Record Labels

How do record labels distribute music? 
Distribution is how albums get into shops. Distribution companies sign deals with record labels that gives them the right to sell that label's products to record stores that have an account with that distributor. The distributor takes a cut of income from each album sold and then pays the label the remaining balance label to provide them with finished product but sometimes a distrbtor will do an M&D (manufacturing and distribution) deal with a label. With this set up, the distributor will pay for all of the manufacturing costs of an album up front, and then keep all of the income from the album until that initial investment is paid off.


Why is social networking important? 
Music fans turn to social media to keep updated about their favourite bands, whilst new tracks or videos will 99% of the time ger their launch on social channels. 
Furthermore, social media is where music audiences naturally congregate, forming their own launch on social channels. A social media monitoring platform like Brandwatch has multiple use cases for the music industry. The sheer volume of conversation, coupled with the agnostic nature of social media results in a vast body of opinion that can be mined for insight into trends, tastes and purchasing behavior. This is really useful for audience feedback at low costs. It is also useful to measure the 'buzz' around a specific release which will enable labels and distribution to estimate costs and profits etc. 

RISE RECORDS 

 I think this music company would be best suited to our band as many of the artists signed to them are of the same genre; PVRIS, Monsters of Men, In Hearts Wake etc.

Rise was founded in 1991 by Craig Ericson in Nevada City, California, USA. He released a small number of 7" records before putting the label on hiatus to attend college.^[2] Ericson didn't release anything further until 1999, after moving toPortland, Oregon.^[2] He began issuing small-print 7" records, and his first CD release came in 2000, from the group One Last Thing. The label gave a strong foundation to bands Anatomy of a Ghost, Ever We Fall (who later signed withHopeless) and Fear Before the March of Flames (who signed to Equal Vision). Later signees (e.g. Drop Dead, Gorgeous, Breathe Carolina and The Devil Wears Prada), gained considerable popularity while with Rise, and moved on to what were larger labels at the time (Interscope, Fearless and Ferret, respectively). Rise has also signed some veteran bands, including: Hot Water Music, Bouncing Souls, The Bled, Bleeding Through and From First To Last.

Rise Records' releases are currently distributed nationwide by Alternative Distribution Alliance,^[3] by Warner Music Group in many European countries as Germany and Italy, and comprises bands and solo artists. In July 2013, the company moved from Portland to neighboring Beaverton, Oregon.^[4]

On September 9, Australian label UNFD announced a distribution partnership with Rise.^[5]    

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