Indie vs major artist task 1: artist profile (A04)

Character Profile:

Name: Wavey Dadez

Age: 18

Genre: Grime/Funky

Label: Boy Better Know

Star Persona: Wavey Dadez (Karl Dadey) is portrayed as a typical British rapper with a motive to make money to live a good life and support his family. As he is from the younger generation the language he uses in his music would be more understood by them and they can relate to it more. His dress sense is of a street style mainly wearing hoodies with trainers and jeans. 

Target Audience: Young teenagers between the age 15-19 (mainly males)

Secondary Audience: Young females around the same age who may be interested in my music.

The reason I have chosen to sign with the independent record label 'Boy Better Know' is because I feel it is a great starting point in my career and they will be able to get me noticed quickly. Also because there are other music artist who are well known so if I producer music with them, my publicity will become greater. 

Furthermore as their style of music that the record label is mainly based around suits my star persona so my target audience will view me more. As it is going to a niche audience I will be able to be noticed more quickly and my music can go to my specific audience making my publicity grow quicker. I believe this will be a good start for my music career and make my knowledge of how the music industry works better. 

My Artist Profile

Comparative essay of a major label and independent label (A01)

Karl dadey
Macro Structure Case Study- Comparing Boy Better Know & Sony Music Entertainment.

The music industry is made of two different companies, major and independent. The major labels are global and have a lot of money because they own many subsidiary labels and other companies. The independent labels are more niche and local and don’t have as much money. Also the major labels have many artists signed to them, which help it to be global, but an independent is local so it has a niche audience. An example of a major label is Sony music entertainment. It is part of the 4 big labels, which are Sony, Universal, EMI and Warner. The major and independent label I am going to compare is Sony music entertainment and Boy Better Know. As Sony is the major label they own a huge share in the music market where as Boy Better Know is an independent label so it doesn’t own much shares.

The genre of music that Boy Better Know mainly produces is grime, Garage and funky. Some artists signed to their label are Jammer, Frisco and Shorty. They cater for their target audience by making music, which attracts young people. The music is fast and has language that young people will relate to which is mainly urban areas (south london). As for Sony they produce music from a lot of genres, as they are a major label. Some artists signed to Sony are Jennifer Lopez, Alicia Keys and DMX. They cater for their target audience by make various genres of music so everyone has their preferred choice of music. This is because they do not have a specific target audience. Their have a mass audience which means it's more mainstream.


Boy Better Know doesn’t own any other companies or labels as they are an independent record label so they do not have a lot of money. They use horizontal integration by wearing their companies t-shirts whilst they are doing their music videos which promotes both the products at the same time. Most of the time they all wear the same t-shirt with the signature logo 'Boy Better Know' but in different colours. They have also synergised with other companies that appeal to their target audience. For example their music has been promoted with big raves like 'wobbla' to attract young people with benefits both the companies. As for Sony they own many companies as they are a major label and have the money. For example they own Sony playstation. They have used horizontal integration by allowing a big hit movie to be played on one of their TV products in an advert promoting both the companies items.  They have also cross promoted with other companies like playstation by owning them and helping them become bigger which targets the same audience for the companies. For example they made the game sing-star which has all their main stars in it helping to raise publicity for both companies.


Boy better know distribute their music in so many ways like publishing it on their MySpace pages and on YouTube where they can get a lot of views. Also on Facebook which has a lot of viewers which allows their music to get published by other people. Sony on the other hand are a big company so they get so many other companies to distribute their music from posters, magazines and YouTube to on music channels on TV. Also on shops like HMV, iTunes and Amazon. 


Boy better know have marketed their music artists by making them noticed in the music industry by publishing their music all over for people to see. Sony have also done the same with their artists getting them know for example they have used one of Eminem’s songs with the computer game 'DJ Hero' allowing him to be promoted with the product. they have used so many of their music artists in these situations helping them to be noticed more by the public.  Boy better know have promoted their artist ‘jammer’ by allowing him to make music with them individually allowing him to get noticed.


The major similarities and differences between these two companies are they both distribute their music artists but one has more money than the other. This effects the two companies in many ways as Sony has more money and is a big record label their products get many sales from a global audience and their artists sell many records. This makes the music artists more known faster getting their music up and running quickly meaning as it is more mainstreamed so theres more mass appeal. Whereas boy better know has a niche audience so their products do not get as much buyers as Sony and their artists don’t sell am much records. This makes it harder for them to be world known even though they offer underground alternative music.