Research into record label - Boy Better Know

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★ Boy Better Know ★

Originated from UK rap/grime artists JME and Skepta, from the famous band Roll Deep. They decided to make this independant record label as it would ensure that they, and only they would receive the money from their work, The current artists involved in Boy Better Know are;

· JME

· Skepta

· Wiley

· Tinchy Stryder

· Frisco

· Murkle Man

· DJ Maximum

· Jay Sean

They have become very influential, and sold over 20,000 of their products, and played shows all around the world. Over 250,000 records have been sold by the artists in Boy Better Know(From statistics in Sep23, 2008), and have been able to work with people such as “Snitch Man”, who has made a production which made number 1 in UK charts in 2006. They have had support from artists such as 50 Cent and Chamillionaire.

Place in Industry

This record label is quite small in comparison to those of the big four, but in the UK, in the type of music it is based in, being Grime/UK hip hop, it is very well known, as it features many of the popular artists in this music genre.

Audience

Only a small group of the population will listen to, and be appealed to this record label. As there are many different music genres, and that this label only covers two, means that there will be a smaller audience compared to the big four, which cover most of the genres which people commonly listen to. But the fact there are less genres in Boy Better Know, means that they can concentrate on two main genres, and adapt to make their music better for that area, and find ways to advertise to the public which listen to this style of music.

Distribution

Their music is sold in many popular music stores, e.g. HMV, and also is sold online where alot of people nowadays get their hands on music, from iTunes. They also sell clothing products, which are shown in their music videos, and also sold in stores, and an exclusive website, www.ukrecordshop.com, and emphasis that it is the only other place to buy it from.

Production

Although their albums are made and distributed through well known stores and websites/online applications, when their is a shortage of stock, sometimes they do realise the needs of their fans, and re-distribute a limited stock of albums for them so that they don’t lost interest in their music, and appreciate them more as they are making the extra effort to send out the music they desire to them.

Online age

As technology has advanced, Boy Better Know has realised that they need to be ‘one with’ their audience. By ensuring this, they have their homepage automatically redirected to Myspace, which is one of the mostly used online communication websites, and regularly uploading videos of themselves, keeping the fans up to date on what is going on, and what to look out for. By doing this, which to me seems quite a unique way of working, and advertising, it allows to reach a bigger audience, and increase their fan numbers and be able to be more popular in the Grime/hip hop genre of music.