jeff Beck- Steve Hackett

Other artists signed to Epic Records:- ABBA- The Fray- Drake- AC/DC- Paloma Faith

Institutional Information• Epic Records was initially founded by the Columbia Records unit of CBS.• Several of the British artists on the Epic roster during the 1960s were the

result of CBS's Epic/Okeh units' international distribution deal with EMI; Epic recordings were issued by EMI on the Columbia label.

• Also during the 1960s, Epic oversaw the smaller subsidiary CBS labels including: Okeh Records and Date Records.

• In 1968, the Epic imprint was added in the UK and distributed by CBS after the distribution deal with EMI expired that year.

• Epic Records is owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Sony bought CBS Records in 1987, and the company was renamed Sony Music in 1991.

• In 2004, Sony merged with another powerhouse music distributor, BMG, bringing labels such as RCA, Arista, Columbia, Epic, Jive, and many others under one parent company, Sony BMG.

•  Later in the year, Sony BMG Music (during a reconsolidation of labels) merged Epic and Columbia's operations, and subsequently formed the Columbia/Epic Label Group — but both labels continue to operate as separate brands.

Finance

• Epic Records is owned by Sony Music Entertainment, which resides under its parent company of Sony Corporation of America,  the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation. It is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big three" record companies, the French-owned Universal Music Group, the Japanese-owned Sony Music Entertainment, and the US-owned Warner Music Group.

• Sony Music Entertainment has a revenue of $5,672 million and an operating income of $469 million.

• The funding that Epic Records receives comes from their parent company, Sony Music Entertainment, a global record company with a large income. Therefore Epic Records would be provided with a large budget when shooting a music video for one of their artists, such as Jace Everett. As this is the record label that our artist is signed to, any music video we were to produce would be of a high standard, with a large budget.   

• Acts associated with Jace Everett include Josh Turner. Turner is signed to the record label MCA Nashville.

• MCA Nashville started out as the country music division of Decca Records in 1945, founded by Paul Cohen in New York. In 1947, Cohen hired Owen Bradley as his assistant working in Nashville. Bradley succeeded Cohen as head of Decca's Nashville division in 1958 and developed Decca into a country music powerhouse. Decca Nashville was renamed MCA Nashville in 1973.

• In 1979, MCA Nashville absorbed the country music roster (including Roy Clark, Barbara Mandrell and The Oak Ridge Boys) and back catalogue of ABC Records including the Dot Records catalogue. In the early 1980s, MCA Nashville signed Reba McEntire and George Strait, two of the greatest selling artists of all time and the mega stars on the record label.

• In the 1990s MCA Nashville briefly revived the Decca label for country music releases, but it was shut down after Universal Music absorbed PolyGram and chose to reserve the Decca name for classical music releases. With the absorption of MCA Records into Geffen Records in 2003, MCA Nashville is now, along with UMG's unit in the Philippines, the only units of Universal Music to still use the MCA name.

• Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. MCA Nashville is included within the labels within this group.

• Universal Music Group has a revenue of $5,584 million and an operating income of $175 million.

• MCA Nashville is a record label similar to that of Epic Records, as they both are owned by global parent companies with a large income. Therefore, similar to Epic Records, any music video produced for an artist signed under MCA Nashville would be of a high standard, with a large budget.

• Fascination Records is a record label very different to that of Epic Records and MCA Nashville as  it concentrates on a relatively small number of pop acts. However, as MCA Nashville was, Fascination Records is owned by the record company Universal Music Group.

• Fascination Records is a UK-based record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as an imprint of Polydor Records. The label was launched in spring 2006, and is managed by former TOTP Magazine editor Peter Loraine. It concentrates on a relatively small number of pop acts and will complement the re-activated Fiction rock imprint.

• Their signed pop acts include Girls Aloud, Cheryl Cole, Alphabeat and Miley Cyrus.

• Fascination Records is owned by Universal Music Group who have a revenue of $5,584 million and an operating income of $175 million.

• Being owned by the same company as MCA Nashville, a major record company, the funding provided to their artists and the production of their music videos will most likely be the same. As Universal Music Group are a global company with a large income, any music video produced by Fascination Records would be of a high standard due to the large budget of its parent company, Universal Music Group.