Conglomerates In The UK Music Industry

The music business today is among the media industry that is constantly evolving.However the music industry has various content producers which has been acquired by the four major conglomerates,ultimately driven by profit.they are;
(1)Sony Music Entertainment (Japan based).Sony acquired the music industry content producers such as:Epic Records,Columbia Records,CBS Records, Bertelsmann Music Group, (BMG),J Records etc.
(2)Universal Music Group (France based)acquired Mecury Records,Geffens records,Def Jam Recordings,Universal music UK,Decca music group,Island records,Interscope Records etc.
(3)Warner Music Group (USA based)acquired Atlantic Records,Elektra Records,Asylum Records,Warner Bros Records,Reprise Records,Atco Records,Mushroom Records,Cordless Records,East West Records,Rhino Records,Roadrunner Records,Rykodisc records and Warner/Chappell Music.
(4)EMI Group (UK based)acquired Virgin Records,Liberty Records,Capitol Records,Christian Music Group,Angel Records,Innocent Record,Priority Records,Relentless Records,GMG (Get Money Gang)Entertainment.etc
Finally Conglomerates also have subdivision that helps in distributing, marketing and promoting a product in essence,encouraging the growth of business in the society.

*Resources:
www.wikipedia.com
www.google.com

Leona Lewis Rise To Fame

My article is about the rise to fame of the British pop & R&B star Leona Lewis, and what contributed immensely in archieving her "Vision".

Leona lewis was born on 3rd April in the year 1985.her father,Aurial Josiah was an Afro-caribbean youth worker & her mother,Marie lewis was a social worker of Aglo-Wesh decent.Leona started her early life in the London Borough of Islington with her whole family,and her vision is to be a musician.However her parents fulfilled her wish by sending her to a sylvia young theatre school at the age of five,and when she left school.she was very determined,courageous and focused to archieve her vision.leona thereby worked toward archieving her vision by doing all kind of odd jobs to get into a recording studio;Leona worked as a waitress at pizza hut,she worked as a receptionist for metropolitan mortages in meridian road,lower clapton,Hackney.and she also worked as a recptionist for head and short chiropodists located in stoke Newington high street.
She recorded a version of Minnie Riperton's 'Loving You' with music producer Marley J.Wills at the age of 15,subsequently she & wills were invited to United States by Sony.
*Note:Leona lewis won the lady D under-18 talent show at Hackney empire at the age of 13 and she also attented & graduated from the prestigeous BRIT school for performing Arts and Technology.

Leona Lewis has a great passion for music,her successful music career and rise to fame started at the age of 21 in the year 2006 when she beat Ray Quin to win the 2006British talent show,(the X factor).
In the following year 2007,her debut single,a soulful cover of kelly clarkson's " A Moment like this"(clarkson's own debut American idol showcase single),was the number one single in the UK at the turn of the year and " A Moment Like This" was crowned the 2006 UK christmas number-one single.
Nevertheless in 2007 Leona sighned a $9.7 million record deal in the U.S with Clive Davis's record label J Record, and she won several awards including number one in the UK with "Bleeding Love",and her Spirit album became the fastest selling debut in Britain.
on 15th March 2007,Leona performed in front of prince charles at the UK finals of the prince's trust RBS celebrate success awards at the Barbican centre in London.she was also presented the award for the "young Achiever of the year" and she sang "over the Rainbow".
In April 2008,Leona lewis album "Spirit" became the first British solo artist to go straight to number one in the U.S album chart.

Factors that contributed towards Leona Lewis Success are;
1. Help from her parents.
2. Focused and determination.
3. Courageous and hardworking.
*Important Notice; according to report,Leona Lewis lives in Hackney with her boyfriend,Lou Al-Chamaa,who is an electrician by profession.and they grew up in the same street and have known each other since leona lewis was nine years old.
REFERENCES
1. www.starplus.com
2. www.leona-lewis.net
3. www.google.co.uk
4. www..comwikipedia
5. www.biongs.com
6.www.articlealley.com
7.www.facebook.com

UK music Industry: Regulation & Control

The music business is largely a self-regulated industry - everyone seems to be involved in some aspect of control, from individual artists to unions and corporate giants, from publishers to licensers, from collecting agencies such as MCPS,PRS,PPL and VPL to copyright and trademark offices.each organisation in the music industry have their responsibilities.
Firstly,just as the office of communication(known as ofcom),which is an independent telecommunications regulator and competition authority for the communication industries in the UK.The UK copyright collective (also known as a copyright collecting agency or copyright collecting society) is a body created by private agreements or by copyright law that collects royalty payments from various individuals and groups for copyright holders. They may have the authority to license works and collect royalties as part of a statutory scheme or by entering into an agreement with the copyright owner to represent the owners interests when dealing with licensees and potential licensees in the UK music industry.

2. MCPS (Mechanical Copyright Protection Society)
In the UK the MCPS exists to oversee the collection and distribution of "mechanical publishing/composer royalties" generated from CD, DVD etc sales. Royalties take the form of a license fee that pays for permission to duplicate a recording. Therefore this fee is normally collected before duplication of a CD, DVD etc, although smaller labels and composers financing their own recordings and selling them can apply for a license that allows them to pay (often themselves!) retrospectively as sales income comes in.

3. PRS (Performing Rights Society)
The music copyrights generate a second lot of royalties when performed or broadcast live. In the UK the PRS exists to collect and distribute these royalties directly to composers.However the PRS For Music responsibilities is also to find venues such Wembley Arena,Royal Albert Hall,Large Provincial theatres,and broadcasters(for example BBC Radio 1),for performance. and they also samples smaller venues that host live performance.

4.VPL (Video Performance Limited)This organisation licenses the right to perform music video recordings (usually by broadcasters, clubs and pubs). Like their parent PPL they collect royalties for record companies but don’t pay royalties to music performers.


5. Songrite UK (Copyright Office)
This company is responsible for issuing copyright to songs,music and lyrics in the UK.Songrite is a leading global copyright registration service, used by both up and coming and professional songwriters who wish to claim and declare rightful ownership of their music based works. they register and secure the copyrights of new songs, music and lyrics in the UK music industry.

Note: in February 2008 the UK government launched a Green Paper on the Creative Industries, which advocates a similar ‘three strikes and you’re out’ policy, in which identified illegal downloaders are first warned, then suspended and then ultimately banned from using the internet by their ISPs. Similar initiatives are also being launched at a European level. The EU Telecommunications Package, agreed by MEPs last July, requires national regulators such as Ofcom to promote ‘cooperation’ between ISPs and parties ‘interested in the protection and promotion of lawful content’, which arguably requires such regulatory bodies to force ISPs to become regulators of consumer behaviour.

Futher Reading:
click on the link (www.bemuso.com) to view the UK collecting music royalties and the diagram and also the collection right societies in the rest of the world.

References
1. http://www.bemuso.com/musicbiz/collectionsocieties.html#collectingmusicroyalties
2. www.songrite.co.uk
3. www.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRS_for_Music