Labels & Contracts · Topic 12 of 27
Which major labels are there?
Three corporations, many sub-labels and plenty of indies in between.
Worldwide there are only three major labels left: Universal Music (number one), Sony Music (number two) and Warner Music (number three). Together they make up roughly two thirds of the global market for recorded music.
The sub-labels in Germany
Each major has many sub-labels. From the outside they look like separate, smaller companies.
- Universal Music: for example Polydor, Island, Vertigo, Urban and Deutsche Grammophon
- Sony Music: for example Columbia, RCA, Ariola and Four Music
- Warner Music: for example Warner Records, Atlantic and Parlophone
Each major also has its own distributor for smaller labels: Virgin at Universal, The Orchard at Sony and ADA at Warner. And alongside them there are thousands of independent labels with no corporation behind them.
A label that looks small can still have a major behind it.
All figures are rough guidelines for beginners and focus on Germany. They are no substitute for legal or tax advice.
