Music Label or Record Label
A record label is a brand or trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Often, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos; conducts talent scouting and development of new artists ("artists and repertoire" or "A&R"); and maintains contracts with recording artists and their managers. The term "record label" derives from the circular label in the centred of a vinyl records which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information.
Examples of music labels: Atlantic Records, Young Money, Def Jam, Columbia Record are just a few mainstream record labels who have signed popular mainstream song artists such s Nicki Minaj, Beyonce, Rhianna.
Star Image in Music Videos
Richard Dyer: Star Theory:
"Pop performer" and "pop star" are not the same.
Pop stars have an identity or persona which is not solely to their musicianship. A true pop star has "brand awareness" amongst a wider market over a period time.
Star's image:
A star's image becomes a readily recognised sign that is used in many different media forms. Stars can use the fact that their image has meaning by allowing it to be used for advertising purposes. A pop star is a manufactured image and does not correlate to person's personality behind the image.
Star's influence onto target audience:
Stars are made to appeal to a specific target audience to generate revenue for record companies. Record companies tend to nurture and shape their stars into an image which they deem to be desired by their demo-graph (hence the almost carbon copied image aligned with boy bands).
Culture:
Stars represent a shared culture due to the globalisation of media. When audiences display interest in a star's values/opinions then this further enhances their "star quality".
Character:
A star often begins as what the media portrays as a "real" human which may result in the transformation process turning them into a construct. Sometimes caricatures/personas are created to make the star stand out from competitors (example: Nicki Minaj had several alter egos to breach the mainstream pop audience before reverting back to her hip hop roots which has inevitably made her the most successful female rapper in history).
