Roles and responsibilities of marketing department in Record label companies.

Roles and responsibilities of the marketing department in record label companies. 

The marketing department of record label companies are responsible for the promotion of an artist’s output. Depending on the size of the record company, a marketing executive or product manager will be assigned to work on one or several campaigns at any given time, They will however usually work along side the artist and/or their management team and if it’s a new signing, the A&R (usually the first point of contact between the artist and the record label, standing for Artist and Repertoire) person who brought them to the label.

Their aim would be to come up with a plot for that artist which may entail, for example, starting with some viral marketing activity such as tapping into the artist’s fan base via fan websites, blogs etc to generate a buzz; arranging with the record company’s Press and Promotions department to obtain maximum publicity for any appearances/gigs/interviews/arrests leading up to the projected release of a single. This is usually when the plugger gets involved and uses their contacts or calls in favours to ensure that the song is heard on the radio and/or played on TV.

This according to the plot would all serve to build the profile of the artist and produce a market in readiness for the release of the album. In turn, the album would be promoted in the press, on radio, billboards, online and, depending on the budget on TV.

Even though that might be a standard campaign template, not every record label has the means to follow a rather expensive route for any of their artists and smaller budgets call for greater creativity and, perhaps, a less traditional approach to marketing. This is where certain independent labels benefiting from strong reputations in specific genres can score.