Record Label vs Production Company: Difference and Comparison

The field of performing arts is a vast ocean, and so has a lot of subdivisions and divisions in the market. Record label and production company are two different terms that are confused as both are related to a company dealing in performing arts.

But these two terms differ from each other in many ways. They both can be related to a company but they differ from each other in terms of scale and other different parameters.

Key Takeaways

1. Record labels and production companies are involved in the music industry but serve different functions.
2. Record labels are responsible for promoting and distributing music recordings, while production companies are involved in producing music videos and concerts.
3. Record labels work with musicians and artists, while production companies may work with a broader range of creative professionals.

Record Label vs Production Company

A record label is a company that signs and markets musical acts, distributes albums, and handles their public image. A production company is a company that creates and produces movies, television shows, etc. Record labels focus on the music, while production companies focus on visual media.

A record label is also called a record company. A reword label exclusively deals with music audio and video. The record label can be a publishing company if it manages music brands and trademarks and coordinates other related functions.

Musicians rely on record labels to increase their consumer base and other related operations such as promotion. Record labels can be big and can be independent depending on the operations. 

The production company also called a production team is a group of people who are responsible for the technical side of a media production.

A production company can help produce videos, video games, music, films, etc. These companies rely on some investor or the parent company for funds but can also raise it on their own.

A production company can be of many types depending on the function they perform. Paramount Pictures is an example of one such company that specializes in motion pictures.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Record Label	Production Company
Industry	It is related to the music and music video industry.	It is related to a lot of industries such as movies, videos, games, etc.
Reach	They have a reach to popular tv shows.	They may not have any reach.
resources	They have almost all the resources for an artist to flourish.	They lack significant resources for artists’ promotion.
Type	They have their own brand.	They outsource branding from labels.
Offers	Their offer will include the entire need for an artist to flourish.	They can only offer a shopping deal.

What is Record Label?

A record label is a brand that deals with music and music production. It has all the necessary resources and investment with it that is required for music video production.

It has enough money to pay its freelance workers and artists that it employs for different work related to music video production.

A record label is a big brand such as Sony Music, Warner Music group, etc. A record label can be on its own but almost always falls under a big music group.

The music group could be again owned by bigger companies that fund all their operations. Record labels are solely responsible for music production.

A genuine record label must have a video production wing for the music albums. These brands also have connections to big shows such as The Tonight Show to help promote the artist.

It can also have other means to promote the music alum of an artist. The term indie label is used to describe those record labels that are independent.

Indie labels do not have any company over them. Their small size provides a friendly environment for budding artists as they provide flexibility.

Indie labels have relatively less funding when compared to big conglomerates. There are other types of labels as well. Some common ones are Vanity labels, Sublabel, etc.

What is Production Company?

 A production company can be responsible for many types of media productions such as videos, audio, video games, films, etc. These companies do not have their own investment and completely rely on the parent company, investors, promoters, etc.

These companies are responsible for the technical aspects of production such as budgeting, talent hunt, scripting, etc. The companies work for labels that have the resources and connections for the production and promotion of an artist.

Production companies only hire management staff as other staff related to production are freelancers. So, a production company can also be defined as a group of managers that are responsible for the operational aspect of production.

There are several types of production companies. An example of one of the types of production companies is a book to the film unit. As the name suggests it is a unit of a book publishing company that attempts to get the book adopted as a movie.

There are many companies that have were not related to films or TV but have emerged as production companies.

One example is Random House Films whose parent company is Random house. Random House Films is a book to a film company that has come out of Random House company.

Main Differences Between Record Label and Production Company 

1. A production company deals with the operational aspects of a production whereas, a record label deals with music production and promotion.
2. A record label has a brand and all the resources to help an artist flourish whereas, production companies only act as a link between an artist and another label.
3. A record label must have a video production unit whereas, a production company does not have a video production unit.
4.  A record label is a company that has connections with popular TV shows whereas, a production company does not have such connections.
5. A record label is capable of paying the artists and their freelance workers whereas, production may not have enough funds for the same. 

References

1. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/703/
2. https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/houbtalj9&section=7
3. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=0-Yp6udpdbgC&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=film+production+company&ots=63-1zvhpg1&sig=JfmZFFWd7OXWbbQjVkgUfpV3EsA
4. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=H8DShVS-3cIC&oi=fnd&pg=PR3&dq=film+production+company&ots=oPZaq8Vxj-&sig=NFjeDu_u23GlSPtuZlAZa5Z4PxI