Independent record label research project.

HUNGRY AUDIO

Who are they? Hungry Audio are a Norwich and London based record company founded in 2004.

What artists does the label promote? Sennen, Mia Vigar, The Telescopes, Master Solo, The Sadtowns and My Favourite.

Are the artists well known?Sennen are continuing to build a very strong global fan base.As well as great coverage in the UK, Mia Vigar has had extensive radio play including BBC Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music. Many of the artists have had great NME reviews.

How does the label benefit from new media technology? Place your research under the key headings: MARKETING: Twitter – the label frequently keeps readers updated on new releases and news.DISTRIBUTION and EXCHANGE: When Hungry Audio started out there was no digital content available so physical distribution was imperative, however now content is available from Limewire and iTunes “Digital sales have been a big help towards profits, however, file-sharing and illegal downloading has had a big effect.“

Does your label feature on the Radio One playlist?Nope.

What radio stations play music from your label?Future Radio, Radio 1

What TV stations (if any) support music from your label?Music from Sennen has been played through E4’s One Tree Hill.

What web sites live stream music from your label? Last FM, YouTube and Myspace

Hungry Audio’s ‘Long tail’Artists: * Sennen* Mia Vigar* The Telescopes

Draw a Long Tail for your artists by researching the following:Their PLAYS on Last FM; what similar artists does Last FM recommend and where would you place them on your Last FM Long Tail?

Sennen - Mia Vigar - The Telescopes -

65,634 Last FM plays

13,098 YouTube views

5,114 Last FM plays

341 YouTube views

357,329 Last FM plays

/ YouTube views

Ownership.Who owns the Independent label?It is owned by five partners - Adrian Cooke, Stewart Nash, Alan Southgate, Rob Childerhouse and Chris Bourn.

Where is the label based?Norwich & London

How many people are employed by the label?There are on average 5 or 6 labels signed at present

Does the label have marketing, legal, creative, production departments?It has recently started a publishing company to help with getting music into games and TV

Can you supply music for the label to consider (A&R)?You can send demos to the label.

Production.Does your label produce physical CDs or vinyl?Both are available!

Does the label produce any merchandise?The artists themselves produce the merchandise.

Marketing.What techniques does the Independent label use to promote their artists?They are strong users of Myspace and Twitter, as this really helps spread the word. They also email journalists.

Does the label use Myspace? Does the label pay for a web site for the artists?Yes. All the artists have a Myspace page, and a majority have their own website.

Does the Independent label have a You Tube account? If so what is featured (music videos, interviews etc)No, however some of the artists have their own accounts. Music videos, interviews and live footage is uploaded.

What press, TV coverage can you find about the bands signed to the label?http://www.edp24.co.uk/content/edp24/whatson/story.aspx

Does the label organise gigs to promote the band? If so where?

Distribution.Does HMV stock CDs from your Independent label? Does Tesco’s or Morrison’s? If so how much are the CDs?HMV stock CDs for around £10 – HMV buy them for around £5.50

Does the Independent label have a Paypal account for digital downloads? How much per download?Yes, and through iTunes. 79p per track, around £5-£1- per album.

Does iTunes stock tracks from your label? As above.

In what ways has your Independent record label embraced new media technology?Hungry Audio have embraced the social networking side of new media technology. It has squeezed every last piece of

advertising and marketing out of Myspace and Twitter that it can. It has also used iTunes and Last FM to distribute free downloads. Streaming on sites such as Spotify is good in the

sense that it is good to get music out there, but it also has a major negative effect on sales.

In what ways has your Independent record label been effected by media technology?Spotify has had a very big impact on record sales. Unlike Universal, who have the money to spare a few thousand

song streams and royalty fees not being paid, Hungry Audio and other indie labels do not.

How could it improve it’s web presence? I think it could definitely do just a little bit more to promote itself through Myspace and possibly set up a few pages on

Facebook, as participatory cultures play a big part in today's society. Music message boards, forums, etc would be great for marketing and getting fans of indie music into their artists.

Comparison with other indie labels.I have chosen to do a quick research slide on another independent record label. I have done this to make a comparison between how different indie labels exploit their artists.

NRONE Records: Norwich & London based label.

OWNERSHIP - Kingsley Harris

PRODUCTION

MARKETING -Myspace, Twitter, Facebook & Youtube- The band produce their own merchandise

DISTRIBUTION - Unlike Hungry Audio, there are ‘download’ links on the labels website

-They distribute their music through Shellshock Music Distribution

EXCHANGE-iTunes- HMV - Myspace

- Unlike Hungry Audio, the label organises gigs for the bands and advertises them on their website.- The label currently has 20 bands signed, including The Kabeedies, Violet Violet and The Brownies.

NRONE Records ‘Long tail’The Kabeedies22,411 YouTube views for song ‘Little brains’ and 537 views

for ‘Jitterbug re-edit’

95,064 LastFM plays

They have featured on BBC 1’s Introducing… BBC1’s playlist and BBC 6

Violet VioletOver 17, 000 Myspace plays

10,295 YouTube views on song ‘Love this band’

Final comparison.• Overall, NRONE Records has a better grasp on marketing and exploiting their artists. Their main aim is to get

local Norwich talent, out of their comfort zone and playing gigs!• They use the same techniques as Hungry Audio for marketing; Myspace, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. • NRONE have embraced the digital age by making all of their songs available on iTunes, where as with Hungry

Audio, it is not as obvious.

Both labels have not exploited their artists as much as Universal, however, this is clearly due to financial issues.

However, they both succeed in advertising their artists and getting their sound out there.

For both labels the digital age has dramatically effected record sales.